Two other females that had nicknames are known as a sexual need in the film because McMurphy invited them over to seduce the guard and Billy. First, women are inferior to men because they were never given a position of power. During the 1960s, woman did not have any experience with power because they still lived in a society where men are taking control. In quote, “These gender roles have been used very successfully to justify inequities, which still occur today, such as excluding women from equal access to leadership and decision – making positions” (Tyson, page 85). Males still see females as patriarchal women, not as leaders or decision makers.
Lady Macbeth is the wife to the plays protagonist Macbeth. I would consider lady Macbeth as not being such a conventional Elizabethan woman being that women in this time where seen as weak and unable to control manly situations however lady Macbeth is shown to be strong and In control of Macbeth which was unheard of in Elizabethan times. An Elizabethan audience would react highly to the sight of a woman being in control of a man because it was seen to be not right to for a woman to be in control being that a man would normally be in control of a woman. The audience will be shocked an astonished by the way in which lady Macbeth acts. However a modern audience will not react as highly as an Elizabethan audience would, as now day’s people are more familiar to women being powerful of different places within society.
Women were ideally supposed to marry a male and take care of the household, as well as taking care of the children. Elizabethan women were raised to know that they were inferior to men; this is shown by the dominance of the males in literature and this era. They were expected to instantly obey their fathers, as well as their brothers. This is what was expected of Elizabethan women, yet Lady Macbeth is portrayed differently to ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is supposed to be the dominant character, yet Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the dominant, and the more controlling character of them both.
The Augustan poets Horace[1] and Virgil are slanted towards Rome, as both were poet laureate to Augustus[2]. Horace’s writing is autobiographical and deals with moral and political issues with Greek and Roman mythology woven into the texture. Horace’s “The Cleopatra Ode”[3] from Odes supports Augustus’ causes and reflects his point of view although not commissioned by him. Cleopatra is depicted as a power-hungry woman seeking to control Rome, the propagandist view spread by
Cleopatra’s contemporaries Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro; October 15, 70 BC – September 21, 19 BC) and Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC) demonstrate this view of Cleopatra in their epic poems. Historians like Josephus, Plutarch, Appian and Dio Cassius, from the first and second century AD, portrayed Cleopatra as a strong political women/figure. Shakespeare’s influence on the story of Cleopatra was of a much more passionate and heartbreaking depiction than views of other historians. Today, Cleopatra is depicted by many films and stories as a manipulating woman, known for her beauty and love affairs and ability to seduce every great leader she encountered. However, depictions of Cleopatra are always susceptible to change, as the production by Mankiewicz in 1963 suggest.
In this way Hero exemplified everything that a women was expected to be. The character of Beatrice on the other hand, was not. Beatrice knew the restrictions that were placed on women and she deliberately was able to escape them by refusing to marry. The women’s opinions and statements are also not as valued as the men’s. This is evident in the disastrous wedding scene between Hero and Claudio.
Women had an inadequate amount of freedom and were expected to conform to the ideologies of society. Antigone’s gender is a major part of the tragedy, her gender affects not only the meaning of her actions, but the consequences as well. In Ancient Greece, the role of men was viewed as more significant than the role of women. Antigone and her sister, Ismene, were very unlike eachother. Ismene was the ideal Greek woman and was the complete opposite of Antigone.
Dominate or Dominated: The Women of Hamlet The word that best describes the women in Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” is dominated. Ophelia not only allows others to dictate her relationship with Hamlet, but she also allows them to use her as a pawn to plot against him. Gertrude shows her dependence upon males by her quick marriage to her dead husband’s brother, and she allows others to use her deceitfully in order to get to Hamlet, as well. Through these examples, it is evident that although they each have strong opinions, Gertrude and Ophelia play subservient roles to the men in their lives and require the need for men to show them what to think, as well as how to feel. In “Hamlet,” Ophelia’s introduction to the audience provides the foundation for her role throughout the rest of the play.
{. By feeling the pangs that we would feel if we were in his place, and by passing our judgments upon himself, Macbeth attaches us to him and consequently to himself to us. We cannot view him with cold objectivity as something strange and apart.} Shakespeare’s Macbeth invokes compassion and empathy for the plays most sanguinary character, Macbeth, who endures his wife’s (Lady Macbeth) insults to his integrity and strength as he struggles with betraying his own values in order to gain status and power (Crowther). Macbeth is introduced as a dutiful subject who quickly becomes known as a tyrant due to the influences of the determined Lady Macbeth, who deeply desires power and status.
There are many similarities to be drawn between the relationships of the protagonists and their spouses, but there also many differences. The traditional roles are reversed and ignored in the start of the play; opposed to Ibsen's A Doll's House (which is the reverse). It's hard to draw comparisons between Torvald and Macbeth, as they are very different characters. Though they are both ambitious, their roles and personalities differ greatly; where Torvald controls in his relationship, Macbeth submits. Shakespeare subverts gender roles like this throughout the play, such as when Lady Macbeth decides her husband is unable to commit the atrocities to sit on the throne and taunts him, insinuating things about his manhood and claiming he has "th' milk of human kindness" (Act 1, 5.15) implying that he isn't strong enough to kill King Duncan.