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Comparing Women In Hamlet And Much Ado About Nothing

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Shakespearean literature routinely involves commentary or criticisms on the social circumstances of Elizabethan society, often concerning the relationship between men and women. The plots of Shakespeare’s works frequently establish situations of male dominance wherein the female characters must learn to navigate. This power imbalance proves itself to be dangerous and destructive through the multitude of problems that arise within unequal relationships between male and female characters. However, when this power imbalance is struck down and a sense of equality is established, many of these problems cease to exist. This idea is especially stressed in the plays Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing is a comedic play following the romantic relationships of various characters, while Hamlet is a tragedy centered around Prince Hamlet and his efforts to avenge wrongs committed …show more content…

Ophelia seeks advice from her father, Polonius, concerning her relationship with Hamlet. “My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honorable fashion...and hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, with almost all the holy vows of heaven” (1.3.110-114). To which Polonius responds that Hamlet’s vows are “Springes to catch woodcocks,” and tells Ophelia to “Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence. Set your entreatments at a higher rate than a command to parley” (1.3.115-123). Ophelia, convinced by her father’s claim that she has mistaken Hamlet’s love, assumes that her father knows all that is best for her and replies simply, “I shall obey, my lord” (1.3.136). This conversation is imperative in establishing the power imbalance between men and women in Hamlet, specifically emphasizing Ophelia’s place of inferiority to the male figures in her life. It is this lack of disobedience to the male dominance of Ophelia’s that leads to her

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William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing plays with gender roles fluidly through the characters’ behavior. Leonato portrays fluid gender roles, a character rarely paid attention to. Taking on a feminine role by breaking the stereotypical male model of the Elizabethan era by having compassion for his daughter. Hero has matured in a male-dominated world and has a lack of a female role model, Leonato takes on a feminine role. The Elizabethan era has stereotypical gender roles, but as the play moves on we see changes in the characters attitudes by saying O Fate!

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478 Words | 2 Pages

After the death of her father and departure of Hamlet, Ophelia arrives at the castle and pays an unsolicited visit to the royal majesties. She sings, “Young men will do’t, if they come to’t./ By Cock, they are to blame” (4.5.60-61). This passage is often interpreted as Ophelia airing the grievances that Hamlet has committed toward her--namely, he used her solely for sexual pleasure and discarded her when he lost interest. In summary, Ophelia exposes the double standard prevalent in her society: to a man, a woman’s value lies only in her virginity. She blames “Cock”, which represents the patriarchy at large, for society’s willingness to excuse male lust and irresponsibility.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

In Shakespeare's time period, gender roles were viewed strongly where men would do almost anything to be “the man” while women usually stayed quiet. His play, Much Ado About Nothing, was a romantic story that contained genuine developing relationships centered on love. The antagonist, Don John, was jealous of the love around him and sparked turmoil that tested the loyalties and bonds of the other characters. In Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare, the character Leonato contains the societal mindset of needing a distinguished reputation most highlighted by his sacrifice to send Hero into isolation to avoid shame and maintain his relationships with other honorable men. The meaning of the play as a whole was about love and it’s different forms.

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709 Words | 3 Pages

The play Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare is based in the Elizabethan Era which was a time when women had little input in decisions while men dominated society. The difference in power between the two sexes is shown in this play displaying how little power women had over their own lives. The character Beatrice who is one of the most powerful women in Shakespeare’s plays shows her disdain for this fact throughout the play trying to regain some sense of power over her own life. During the Elizabethan Era the social and educational opportunities for women were quite limited most women during this time could only be a maid or a cook; women could write literature but they were rarely published.

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740 Words | 3 Pages

William shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing scrutinizes the use of language, stylistic techniques and conventions to represent 16th century Italy. Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ uses examples such as gender representations, class struggle and courtship and marriage to represent times back in 16th century Italy. Shakespeare exposes the unfairness of gender in 16th century Italy by having the characters use witty repartee and by creating contrived situations. Gender representation in 16th century Elizabethan time differentiated from how it was interpreted in Much Ado About Nothing. The treatment of women living in 16th century Italy was barbaric.

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1060 Words | 5 Pages

The play, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by William Shakespeare exhibits how female characters struggle to uphold authority and power, which could be due to the time it was set in, the Elizabethan era. The Elizabethan era prevails in a hierarchy system, whereby women are perceived through a chauvinistic eye and deemed as inferior to men. Hero reveals how her lack of power leaves her in a helpless situation when men try to slander her. Secondly, despite the efforts Beatrice puts in to help Hero, she remained powerless as she was degraded and embarrassed through commentary. However, the power of love over-rules the inferiority of women, which was revealed through a change of character in benedick when discovers Beatrice’s ‘love’ for him.

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Would you believe it if a story revolving around intelligent solid female characters who challenge traditional gender roles was made more than 400 years ago? With an intense focus on dismantling stereotypes, how is this play so ahead of its time, and what can we learn from it? Shakespeare's ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ explores progressive themes of gender and the harm of social conventions which hold much importance in the modern-day era of education. Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the greatest playwrights known to man, while his works are a cultural phenomenon on their own, they bring a great deal of academic value that offers a fresh array of debate around social commentary issues.

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Every modern society since the beginning of time has painted the female as frail and individuals at the mercy of men, unable to reap the same freedoms and aspirations as their male counterparts. The English Renaissance is no different as women were not allowed to play themselves on stage, and more often than not were seen as weak characters in their portrayal. In Shakespeare's “Hamlet”, all the female protagonists all have flaws that eventually leads to them meeting their deaths. The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude are two different women trapped in the same predicament, partly being due to the inefficacy of being taken seriously, and are therefore perceived as feeble women; looking at the persona of Ophelia, she tends to follow the direction

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William Shakespeare wrote many plays in his time, many of which deal with important and still relevant themes in life, either the comedic side or the tragic side. The plays Twelfth Night and Hamlet are both surrounded by uncertainty, but differ in their central themes and endings. In both plays, the characters are frequently confused and uncertain, but this stems from different places. In Twelfth Night, the confusion surrounds the genders of the characters, as a girl is dressed as her twin brother.

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This provokes him to say that god gives women one face, but they use make up to paint on another one. This quote suggest that Hamlet sees woman as naive and gullible creatures, as he sees Ophelia as nothing but an object that is owned by her father, as she is helping him with all of his dirty work. Hamlet believes that woman cannot be trusted as they have are deceiving. He also sees Ophelia as a grown women who is unable to make her own decisions. Hamlet is utterly disgusted by how feeble Ophelia is as she was following her father's scheme.

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607 Words | 3 Pages

My creative response to Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" has been inspired by the complex themes explored through its characters and symbols, such as gender roles, love, and marriage. I found myself particularly drawn to how the issues of gender roles, societal expectations, love, and marriage were perceived differently in the Jacobean era. I focused on the characters of Beatrice and Benedick and contrasted them with the characters of Claudio and Hero. Through the characterization of Beatrice, Shakespeare challenges traditional gender roles by presenting a woman who is witty, independent, and unafraid to challenge the men in her life. Beatrice's verbal sparring with Benedick is a prime example of this, as she belittles his self-importance and challenges his masculinity.

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1478 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout Hamlet, the thoughts, intentions, and actions of all of the characters can be explained through predisposed gender roles in the play. Hamlet is a tragedy in which the main character, Hamlet, attempts to seek vengeance for his father’s murder, while the relationships with him and around him begin to strain. In the play, gender plays a huge role in assuming the capability and worth of people. Women are most commonly depicted as being weak, powerless, and confused, while men are commonly shown as being strong, analytical, and intuitive. Hamlet features Ophelia and Gertrude as the only two female roles, and even then they show little independence from the males.

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396 Words | 2 Pages

Shakespearean Misogyny In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, are repeatedly manipulated and exploited by the men in their lives. They submit to male authority and oppressive societal customs because they have no other options. Gertrude and Ophelia are placed in this situation because of a male-dominated society that blames women for sexual immorality and corruption. Hamlet’s views about women are consistent with the commonly-held views of his peers.

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609 Words | 3 Pages

Ophelia subsequently enters the room to speak with her father and clarifies that Hamlet appeared unexpectedly and entered her room and grabbed her "by the wrist" (2.1.87). Ophelia has been refusing to talk to Hamlet and sending him letters under Polonius' orders, "but as you did command" (2.1.106). This passage demonstrates the dominance of men over women throughout this literary era. Additionally, Ophelia's revelation to her father that Hamlet actually loves her encourages Polonius to alert Claudius of Hamlet's actions, “. Come, go we to the king.

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet does not value Ophelia 's feelings he belittles her. In Hamlets defense this is the way he was brought up to treat women, during that time this was a common way to treat a women. Even though in today 's society it is not at all ok to treat women with such disrespect. He also likes for everything to go as planned and this may result in why he can not have a stable relationship with a woman. This also causes him to have many stumbling blocks in his life that causes some emotional pain

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