– The married off woman.
Sunday December 12th 2010, 21:56
Filed under: Shakespeare

Another kind of woman we can find in Shakesperian comedies are the married off woman. They are those who have being married and with that they are safe. They are usually young women who have been under the father’s control, but now they pass to be under their husbands control.

– As first example of this kind of woman we can talk about Miranda’s character in The Tempest. She is the only girl that appears in the play, and whose beauty is incomparable to anybody else. Shakespeare makes her a desirable woman not only because of her beauty, but also because she has never been touched by a man, or even talked to another one. T.

Miranda has been always looked after by her father, the duke Prospero, who gave her a good education, but not experience in real life. This girl could not chose her husband, and Prospero made all the possible, through Ariel (his spirit servant), to make she loves her husband, Ferdinand.

– Then we also can explain the example of Hero, in Much Ado About Nothing, it can be the best example to explain the “daughter archetype”. She is the daughter of Leonato who totally controls her specially with regard to courtship.

Hero is the idylic version of a innocent and sweet girl who fell in love in a wrong way. She is engaged to marry with Claudio.

– Also in Midsummer Night’s Dream we find the example of this kind of women represented by William Shakespeare. Helenia is a slim, blonde and beautiful girl who fell in love with Demetrius, but when he meets Helena’s friend Hermia, he feels inmediately in love with her. The fight for the love because of a man between the girls, and with that, getting married, makes their friendship goes worse. It destroys the women’s trust in each other.




– The witty, but unmarriable woman
Sunday December 12th 2010, 21:31
Filed under: Shakespeare

The last kind of women represented in the comedies is the witty, but unmarriable woman. They are those woman who are described as intelligent, independent and bold, but put on their place at the end of the play.

– First, we can talk about Much Ado About Nothing, where in contrast with Hero (the submissive girl who live under her father control) we find Beatrice. She is a rebellious woman that could be represented as the active role against the conventional submissive view of women at Elizabethan times. Her aim in life is to be equal as men. As contrast with Hero, Leonato does not control over Beatrice’s marriage, as she denies to be engaged. She is playing the assertive role in Much Ado About Nothing, showing herself against agreed marriages and submission.


– In second place we find the character Katherine in the Taming of the Shrew. She is the clear example of the bad tempered girl who does not want to follow any role. She is against marriage and she constantly insults the men around her, making them to feel inferior than women. She shows herself as stubborn, even when she is oblide to get married, although she is against that.



CONCLUSION
Sunday December 12th 2010, 21:14
Filed under: Shakespeare

To conclude, women were considered as a mere instrument in social, politic and public life, as we can clearly see through Shakespeare’s works. At first glance these comedies seem to feed the view that during the Elizabethan period men and women were totally different, having each of them a different status in society, and separated from each other. Men were the powerful ones, those who could receive education at universities. While women were just the contrary, they had always to follow the father or husband’s shade, being obedient and loyal. But as we have studied and analysed deeper the different types of woman represented in the plays, we realise that is far from being the whole truth.

We already know, and it is obvious, that during Shakespeare’s times women were far from being as men, but it is not absolute in all women we have seen. Some characters have the courage to take their fate into their own hands and subvert male authority, even if this occurs in a limited space of action. They are strong female characters who break the fact that all of them are submissive, but those ones refuse to act according to the rules imposed.

In some way Shakespeare has built this kind of rebellious characters as the best source of humour, abusing of these heroins in order to fight for women’s rights in society. But we do not have to forget that usually women get married at the end of the play and be possessed by their husbands.



BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sunday December 12th 2010, 21:11
Filed under: Shakespeare

BRINEGAR Charlton, DEBRA Lynn. Gender and Power, women in the plays of Shakespeare and Lope de Vega. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1988

http://absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/merchant_of_venice/merchant_of_venice.htm

http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/muchado/

http://www.folger.edu/html/exhibitions/unruly_women/

http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/virtualclassroom/essaycontest/sh&education%20of%20women(essaycontest’05win).htm

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare



BIBLIOGRAPHY, used for Shakespeare’s paper
Thursday November 04th 2010, 22:02
Filed under: Shakespeare

  • BRINEGAR Charlton, DEBRA Lynn. Gender and Power, women in the plays of Shakespeare and Lope de Vega. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1988



CONCLUSION
Thursday November 04th 2010, 21:52
Filed under: Shakespeare


To conclude with this paper, we can realise that Shakespeare in his plays used to critised the submissive position from women at this era. As he was against this tyranny that a father, husband or uncle could possess, and with that take opinions or facts that did not belong to them. In Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice breaks the conventions through her acts and freedom, being represented as equal as men, reaching a high social value and great importance compared to man’s superiority ideology.


It is noticeable here that in such era in which William Shakespeare was living it was strange, and at the same time, rebellious, that an author with such characteristics was able to write in so open mind conscious, about women rights, supporting the idea that they do not have to be submissive, but fight and be in equal position with men.



DEVELOPMENT, ROLE OF WOMEN IN SHAKESPEARE, exemplified with MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.
Thursday November 04th 2010, 21:51
Filed under: Shakespeare

Concerning to the principle point to develop in this essay, women role in Shakespeare’s comedies, the author has been considered as feminist by many modern critics. For example Saphiro goes so far as to claim that Shakespeare was “the noblest feminist of them all”. Maybe he was not for sure a feminist, but he had a deep sensitivity toward women. When we look critically to a Shakespearean work, we can see that many of his plays include strong female characters that strive to demolish typical gender role stereotypes. Shakespeare suggests that women may not be the weaker vessel as was commonly believed.

Female characters in specially Shakespeare’s comedies could be classified as heroines, equal to men in intelligence and wit. That is the main reason because we are analyzing this role compared to with the character Beatrice in his work Much Ado About Nothing (1598). This play starts with the coming back from war of many men, and women waiting for them. It is already here when we see the function women had at this moment, men were those who had to fight, and women had just to wait at home, taking care of children and houseworks. It is called the usual patriarchal society of Shakespeare’s times. It is in Messina (Italy) where the plot happens and where Leonato welcomed home the man soldiers, such as Don Pedro of Aragon and Claudio. They, also with Benedick arrive to Leonato’s house and his niece Beatrice was also there. The lady and Benedick had a war of wits, insulting each other, and sometimes it seemed as they were completely in love. The play mainly revolves around two pairs of lovers, in one part Beatrice and Benedick and in the other part, Claudio and Hero, Leonato’s daughter. The plot is envolved around obstacle to the union of the two last mentioned lovers, and the love-hate relationship of Beatrice and Benedick. Benedich thinks he hates Beatrice but in fact it is love and vice versa.

10005481Much-Ado-About-Nothing-Beat

In most Shakespeare’s comedies women are treated as manipulated under the power of men, usually these characters are fathers, husbands, uncles… Even this main objective is reflected in his works, Shakespeare also describes the notion of female empowerment, being strong, independent… but without forgetting the also repressed women who are submissive. According to Shakespeare’s works we can differ many kinds of women represented in plays, depending on the situation the girl is from the leader as can be the father, uncle or husband. In the case of Much Ado About Nothing, we have a clear example of “niece and daughter archetype”. In this case female characters are described as submissive and easily controlled.

Much-Ado-About-Nothing-2009-Poster-web

To start with the example of Hero, it can be the best to explain the example of a “daughter archetype”. Hero is the daughter of Leonato, her father and the leader, Hero lives under total control, especially with regard to courtship. Along the story we see many examples that clarify this control, as for example in this quotation: “Daughter, remember what I told you. If the Prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer”. Don Pedro wanted to ask Hero’s hand in marriage, and in this case the father had to choose the answer, considered correct according to him. So he is not only influent in her actions, also in her words. Hero does not show sign of acting under her own volition anywhere in the play.

Then we have another example in the play who represents the power of women, it is Beatrice, the niece of Leonato. She is brave and with a strong character. She shows it for example when she interrupts the conversation between Leonato an a Messenger. It is like she is able to do it, she feels strong and she does not find any inconvenient of doing this “rude” act at Elizabethan times. It is the act which shows it:

(Act 1, scene 1)

BEATRICE: I pray you, is Signior Mountanto returned from the
wars or no?

Messenger: I know none of that name, lady: there was none such
in the army of any sort.

LEONATO: What is he that you ask for, niece?

HERO My cousin means Signior Benedick of Padua.

Messenger: Oh, he’s returned; and as pleasant as ever he was.

BEATRICE: He set up his bills here in Messina and challenged
Cupid at the flight; and my uncle’s fool, reading
the challenge, subscribed for Cupid, and challenged
him at the bird-bolt. I pray you, how many hath he
killed and eaten in these wars? But how many hath
he killed? for indeed I promised to eat all of his killing.

(Act 1, Scene 1 Before LEONATO’S house – of the complete works .

Beatrice is the clear example of heroine who is known for her firm opposition to marriage and for her verbal dueling with Benedick. With these acts Beatrice breaks the conventions through her speech freedom.


With both characters we have explained before we have a clear opposition between them and their roles. Beatrice is a strong and rebellious woman who protest against the conventional attitude of women at Elizabethan times. She presents herself as equal to man, as she can argue, fight, judge, speak… Being much different than Beatrice we find the daughter of Leonato, Hero who represents women’s submission. She is a docile and sweet girl who always follow the opinion of her father, doing always what he wants, as the fact of being marriage to Claudio, whose agreement was from the father’s part. She does not speak almost nothing, and she does it, it is never about herself or reveling against something, it is because she wants to see together Beatrice and Benedict together, taking an active role. But generally she always agrees and obeys without opposition all the decisions taken by men.



INTRODUCTION
Thursday November 04th 2010, 21:30
Filed under: Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in 1564, and died 54 years later. His studies were based on Latin rethoric, logic and literature. In just 23 years he is attributed of writing 38 plays. He is the most widely fead of all authors and his life and works popularity, in English speaking countries, is the second, after only to the Bible. That is why the interest and importance about this author. His work as playwright what brought fame to Shakespeare in this era. His production, in a total fourteen comedies, ten tragedies and ten historical dramas, is an exquisite compendium of feelings, pain and ambitions of the human being.

william-shakespeare-i

Referring to his comedies we can distinguish its fantasy and the poetic sense in this period, as for example in Midsummer’s Night Dream; the prodigious domain of the author in versification permitted him to differ characters depending on the way they talked. Such characteristic as the language made of his plays the most famous and read thanks to the naturalness of its usage.

From 1600, Shakespeare published his great tragedies and the calles “obscure comedies”. Later, in 1608 changed the register and started in the tragic-comedy genre, often with a happy ending.

Shakespeare only published sixteen of his plays while he was alive. That is why some of his plays could be lost and consequently, not published.

Concerning to the principle point to develop in this essay, women role in Shakespeare’s comedies, the author has been considered as feminist by many modern critics. For example Saphiro goes so far as to claim that Shakespeare was “the noblest feminist of them all”. Maybe he was not for sure a feminist, but he had a deep sensitivity toward women. When we look critically to a Shakespearean work, we can see that many of his plays include strong female characters that strive to demolish typical gender role stereotypes. Shakespeare suggests that women may not be the weaker vessel as was commonly believed.



Conclusion
Thursday November 04th 2010, 21:09
Filed under: Discurso Político

Summing up this essay, we have clearly realised how much he expresses his socialism idea through the text, talking always against totalitarianism of the epoque. We can find an article he wrote called Why I write” (1947), where we can read his thoughts. “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for socialism… Animal Farm was the First Book in which I tried, with fall consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and a artistic purpose into one whole”.All the experiences related with his young life, at Spanish Civil War , where the main influences in his long work, and we can see that reflected in “Animal Farm”, but also his splendid artistic style, as the novel tried to focus in politics but also its influences in the English Language. At these times English was in a very bad state, and as a consequence it lead to a decayed civilisation. So it is obvious that this fault has a cause in politics. But Orwell is one of the writers who spoke more about politics joining it to a excellent artistic style.


Animal Farm was one of the best satyrical and historic books that Orwell published along his life. He treated the Russian problematic; as he criticized the Russian system, this book has not a proper acceptance in Great Britain, because it was a clear ally of the Russian government. Orwell analyse each member of Russian society representing them by animals, and their politics function. There is a clear revolution against Communism, as Orwell was so conscious about it. Some of the patterns he points he follow when he write the book were: democracy as ideal political system, critics to doctrinarian socialists, Communism critics, Man in front of power, abuse of power, defense of freedom, freedom of thoughts, speech freedom, use of propaganda, search for the truth, history destruction, concern about social injustice… These are some of the main points Orwell referred to in the book, always in an allegorical way, representing these facts through animals and their environment. That is why we have to read the text as we were reading a political treaty, not a simple novel.



Bibliography used in “Political Symbolism in Animal Farm, by George Orwell”
Thursday November 04th 2010, 20:42
Filed under: Discurso Político