Humour at the expense of women is also prominent in ‘Much Ado’ through the use of ‘vulgar’ pre-marriage language, favoured by Margret – another arguably unconventional woman of the Elizabethan society, who participates in sex outside of wedlock purely for pleasure, creating controversy and humour. “Seventy-five percent of Shakespearian plays have oaths they can’t keep” correctly states Paul McDonald. This regular form feature of Shakespearian comedies generates humour at the expense of women in ‘Much Ado’; in the form of Beatrice ironically being ‘manoeuvred into wedlock despite proclaimed repugnance for matrimony’: Beatrice: “Adam’s sons are my brethren, and truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kinred”. Beatrice breaks her oath of “remaining a wild, unconventional woman who denounces marriage” by instead becoming a product of proper Elizabethan social convention - Beatrice: “It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you”. This submission to the patriarchal society is also a common form feature of
In Medusa, another emotion is bitterness. ‘I stared in the mirror, love gone bad’. This shows bitterness because she is bitter about the way ‘love’ has turned out. It is almost an oxymoron, because society teaches us that love is good and should be sought after, whereas what she is saying goes against this. This intensifies the emotion and reinforces how much of a ‘mess’ their relationship is in.
Also in today’s unclear world with the ever increasing amount of divorce and conflict within marriages a screwball comedy would have a hard time getting wide appeal and a success. Today’s culture is so used to explicit sex that innuendo and true romance couldn’t generate enough revenue to work in today’s market. The Lady Eve adheres to the Hollywood style in regards to character type for this genre of film. As I had mentioned earlier in the essay the characters clearly are set in their roles shown not only socially but sexually. Jean the key representative of the lower class shows through her sexual antagonism of Hopsie, that she like the lower class wields the real power when it comes to real world situations.
He appears to be solely interested in women’s sexuality, shamelessly objectifying them. For instance, when Claudio asks whether the world could ‘buy such a jewel’ as Hero, Benedick replies ‘yea, and a case to put it into’. The objectification of Hero as something valuable and desirable (but with no human emotion) is taken further by Benedick; his play upon Claudio’s romantic metaphor is witty but deeply sexist, as he is calling Hero worthless. Whilst a modern audience might see this as derogatory, an Elizabethan audience would have potentially been indifferent; in that age, men were superior; they could be an eligible bachelor, but if they married they would look for a chaste and wealthy wife- talk of ‘buying’ Hero is in a sense quite literal as Claudio would be ‘buying’ into her wealth. On the other hand, Shakespeare hints that this is a façade.
She lies about her husband’s vulgar behaviour and justifies it through clichés. While Blanche lies primarily to others, Stella lies to herself. Both do so as they need to, to survive. At the beginning of the play-from the moment we meet Blanche, we see the idea of telling lies and keeping secrets appear. Blanche is driven by sexual desire but is condemned by it for being a whore.
This is proven when Hester remarks to herself, "Oh Father in heaven - if thou art still my father - what is this being which I have brought into the world" (Hawthorne 89).Thirdly, Pearl represents the sins of both Hester and Dimmesdale. Proven when, Hester realizes what Pearl represents when she does not hold Pearl up in front of the "A”; she carries the child around because it is a direct reflection of her sin. Hester is, "wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another" (Hawthorne 48). Pearl in many ways is the scarlet letter. First, the scarlet letter amuses Pearl, and also controls her behavior.
In the play Macbeth, the main theme is the corruption of power through unchecked ambition. Macbeth is a faithful soldier and a good man, until three witches tell him of his future. Upon telling his wife the grand news, she devises a scheme where Macbeth kills the king in order to make his future the present. Macbeth is wary at first, and often talks of his guilt and soul before the murder, but, in order to please his wife, and feed his desire to become king, he murders the poor king in his sleep. He then blames two guards for the deed and becomes king of Scotland.
Despite common belief that Ophelia and Gertrude merely serve as subservient, foil characters among the men in the play, many critics see strong glimmers of feminism within the two. Many feel that the weaknesses in the women are highlighted solely to take attention away from the atrocities that the men commit. In other words, the men fear the weak, feminine characteristics within themselves, so they project the image of promiscuity onto the females in order to secrete their masculine bloodshed. This is found evident in Hamlet’s reaction to Polonius’ death in his infamous scene with Gertrude, where he attempts to “speak daggers to her, but use none.” (3-2-378) Upon the murder of Polonius, Gertrude’s "supposed sin is made to overshadow his actual sin and somehow to justify it." Moreover, it’s only when Ophelia dies that she is finally able to escape the “whore” image that the men in the play had branded her with.
Allusion Adonis – Week 10 Source: “Adonis.” Bulfinch’s Mythology. Page 67-69. Summary: Adonis, a mortal was born to King Theias of Smyrna and his daughter Myrrha. The Goddess Aphrodite encouraged the incest since the king forgot to make an offering to her. The king was enraged and chased his daughter with a sword, intending to kill her and the unborn child, Aphrodite took pity on Myrrha and turned her into a tree.
Word Count: 1493 How far do you agree that Shakespeare’s portrayal of gender relations is more sinister than comic? Shakespeare’s depiction of gender relations in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ distinguishes the female and male stereotypes during the Elizabethan era in 1599. Shakespeare accomplishes this through the contrasting couples of Benedick and Beatrice and Hero and Claudio. The relationship within father and daughter is likewise used to demonstrate the sinister and slightly comedic relations between men and women. To a great extent, modern audiences would find the portrayal objectification of women very much ominous, especially in the case of Hero.