Coriolanus by Shakespeare Although she barely speaks, Virgilia is the most important character in Coriolanus. Virgilia is integral to Coriolanus particularly in her role as foil to Volumnia. Virgilia is the wife of a Coriolanus who is a warrior in Rome. In contrast to his mother-in-law, Volumnia who values war and is made happy by his son’s involvement in the war, Virgilia does not encourage war for his husband. This shows that Virgilia is a woman of peace and does not value battle between the people.
Only one of the women in this play survives. All the women have no separate identity within the play; all three are married or associated with a male character. Bianca is the mistress of Cassio, Emilia is married to Iago and Desdemona is married with Othello. According to the time that the play was written in and the general hierarchy within Venetian society men hold all the power and women are considered to be of low intellect. Yet it is the women that speak the most sense throughout the play and it is also the women that are able to trust other characters in the play.
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. While Anthony’s role reversal is caused by this love for Cleopatra, Cleopatra’s role reversal is due to her role as the villain in Anthony & Cleopatra. Their role reversals differ also in the fact that Anthony moves from being a masculine Roman to a feminine Egyptian, Cleopatra does not relinquish her feminine virtues, but instead defines herself as neither masculine nor
Phyllis Rackin thinks part of this may have to with Shakespeare's lack of trust and confidence in his wife. She states: "A possibility is that William did not trust Anne to manage the family property. Her absence from the legal records of all William's financial affairs might mean that Anne had an exceptionally passive role in the economic affairs of the Shakespeare family" (39). So although I admit that there is evidence for the idea that Shakespeare wasn't respectful to all women, there is also substantial proof that despite this, he was still influenced by the many women in his life. Whether he truly admired them or simply wrote the female characters for financial gain is something that cannot be known for sure.
Bradstreet also shows identity for the Puritan men that criticize her work because men had more talent and skill, which come in handy in the society, but she sees that it’s unfair. For the men in her community she talks in stanza five, denying her writings, claiming Bradstreet’s works are “stolen”, or else it was by chance”. She writes in her poem in stanza seven, “Men have precedence and still excel, it is but vain unjustly to wage war,” in the beginning of the poem, stanza two, “Fool I grudge the Muses did not part, ‘Twixt him and me that over fluent store". These lines show that Bradstreet felt that it was not fair because men and women had different roles. Ruiz 2 During the time women had to stay home and take care of the house hold things, meanwhile men did the labor, which Bradstreet wants men and women to have the same rights.
The theme of feminism in King Lear Although the main character in King Lear is typically a man, the female characters are a driving force in the plot. Their responses to their father’s request for them to declare how much they love him, influences the rest of the play. The fact that this happens in the first scene of Act One underlines the importance of the female characters to the plot. Shakespeare typically chose a male protagonist as the title character for his play but as in his other plays he has created strong, powerful female characters. Throughout the course of the play, the female characters are seen as powerful figures who are more ruthless than the men.
Shakespeares portrayal of female characters in the play Hamlet mirrors the way in which women were perceived in his day. The actions of the characters Ophelia and Queen Gertrude are often heavily swayed by the words of the male characters. In the play, the male characters think of the women as archetypes, who do not make choices for themselves, and thus the female characters behave as though they are helplessly caught up in the plot and unable to change their situation’s. Hamlets lover, Ophelia, is by far the most piteous character in the play. Although it was Hamlet who wooed her, and with whom she was intimate it is Hamlet himself who later chastises her for her impious actions.
In Act IV, Desdemona portrays both loyal characteristics and qualities of innocence. In Act I she tells her father “You are the lord of duty, I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband…” (1.3.184-185). As Othello’s perspective and motive changes throughout the play, Desdemona’s characteristics alter minimally. Desdemona’s innocent, loyal, and honorable traits contribute to the theme that things are not always as they seem due to Othello’s failure to recognize them in his moments of jealous accusation.
Iago believes “bewixt my sheet He’s [Othello] done my office”, meaning Othello has had sexual relations with his wife, Emilia. Iago’s pride has been severely bruised, he now feels displaced in his private life by Othello and in his working life by Cassio. Reading on in the play, Othello seems to be a very moral character, a complete contrast to Iago. We see how in love Othello is with Desdemona and as an audience we find it very hard to believe that this is true, Othello would never do such a thing.
Cordelia takes on this role by unconditionally loving her father and furthermore forgiving Lear for banishing her, which is seen when she says “No cause, no cause.” (4.7). Edgar takes on a similar role by forgiving his father for going against him when he was tricked by Edmund and taking care of Gloucester in his blindness at the end of the play. The other characters, however, give into temptation and sin more frequently. Pride, for example, is a prominent sin that affects many characters, Lear being a prime example. Lear's pride keeps him from listening to the advice of Kent, the king's most loyal follower, after he banishes Cordelia and admitting he may have been wrong.