Important Role In Shakespeare's Plays 5 example essay topic

Women in Shakespeare's Plays 1. Appearance and Behavior - women are adorable creatures of sweetness and grace, phantoms of delight - they are angels of purity and they are "good" - they are the most enchanting women in literature and they are beautiful, but Shakespeare could not describe them in detail - their voices are charming, beautiful and well-placed - they seem to exist only in their attachment to others 2. Roles in the plays - in more than half of Shakespeare's plays, women have the most important role - often, they are cleverer and braver than men and they take the initiative in order to save someone else's life, whereas men remain passive (Portia) - Shakespeare had no heroes, only heroines -most of these are faultless, steadfast in grave hope and errorless purpose - the wittiest and most playful of these heroines is Beatrice: she forsakes her pride and her contempt after she realizes that she has fought against her inclinations long enough and that she is attracted to Benedict (Much Ado About Nothing) - especially these energetic, intelligent and ready-witted women were uncommon in the Elizabethan age, but they delighted the spectators most 3. Love between women and men and their relationship - women throw themselves at the necks of the men they have decided to love without much understatement but with utter abandon - Shakespeare's heroines are taught by the force of feeling and they are ruled by love - Shakespeare seems to take it for granted that if a girl is really in love, she will marry the man who has won her heart - no matter what stands in the way - often, love turns to hate and disgust and men start to regard all women as prostitutes (Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing) - women are often innocent victims of masculine jealousy and paranoia (Desdemona in Othello / Hero in Much Ado About Nothing) - different relationships between wife and husband 1. male supremacy, women are in an inferior position - women accept the male supremacy and are willing to tolerate male infidelity 2. wife is an equal partner or even in a dominant position 4. Religion and women - religion was very important in the Elizabethan society and there were an increasing number of burned witches during this period - demoniac women also play an important role in Shakespeare's plays (the witches in Macbeth and also Lady Macbeth herself) 5. Relation between fathers and their daughters - the relationship between father and grown-up daughter is often a main theme (maybe biographical background, because Shakespeare had two daughters) - fathers often try to arrange the marriages of their daughters Reported by Christina Germen and Annette Gender, April 1996 Sources: 1.

P eyre, H. "Shakespeare's Women -- A French View", Yale French Studies, #33, pages 109-113,115-1162. Wagenknecht, Edward. The Personality of Shakespeare. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972, pages 80-873. Wild, H.D. Shakespeare: Prophet For Our Time. Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973, pages 20-22, 35-37+.

4. Byrne, C. Elizabethan Life in Town and Country. London: Methuen and Company, 1947, pages 155,162-5+. 5. Rose, A.L. and Harrison, G.B. Queen Elizabeth and Her Subjects.

London: G. Allen and Unwin, 1935, pages 128-31.6. Black, J.B. The Reign of Elizabeth. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959, pages 267-79..