The legendary figure of Cleopatra has been represented in film and television throughout the years in such a way that she is no longer a historical figure but a symbolic character used to portray certain ideology. In the 1917 adaptation of Cleopatra, Theda Bara portrays an ominous and threatening version of Cleopatra who uses sexual manipulation to control men. However, the control Bara’s Cleopatra had over Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony was not in the interest of personal relations but as a means of stabilising power through alliances. Around this time women were becoming more animated in the war for equality and the vote. The 1917 filmed showed a contrast between the modern day women’s changing position and the debilitated conditions in history.
Helen being the daughter of the gods Zeus and Leda, and wife of Menelaus, the King of Troy, has been critically depicted and examined for years by critics questioning Helen’s true character. In Katie Olesker’s “the Conflicting Views of Helen, the argument of whether or not Helen is a truly righteous woman is critically examined and has two extremely different arguments. On one side of this dispute, Helen is considered a role model today and in the times of Greece and Troy due to the fact that she leapt boundaries set for woman in Greek and Trojan societies. In Helen’s unwilling departure from troy, her loyalty and patriotism shifted and she whole heartedly devoted herself to the Greek, her true heritage. Homer depicts Helen as a woman beholding qualities such as loyalty and trust, although she left her husband Menelaus for Paris.
Although Anthony in Shakespeare’s Anthony & Cleopatra does undergo a gender role reversal, it is Cleopatra’s role reversal that make her one of the most fascinating female characters in the Shakespearean canon and Anthony & Cleopatra one of the most complex Shakespearean plays. Shakespeare’s Rome is masculine, pragmatic, martial, and a public culture that eagerly strives to fulfill its virtues of military conquest and and peaceful, ordered rule. His Alexandrian Egypt, in contrast, is feminine, domestic, decadent, and individualistic, linked with pleasure –– specifically Anthony’s dalliance with the beautiful Cleopatra (“Anthony & Cleopatra” 1). Anthony’s struggle in the play is an obvious one between his Roman side, and his Egyptian love. The reader continually sees him struggle with his duties to Rome, and his love for Cleopatra, and eventually sees him succumb the feminine ways of Egypt and Cleopatra and leave his masculinity and duties to Rome in the hands of others.
Boudicca, the renowned ‘warrior queen’ and her Revolt of A.D.60 is acknowledged to be a momentous event in history. Dramatized through modern film productions and passionate historians, the concept of actual historical events and legendary myths of Boudicca, have become hazy and the enigmatic nature of herself has become glorified into an infamous female heroine. Alternative interpretations of Boudicca have modified throughout time, whereas nowadays, her biography is depicted as one of “Britain’s greatest heroines…a freedom fighter who rebelled against the Roman government,” however negative representations of her figured prominently in early Modern England as a violent, vengeful character who cared as little for majority of her faithful Britons as of those invading
The end of a dynasty of kings and the beginning of a new dynasty appear from evidence to have been a period of turbulence throughout the Old Kingdom. Everything in the Old kingdom revolved around the King and when there was a problem in one king succeeding another then Egypt was on the verge of chaos. Chaos was something that the king ensured Egypt would not enter. Issues concerning the kings political power and economical instability became increasing problems towards the end of the OK and brought great difficulties for the kings which ultimately effected the whole Egyptian society. This can be seen in problems that all new kings faced but particularly the new king of a new dynasty and in particular in Dynasty 6.
She has a quick eye to see what is weak or ridiculous in man or woman. “Has Signior Mountanto returned from the wars or no?” This is how we are introduced to this fascinating woman who at first seems spiteful and full of scorn. It is perhaps not a coincidence that her very first dialogue in the play betrays her passion Benedick, although it is masked by sarcasm. Benedick and Beatrice’s lengthened relationship is made known to us over the course of the play. They have always had “a skirmish of wits” between them.
She is a woman whom one can look upon in sickness and woe. She is held in the highest regard as an ultimate symbol of feminine grace that is reflected through her way of talking and speaking and even through the feelings and sentiments she expresses. Indeed, grace glows with her beauty. The reticent Shakuntala on the other hand serves as an icon of limpidness, unselfishness, simplicity and diffidence. She is decent in all her words.
A Rendition of Othello through Cixous and Irigaray It is needless to say that the status of women in literature has been subject to much discussion over the centuries. Women’s body, sexuality, position in patriarchal society have been the point of dialogue in numerous works of literature and amongst that, perhaps Shakespeare’s works have been one of the most significant. Shakespeare’s portrayal of women in his works has been assorted in every sense. He has depicted strong characters such as Macbeth, Cleopatra and Viola while at the same time, women of feeble nature such as Ophelia and Hero who wane under the oppression of the patriarchal expectations in their settings. Shakespeare presents three female characters in Othello –Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca each of which represents the diverse view on women.
The fatale woman archetype has been used in films since the beginnings of the film industry. Mystery is the key word related to her, but we also know that she is dangerous, deadly and she brings no good. Yet she has an attractive power and men cannot stay away from her. The archetype has been interpreted and reinterpreted numerous times and it is interesting to observe how a writer or a director can play with this figure. For this analysis I have chosen Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct and I wanted to talk about the similarities and differences of the two, focusing on the powerful female character, the male protagonist and the female gaze.
A Woman’s Portrayal in “To the Troops at Tilbury”, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, and The Tragedy of Mariam As the Renaissance began, we find that, much like the ancient days, women gain and then lose rights as the historical and political faces of Europe change. Even during Queen Elizabeth’s rule, as the de facto King of England, she was forced to uphold the standards given to a woman during the time. However, as we see in her speech “To the Troops at Tilbury” Queen Elizabeth also blurred the lines of masculinity and femininity as she to the role of a true king and all the masculine responsibility and strength that came with the title. As a male writer Shakespeare was able to quietly ask for change in society’s view of women in his satirical sonnet 130. Throughout the entire sonnet he mocks the ideas of women’s perfection in the Renaissance, and shows that no woman is perfect.