He believed every lady loved him, which shows he is not shy when it comes to sharing his thoughts. However, not all the ladies love him, he just thinks too much of himself. Benedick also assumes that he is too good for anyone and there is no lady good for him, and therefore he cannot have any lady, and says he never will. It also demonstrates that Beatrice and Benedick have a fiery relationship based on the childish bickery. Shakespeare portrays a rude and independent character of Benedick.
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
Ophelia is a beautiful woman who is at the mercy of the male figures in her life – mainly her father, Polonius and her brother Laertes. Laertes and Polonius love Ophelia tremendously and feel it is their obligation to shelter her from the cruelty of the world. When Polonius is told that Ophelia has entertained Hamlet without any parental consent, it is stifled very quickly by Polonius and Laertes – the double voices of patriarchy – telling her that she is too naive and that her behavior is unsuitable. In Act I, Scene III he begins his dialogue with Ophelia by warning her of the potential danger that love with Hamlet (Ophelia’s lover) could bring. He feels it his obligation to protect her form a potential broken heart: “The canker galls the infants of the spring Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,” (I, III, 39-40) implying that Hamlet, as the canker, may ruin her before she ‘blossoms’.
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.
One could agree that Sybil Birling is the most unsympathetic character of all since Priestly illustrates, throughout the play, the flaws in her character. In the first act we don’t hear much from Mrs Birling but one can already get an idea of her personality. When her husband praises the cook, she replies, “Arthur you’re not supposed to say such things” . This quote shows that she’s very aware of her social standing. The second act is where one really starts discovering Sybil’s real personality.
Indeed despite Hawthorne telling us to laugh at and ridicule the ugly Hepzibah, she displays a far greater sense of good and a much more complex character than Phoebe. In Chapter 9, we see a deep love of Hepzibah for her brother Clifford and a willingness to care for and show him devotion. However, when she tries to read his favorite stories he rebuffs her because of her looks and
This shows that she is only with him for his money and power. When Daisy gave birth to Pammy she said “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”(Fitzgerald 21).She implies here that the world is no place for a woman and all she can do is hope to survive through beauty rather than brains. However during the reunion Gatsby is still blinded by his dream. Even though Daisy isn’t the same as he remembers.
Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages—she is the “tramp,” “tart”, and “bitch” that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity—her appearances later in the novella become more complex. When she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later—when she admits to Lennie her dream of becoming a movie star—makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the stereotypical vixen in fancy red shoes. However, it also reinforces the novella’s grim worldview.
Cassio is simply a handsome, virile man and this makes Othello jealous. Lago’s own wife Emilia is ignorant of his actions, she will do anything he said because she loves him but Iago always uses her rather than treat her as a woman he truly loves. Iago explains that his hatred of Othello is for choosing Cassio as his officer not him as he had expected. However, after Iago has aroused Othello’s suspicions about his wife’s behaviour, Othello becomes inarticulate and ferocious. Also, this is the first time that Othello, not Iago or anyone, just himself been a negative attention to either his nationality or his age, he feels like he is the outsider of them all.
His attitude makes it seem like he finds women untrustworthy and weak. Throughout the play Hamlet’s treatment towards women were unkind, unfair and disrespectful. Hamlet is unkind towards Ophelia and Gertrude throughout the play. Hamlet: Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty can translate beauty into his likeness; this was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once.