While the eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, falsely declare endless love which allows them no other joy but their father – and in return receive one third of his lavish kingdom – Cordelia honestly relays that she has ‘nothing’ to say, and upon further persuasion maintains ‘I love you according to my bond; no more, no less’. This angers Lear, who leaves her none of the kingdom and refuses to accept the value of the honesty of Cordelia’s reply over the lies which constitute his other daughters’ replies, despite advice from loyal servants. Lear insists he ‘have no such daughter’ after this response; a very intense reaction to her simple insistence not to spin lies to afford personal gain. This portrayal of family relationships positions the audience to empathise with Cordelia’s quiet but genuine love because we are exposed to thoughts in sidenotes which the rest of the characters can’t hear, such as ‘my love’s more ponderous than my tongue’ which explains her idea of love to the audience – an idea which opposes her father’s. Unlike Lear, Shakespeare positions the audience to realise the calculated nature
Lydia is incapable of seeing the shame she brings on the family through running away to be married, as shown in her letter to Harriet; “I can hardly write for laughing.” Her thoughtless attitude to marriage is highlighted here – although she is motivated by love, she hasn’t thought about the consequences of what she’s doing. This again illustrates a difference between herself and Elizabeth, who tells Lydia later that “I do not particularly like your way of getting
Gentlemen, I beg you to observe these girls: One has just now lost her mind; the other, It seems has never had a mind at all (1.150) said Creon. Creon humiliates his own nieces publicly. Tragic flaw is a very important characteristic for a tragic hero. Both Creon and Antigone have a very strong sense of pride, but Antigone’s tragic flaw is her lack of fight. Antigone was very heroic and brave at first, Creon now punishes her, and she does not fight back, but she simply badmouths her father.
| But Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and favourite daughter, remains silent, saying that she has no words to describe how much she loves her father. | ‘unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth; I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less’ (ACT1SCENE1-86-88)When the loyal Gloucester realizes that Lear’s daughters have turned against their father, he decides to help Lear in spite of the danger. | Regan and her husband, Cornwall, discover him helping Lear, accuse him of treason, blind him, and turn him out to wander the countryside. He ends up being led by his disguised son, Edgar, toward the city of Dover, where Lear has also been brought. | The quote I was given is Act4 scene5 ‘Come on, sir, here’s the place.
None of the three Emilys married or had children, whereas Livesay married and had two children. She discusses this in the lines, “I yet posses another kingdom, barred/To them, these three, this Emily./I move as mother in a frame,/My arteries/Flow the immortal way/Towards the child, the man”. Livesay is also envious of their freedom from domestic responsibilities; this is obvious when the speaker cries out, “Yet they had liberty!”. She also expresses her resentment at choosing typical female route while the three Emilys chose a more masculine route,
This shows the rich were proud and even took pleasure in the reputation and status they owned. Bayardo did not woo her directly but in fact he pleased Angela’s family. Angela did not even know Bayardo and felt no love for him but she was forced to marry him as her mother clearly told her ‘Love can be learned too’. This clearly brings out the psychological thinking and mind set of people. Women had no say in important matters and were considered inferior.
Epikaste was called "that prize"(195) her own son unwittingly married. Some women are known for the deeds of their sons or husbands, but never for a heroic deed of their own, their personalities, and what they do themselves. It seems the only accomplishment women could achieve was being beautiful. Theseus "had no joy of"(195) the princess Ariadne because she died before this was possible. Homer makes it sound as if Ariadne's life was useless because she did not give Theseus pleasure.
Serena Joy the wife of the commander Fred feels a great ability to hold power of Offred especially because of how much despises the fact that Offred has the ability to carry a child and she doesn’t. The way in which Serena’s extent of power is demonstrated is when she inflicts physical pain towards Offred during the ceremony to symbolise that Serena was overpowering Offred and stating that Fred was her husband not hers and that she shouldn’t be enjoying the sex. Serena Joy exerts her power through her fear and by inflicting fear, she fears Offred not being able to conceive a child therefore she is willing to break the rules to ensure that Offred conceives. She does this by arranging secret visits with Nick who is an eye and is meant to be monitoring the commander and his actions. However, whilst Serena feels that she holds power over Offred, she is providing power to Offred by allowing her to feel a sense of agency and a thrilling sense of the ‘time before’.
Caesar disregarded Calpurnia’s pleas simply because he did not want to give in to his wife. Her “foolish fears” were dismissed by Caesar. The relationship between Portia and Brutus was a loving and trusting one. Brutus agreed to confide in her and they both treated each other as equals and with respect. The relationship between Caesar and Calpurnia was not balanced.
She did what she was told without question, even when it went against her own desires, shown when her father ordered her to stop seeing Hamlet, to which she responded with promises that she “shall obey, my lord,” (1.3.136). However, she was not nearly as innocent as she seemed, in my unofficial opinion. Innocence is defined as when one is without guilt, or it can also be thought of as when someone does not have any personal experience with the evil widespread throughout the world. Ophelia’s well of innocence starts to run dry when she confronts her brother, Laertes, on his impending trip to Paris. She says to him, “But, good my brother, Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puff’d and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, And reaks not his own rede” (1.3.46-51).