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Shakespeare and The Renaissance Women: With Special Reference to Henry IV
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Shakespeare and The Renaissance Women: With Special Reference to Henry IV.
I analyze the status of women in Shakespeare's plays. did they have any feminist undertones or otherwise?
William Shakespeare is a past master in creating life-like characters in his plays. There is a large range of male and female characters in his plays painted in different shades of colours in life. Some of his female characters like Cordelia in King Lear, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet are exceptional.
Shakespeare portrayed a wide range of female characters that encompassed different strengths and qualities. Some of his most notable and strong female characters include Cordelia from King Lear, who comforts her father in his time of need; Portia from The Merchant of Venice, who cleverly disguises herself as a judge; and Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, who courageously pursues her love against her father's wishes. While some characters like Lady Macbeth wield power over men, others like Desdemona demonstrate strength through their independence and determination. Overall, Shakespeare created multidimensional female roles that were often just as spirited and influential as the male characters.
Representation of Women in Shakespeare's Plays, an Occasional PaperRosielyn Mae Bolon
The document discusses Shakespeare's portrayal of women in his plays, noting that while he depicted the stereotypes of the time, he also challenged them. It provides examples of strong female characters like Hermia, Juliet, and Portia who defy social norms. While 16th century English society viewed women as weak, passive, and subordinate to men, Shakespeare showed women as intelligent, defiant, and able to resist patriarchal standards through characters like Kate and Portia. The document argues Shakespeare gave voice to women and showed their complexity amid a male-dominated era.
Women in Elizabethan England were legally, socially, and economically subservient to men. Religion reinforced the idea of male superiority through texts like the Homily on the state of Matrimony. In Shakespeare's comedies, however, the female characters often drive the plot development and demonstrate wit and intelligence that challenges stereotypes of women being weak and submissive.
This document discusses the role of women in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, focusing on the two main female characters Portia and Calpurnia. It provides historical context about the limited rights of women in Elizabethan England when the play was written. Portia is characterized as strong-willed yet loyal to her husband Brutus. Calpurnia correctly interprets omens to understand Caesar's true nature. The document argues that women today have more freedom and agency than those portrayed in the play, though Portia's loyalty is less common now.
The document summarizes how the empowerment and role of women has changed over time as evidenced through literary texts. It discusses three main eras - the Elizabethan era where women had extremely limited rights and roles, the Victorian era where women were largely confined to the home as housewives and mothers, and the "Jazz Age" of the 1920s where women began to break free from social bonds and restrictions after World War 1 and the industrial revolution. Key literary texts from each era like Shakespeare's plays and poems by Tennyson are referenced to illustrate the experiences and perspectives of women at those different points in history.
Courtly love was a conception in medieval Europe where noble knights expressed love and admiration for ladies in a secretive yet chivalrous manner. It generally occurred between members of the nobility and not within marriage. Courtly love began in the 11th century courts of Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne, and Burgundy and was experienced through erotic desire and spiritual devotion. The troubadours who popularized courtly love through song were mostly rich young men using the Occitan language and preferring the verse and musical forms of the south, while northern knights favored epic poems of chivalry like Arthurian tales.
Courtly love was a code of conduct between knights and ladies that developed in the 12th century and spread across Europe. It involved strict rules where married nobles could express romantic feelings outside of marriage through poetry, favors, and chivalrous acts. A famous example is the legendary romance between King Arthur and Guinevere. The tradition helped temper violence during the Middle Ages and elevated the social role of women, though it did not significantly change women's legal status.
More Related Content
Shakespeare and The Renaissance Women: With Special Reference to Henry IV
1. Shakespeare and the
Renaissance women: special
reference to Henry IV
Shakespeare and the rennaisance women:
With Special Reference to Henry IV
3. Renaissance
Renaissance means re-birth or re-awakening.
Renaissance originated in Italy in the 13th century.
Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine empire fell to the
Turks on 1353. This is taken as the official date of the
beginning of Renaissance.
When Renaissance came to northern Europe, Shakespeare
and his plays were made into a symbol of free thought,
anticlericalism and opposition to dogmas of society.
Shakespeare wrote extensively on a variety of genre be it
tragedy, comedy or tragi-comedy.
His plays were not a one-man show unlike Marlowe, with
women characters sharing the stage almost close if not equal
to his male characters.
4. Brief History of I Henry IV
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have
been written no later than 1597.
It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive
reigns of Richard II, Henry IV (two plays), and Henry V.
Henry IV, Part 1 depicts a span of history that begins with Hotspur's battle
at Holmdon against the Douglas late in 1402 and ends with the defeat of the
rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403.
Shakespeare's primary source for Henry IV, Part 1, as for most of his
chronicle histories, was the second edition (1587) of Raphael
Holinshed's Chronicles.
Much of the primary narrative of the tetralogy deals with Kings, empires,
battles and the male characters whilst women characters don’t carry much
weight as far as the progress of the plot is concerned.
5. The role of women in Renaissance is
mentioned highly. But “did women have a
renaissance?” is a question that is asked
even today.
The plays of Shakespeare can be used as a
window upon Renaissance society.
In his plays Shakespeare portrayed the
difficulties and the oppression women
experienced by their male counterparts
and societal institutions that withheld such
subordinating beliefs.
It is through his playwriting ability that he
was able to give women of his time a voice
and action on the stage.
The Renaissance Women
7. The Tragic Innocent Women
Pure and chaste at the beginning of the play, and tragically die
once their innocence is lost.
These characters are generally courtly, high born characters such
as Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Lavinia from Titus Andronicus or
Ophelia from Hamlet.
The Scheming Femme Fatale
Lady Macbeth is the archetypal femme fatale. In her ambition to
become Queen, she encourages her husband to murder.
King Lear’s daughters, Goneril and Regan, plot to inherit their
father’s fortune.
8. Rosalind in As You Like it and Viola in Twelfth Night both dress
as men.
As “men”, these characters have more freedom, highlighting
the lack of social liberty for women in Shakespeare’s time.
Falsely Accused of Adultery
Women in Shakespeare’s plays are sometimes wrongly accused
of adultery and suffer greatly as a result.
For example, Desdemona is killed by Othello who supposes her
infidelity.
Women who dress as Men
9. Women in I HENRY IV
In I Henry IV, the characters of the women are not equally
developed as the male characters.
Elizabethan society was marked by gender separation, both
publicly and privately. Lady Percy does not play an active
role outside of Hotspur's private life.
Women were given the power to speak, but they were not
necessarily heeded as worthy to be listened to. This is
notable when Lady Percy shows assertion to Hotspur: "I'll
know your business, Harry, that I will” while Hotspur says
“Away, away you trifler!”
10. Women were "objects of male desire and dependent on that
desire for their status, livelihood even their lives”. Lady
Mortimer speaks no English, yet even without communicating
with her husband she is able to display her dependence.
Woman's honour reflected her husband's honour; a wife was a
husband's most precious possession.
Lady Percy displays her reliance on her husband when she
decrees "for since you love me not,/ I will not love myself”. Her
sense of self-worth is based upon her husband's perception of
her.
11. Feminist work has changed the perspective with which
we view Shakespeare's plays today, and allows us to ask
questions that before went unanswered. Hotspur's
relationship with his wife would not have been
questioned by Shakespeare's audience, the question is a
phenomenon of modern society. However, in order to
understand Shakespeare we must place ourselves
historically, remember the values of the Renaissance and
put aside the values explicit of the twentieth century.
Conclusion