The two texts present a woman from a disadvantaged point of view and how she struggles to establish a foothold in a male-dominated society. In Hamlet, analysis of the plight of women falls on Ophelia and Gertrude. The two women endure chauvinistic suffering and finally break loose. Gertrude transgresses the patriarchal bounds of femininity by marrying soon after her husband’s death, much to Hamlet’s chagrin. Consequently, he refers to her as “frail” (Act 1, Scene 2, line 146).
She is the Lady Macbeth: she, lacking subjectivity, is not defined in her own right but a reflection of Macbeth’s mental status. Many argue that Lady Macbeth’s loss of subjectivity, as a wife, should blame the husband-supremacy in Shakespeare’s age; the other lay emphasis on her denial of her gender. Granting the preeminence of those debates about her controversial characteristics and ambiguous function, Lady Macbeth indeed exists as an externalized unconscious of Macbeth which Shakespeare has carefully incorporated into her “walking shadow” nature of her husband. The unconscious mind, also subconscious, in Freud's opinion is a repository for unacceptable perceptions, hidden phobias or desires, complexes, traumatic or painful emotions rejected by the mechanism of psychological repression. In a psychoanalytic perspective, unconscious is only recognizable, as “tapped” and “interpreted” by methods such as meditation, dream analysis, and Freudian slip (See Freud’s The Unconscious).
The betrayal of Polynieces causes his sister, Antigone, to start another long line of betrayal throughout the rest of the play. Antigone begins planning her betrayal against Creon and her justice against her brother when she goes to her sister, Ismene, for help. “You must decide whether you will help me or not.” (Line 30, Pg 774). Ismene is a coward and claims she cannot help Antigone, “But I have no strength to break laws that were made for the public good.” (Line 66, Pg 774). The fact that Antigone is now alone is this process does not slow her down at all; not even after Ismene warns her that the consequence of her actions could be death.
Both Benedick and Beatrice hate the idea of marriage and continuously express this view throughout the play by saying things like “I’d rather hear a dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me”. Here, Beatrice clearly turns away the idea of love and marriage, going against the status quo. However, once Beatrice hears that Benedick loves her, her views suddenly change, she conforms to the pursuit of marriage and begins to fulfil her socially sanctioned, womanly role. The play at this point becomes conservative, as all the characters are conforming to society’s norms. In Much Ado, Hero is referred to as a “jewel”.
To a great extent, modern audiences would find the portrayal objectification of women very much ominous, especially in the case of Hero. Shakespeare’s depiction of the interactions between Claudio, her future husband and Leonato, her father prior to Hero’s public shaming conveys this. In act two scene one Leonato says to Claudio ‘take of me my daughter, and with her my fortunes’ (2/1/280). Here the two men are discussing the giving of Hero as if she were an object to be traded and that his adult daughter is in no position to decide who she marries. Shakespeare presents the stranglehold that men have over women and furthers the notion that men view women as items to be controlled in Messina culture.
It was said that the greatest night of their lifes is when they marry and lose their virginity to their beloved husband. “ Without sexual purity, a women was no women but rather a lower form of being “fallen women” unworthy of love of her sex and unfit for their company” ( Lavender 2). It was unlikely at this time for the unfit “fallen women” to get married. However in “A Respectable Women”, Mrs. Baroda defies the role of purity when she desires her husband’s friend. In the short story “A Respectable Women” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Baroda the leading women goes against her purity and faithfulness to her husband because she was his friend Gouvernail.
Raluca Gherzan 211571395 gherzanm@yorku.ca Stephanie Hart EN 1001: Introduction to Literary Study November 17, 2011 Rebelling against Societal Restraints The two female protagonists in Scorched and Antigone are given the archetype of the madwoman—Nawal as a cause of her silence and Antigone because of her “crazy death wish” of wanting to bury her brother. The two women feel that they have been wronged and in the end, find an escape. In a patriarchal society where men rule over women, the only choice the two female protagonists see, which could potentially lead others to empathize with them, would be to rebel against societal norms and to disregard human laws. Their motives for rebellion are explored in their character portrayal, as well as through the themes of identity and fate versus free will. The first motive for the protagonists’ rebellion is expressed through the theme of identity.
This forebodes the death of Macbeth and also Lady Macbeth by suggesting that they will not be able to kill the King and live a normal, guilt free life afterwards. Lady Macbeth then creates irony as she mocks Macbeth for thinking this way, she refers to him as a ‘coward’ and insists that this murder is necessary. This part of the play is extremely significant as we realise just how harsh Lady Macbeth is and how far she would really go. She removes any maternal characteristics that she may have had by explaining that her lack of pity would extend so far, that she would murder a baby. “Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out”.
Women were looked at as the weaker sex compared to men. In this play there was a athenian rule which required women to obey there fathers wishes or they could be killed. For example Egeus gave Demetrius his consent to marry his daughter Hermia. She was in love with Lysander and her father told her she should be killed if she doesnt marry Demetrius. In this play a womens life was not valubal to men.
Macduff abandons Lady Macduff eventually leading to her death portraying a weak image of marriage that looks as a foil to the strong marriage of the Macbeth. However, both marriages end up failing; yet separation from the wives, respectively, could save/ saves the husbands. Listening and staying with Lady Macbeth started the inevitable downfall of Macbeth, but separation could have led to a prosperous, powerful life for Macbeth. Immediate separation from Lady Macduff allows Macduff to kill Macbeth. Therefore, I would argue that in Macbeth, William Shakespeare’s denouncement of marriage suggests women hinder the true, righteous nature of men; consequently, showing the inferior nature of women.