by Danielle Lown (Circle 1)
From the very beginning of the semester A Midsummer Night’s Dream left readers wondering if women would ever not get the short end of the stick. We were introduced Hippolyta, an Amazon warrior who turned to love after Theseus won her in battle. We witnessed an epic love triangle between Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius. Also, the fairies even were treated poorly as Oberon put Titania under a spell to take the boy she cared for away from her. The end of the play left me sure that women would never find true love and that they were not taken seriously all within Shakespeare’s plays.
In Twelfth Night we meet Viola, who remains a female character for only a minimal amount of time throughout the play. Viola decided to change her identity to a male servant named Cesario, which proves that once again women do not hold much power because even as a woman Viola was a woman of high class, yet she decided to change into a male of lower class to get anywhere in the world. We also met Olivia, a woman who was mourning the death of her brother, who had decided she wanted her suitor to be of a lower class just so she could still hold power. Olivia was left with the decision to pick her suitor, which was rare for a woman in Shakespeare’s time, but that was because Olivia had been faced with the death of not only her brother, but also her father.
Othello brings yet more sorrow and disrespect towards its women of the play. Desdemona was a woman who was true to her husband, yet the villain of the play, Iago, was able to convince her husband otherwise. As punishment, Othello murders his wife in their bed, a place where they should be conceiving children. Othello believing Iago’s lies and not thinking twice about it shows how disrespected women were during that time. These three plays left me with no hope for the female characters within any Shakespeare play.
Along comes Lady Anne…
Just when I thought that it couldn’t get any worse for a female character within a Shakespeare play Lady Anne is thrust upon us. Lady Anne was persuaded by Richard Gloucester to marry him, even though he killed both her father and her husband. Richard is trying to marry Lady Anne to be closer to the heir of the throne. Lady Anne once tells Richard “Villain, though know’st no law of God nor man. / No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity” (1.2.70-71). Lady Anne is basically telling Richard that he is not a man, yet somehow Richard is able to convince Lady Anne to marry him. Richard hands Lady Anne is sword and tells her to kill him, which she refuses. He then says that he will do it himself, but this she too does not allow. Richard knew that Lady Anne would never allow this, and she falls right into their trap. Which in turn leads to them actually getting married.
Shakespeare portrayed Lady Anne as naïve and as an unrealistic female character. It is totally unrealistic for a woman to turn around and marry the man that murdered both her father and her husband. A woman would be in mourning, much like Olivia, for the deaths of two very important male figures in her life. Instead, Shakespeare created Lady Anne who falls right into the trap of Richard. This is just the smallest steppingstone of what Richard is willing to do to become king.
I can only hope that a female character comes along in a Shakespeare play that proves me wrong that not all his female characters are naïve and fall into any trap set in front of them by a male character, but so far, I don’t predict that this will happen.
Danielle,
I like how you used your knowledge of all of Shakespeare’s works that we have covered so far this semester in your blog post. I think it is important to look at the similarities and differences within the work, especially with the women. Women’s roles in Shakespeare’s plays vary, some have more power than others, but for the most part the women are looked down upon. Lady Anne is definitely one of the worst characters in terms of women’s power and rights. At first she seems to be independent and shows her hatred for Richard. I mean why wouldn’t Lady Anne hate him, he killed her father and her husband! Just as we thought that she would resist Richard, he persuades her to marry him. I wish that Shakespeare would provide girls with a character to look up to as a strong and independent role model, but just like you, I unfortunately do not think that is going to happen.
Danielle,
I love the fact you provided an example from each of the plays we have read thus far about the roles of women in Shakespeare. I’m glad that Lady Anne’s immediate switch from hating Richard to loving Richard bothered you as well. I agree it is completely unrealistic I would NEVER marry any man who harmed members of my own family. It is important to note that Shakespeare makes the rules and that some of his plot points are unrealistic but are important in the play’s progression. This courtship is an outlet for Richard to get Lady Anne out of his way and continue along with his evil scheme. I enjoyed this post very much. If you want an exception Lady Macbeth happens to be a good one, but we are not reading that play this semester, look in it if you’re curious!
Danielle,
I cannot agree more. Shakespeare does not right very strong women roles, and I think that can be in part the fact of the time period, which he rights in. Sometimes the female roles seems so strong but just as they are becoming the female character we are looking for, he them down and “puts them in their place”. I know that is a harsh term but I do not feel, as there are any other words to describe what happens in these plays. I agree and in turn hope that there is that one female role that breaks the chain of events but, I also think that it will not happen, just based on the plays we have read thus far.
Hey Danielle! I absolutely agree with the lack of empowered female characters in Shakespeare’s plays. I would like to mention however, that a few of the female characters have their moments in which they are portrayed as strong (to provide some sense of hope!) While Viola’s action does show that she understands the power the male figure holds in her society, she works that to her advantage in order to get what she wants, which is information about her brother.
As far as Olivia is concerned, it seems like she cannot really help her circumstances, but what she does after losing her brother defines her as what appears to be a pretty strong female character, shutting out men to focus on her lost family, marrying beneath her status in order to maintain control over her assets- she is, I believe, one of the more strategic and powerful female characters of Shakespeare’s that we have covered.
I understand that Desdemona’s obedience ( to a fault) to her husband and the lack of respect for females does indeed make her a hard character to argue, she does have a moment in the play, the day after her wedding night, in which she has agency and speaks confidently with Cassio about her ability to persuade Othello because she has faith in their relationship. Thanks for posting this!
Danielle,
Although I agree that the role of women in most of Shakespeare’s plays is that of accessory or those who are manipulated, I do think that most of the women you have described here are in very different circumstances.
While the women in A Midsummer Night’s Dream were silent by the play’s end, they really did ultimately get what they wanted– marriage to the man they originally pined for.
Another way to look at Viola’s situation in Twelfth Night is that although she as a woman is lower in society than a man, her ingenuity and quick thinking shows more agency and independence in a society which may have been less than ideal for women. Shakespeare here is taking the current situation and social hierarchies and illustrating how a woman has the capability to break those molds. Similarly in Othello, the characters of the play do not necessarily know that Desdemona is cheating on Othello, but the audience knows– another example of Shakespeare portraying a woman as a victim of her society rather than holding up the ideas of that society.
While I do agree that Lady Anne is portrayed as a little naive and unrealistic, I do not think the point was to interpret that as a failure of women in general. I think that the purpose of 1.2 was to display the power of manipulation Richard held over everyone that came in his path.
Overall, you are completely right in your analysis of women in Shakespeare’s society as second class citizens, but I think perhaps some characters can be seen as strong given their situation and the society in which they live.
Danielle,
Unfortunately in this time period, woman had absolutely no power. We can see in the numerous plays we read that this is apparent and yes, although I am bummed about it, it’s expected. I agree with you and your analysis on Lady Anne being completely naïve and agreeing to marry Richard after he did the horrific acts of murdering her father and husband. I know this play needed this scene to represent how evil and malicious Richard really was, but it was completely unrealistic that she would agree to this. I really enjoyed how you broke up the plays we read thus far to remember how each woman was perceived in Shakespeare’s times and in the plays. Although I believe each woman in these plays provide some sort of empowerment unfortunately its not that strong because in each play the woman appear; to not be speaking because they were married and now under men’s control in a sense which is seen at the end in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was unfortunately killed like Desdemona in Othello, and Viola and Olivia were married off in the end as well. The lack of female empowerment is apparent and unfortunately I do not see us reading any Shakespeare’s plays that consist of a strong powerful woman to look up to because woman had no power in these times. Great post!
Well, there’s Portia, she doesn’t fall for a trap, she sets one up. She is a hypocrite. However, she is not only beautiful and cruel, but she is also a very intelligent woman, and she proves it by pretending to be a lawyer. Nonetheless, she, along with almost everyone else in the play, decides to gang up on Shylock, making him lose everything!