Preview

Angelo Measure For Measure Essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1383 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Angelo Measure For Measure Essay
Theme: Male/Female relationships and the role of women * Look at the way Shakespeare explores relationships between men and women in Measure for Measure. Consider how the male characters treat the female characters and in particular, how Isabella reacts to Angelo’s proposition

When Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure in approximately 1604, society was very sexist towards females and men were seen as the stronger sex, however Shakespeare included lots of strong female characters in his plays such as Portia in ‘Mercent of Venice’ and Lady Macbeth in ‘Macbeth’, he was aware that his plays wouldn’t change society and that unlimitedly, women are regarded as subservient to men. They were not allowed to vote, state their real opinions, go …show more content…
One of the main characters Angelo is placed in charge of the city in Vienna by Duke Vincentio. The Duke had been quite an easy going ruler who feels that it is time to clean up the Viennese society and administer a greater sense of honour. He chooses Angelo because of the strong characteristics and principles that he has make him stand out for being the perfect person to do so. Despite his name being a play on the word ‘angel’, he absurdly proves to be the villain of the play and along with several other male figures, he uses not only his gender but also his position of power, to exploit several members of the ‘weaker’ …show more content…
She honestly doesn’t believe that her brother has committed such sin and thinks it is all a story. When she comes to plead for her brother’s life, she is clearly virtuous and innocent; untainted by the ills of society and ready to offer up her life to God. Angelo is overtaken by his desires and attracted to her virtuous nature. He offers the proposition that Isabella ‘yield up’ her body to his ‘will’ and he in turn will grant a pardon for Claudio. The word ‘yield’ suggests Isabella should give in or cower before Angelo’s might as a man and as a ruler. It reflects how Elizabethan men thought of women as possessions, objects and caring about only their bodies and not their souls; that when it came to sex before marriage, women were meant to give up their bodies. Isabella is horrified and refuses, believing that by sacrificing her virginity, she sacrifices her soul. The word ‘will’ shows that Angelo dominates and expects to be obeyed in the ‘relationship’, despite her opinions or rights. As a man in a superior position, Angelo is used to being obeyed and his demands are to be met. This shows us that men treated women as objects to satisfy their
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    How Fiend Like Is Lady Macbeth Essay Example
    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Fiend Like Is Lady Macbeth Essay Example

    Shakespeare reflects the beliefs of his age. People believed in a natural hierarchy in the 17th century often called the ‘great chain of being’. This says that God is at the top, angels beneath God, beneath angels there are humans, men above women. There was a similar hierarchy for society. This stated that the King would rule the country, men would rule women et cetera. It was seen to be sinful and unnatural for a woman to rule a man. In the play Lady Macbeth turns the order of the hierarchy as she seems to be the one ruling over Macbeth. It is not just Lady Macbeth who doesn’t fit into the hierarchy, the witches also do not fit into it because they can neither be classified as men or women because they have female characteristics but also have beards.…

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth - Gender Roles Essay
    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Macbeth - Gender Roles Essay

    Women are typically labeled as inferior and emotional human beings with a nurturing and caring role . They tend to have a harder time today when trying to get jobs that were previously only held by males, for example, high political positions (for example a president). The president is seen as powerful, and a symbol of strength representing the country. Unfortunately, because the stereotypical woman is seen as weak, women were not voted into high-ranking offices. The same unfair balance of gender is seen the same way in Macbeth.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of Language Between Juliet and Lord Capulet
    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis of Language Between Juliet and Lord Capulet

    Shakespeare wrote in the Elizabethan age, so naturally he based most of his plays on the morals and social standards of the time. During the Elizabethan period noble women were expected to be married off to rich, socially acceptable men. Fathers choose the men they considered “suitable” for their daughters, aiming to marry them off to higher social circles to levitate their own. Men were considered the bread winners of the family and women inferior to them. It was thought unconventional for women to make important decisions for themselves, they were incapable and therefore men where to make their decisions for them, not just regarding their marriage.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Acknowledging Female Stereotypes in Much Ado About Nothing Essay Example
    • 1668 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Acknowledging Female Stereotypes in Much Ado About Nothing Essay Example

    Women in the Elizabethan age were extremely repressed and discriminated against. Most would not have gone to school or received any type of formal education. They were not allowed to vote, own property, or freely voice their opinions. They were seen as the property of a man, subject to his wants, needs, and not allowed to have their own; men held extremely stereotypical views of their female counterparts that helped them justify the way they treated them. Shakespeare exposes many of these injustices and biases in his stage plays, which are still commonly read and performed today. In Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio moves from seeing women (specifically Hero) as goddesses and wives to adulterers, and then back again to his original views.…

    • 1668 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ophelia and Laertes
    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ophelia and Laertes

    William Shakespeare (1564-1616) probably didn't know the impact of his words writing "Hamlet" would affect the history of literature, playwriting and poetry. Written at the peak of his career, it's considered his masterpiece and the most controversial of his works, not only because of its philosophical insights into human nature but for showing the reality of the political system during Elizabethan times and the abuse of power. If Shakespeare portrays these issues through strong male characters and their concerns about life, he on the other hand portrayed women still in the way they were supposed to behave and act. Elizabethan women were submissive, subservient to men and they had no voice other than 'I do' the day they married. Such a paradox, as the chief of state at the time was Elizabeth I, considered almost as a supreme being and who intentionally never got married because that would've made her the consort of the King and therefore she would've lost her authority for issues far more domestic. This submission and the fact that they were also dependant on their men relatives made them the perfect tool to forge alliances with powerful families normally through arranged marriages.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Masculinity In Macbeth
    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Examples Of Masculinity In Macbeth

    Masculinity and manhood is a running theme Macbeth. Throughout the play, Shakespeare challenges the traditional gender roles during that time period by having the female counterparts act superior among the men. Generally, men had the power and control over the women; however Macbeth reverses the traditional power division through Lady Macbeth and the witches although it maintains distinction by solidifying the powers men possess. Women during this time were submissive, uneducated, and had no say in society. However, Lady Macbeth’s actions are far from how women typically acted.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Explore the Relationships Presented Between Males and Females, by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, in the First Two Acts.
    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Explore the Relationships Presented Between Males and Females, by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, in the First Two Acts.

    Explore the relationships presented between males and females, by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, in the First Two Acts.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Taming Of The Shrew Analysis
    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Taming Of The Shrew Analysis

    Feminism did not begin in any organized form until 1848 with the Seneca Falls convention, and “women began to realise that in order to transform society they would need their own organisations to do so”(Greenberg). Knowing this, it is obvious that feminism did not exist during Shakespeare’s era, and he was essentially doing something no one had ever had the gall to attempt before. In The Taming of the Shrew, he created a strong willed woman who voiced her opinions and refused to be married off like a object. Most notable in this play is how Shakespeare presents the men; each one in the play is powerful, wealthy, handsome, or a combination of the three, as there is no man that does not have some ability to get what he wants. Yet Shakespeare uses extreme amount of humor, much of it crude due to his being influenced by Marlowe, and intelligent female characters to make the men seem like egotistical idiots. It may have been a social norm to act like an arrogant fool in the Renaissance, but as time goes on and Shakespeare’s plays only become more popular, it becomes more and more obvious that the men and women in the novel are on completely different intelligence levels. Although having only two female characters, The Taming of the Shrew passes the Bechdel Test, which is a social…

    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Macbeth
    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gender Roles In Macbeth

    These include different motifs, types of symbolism, classes, and gender roles. While they all play their own significant parts in the play, probably the most intriguing element is the utilization and distortion of gender roles and their impact on the final outcome of Macbeth. The influence of gender roles in Shakespeare’s life and writing could be attributed to the political conflict occurring in England during that time. A few different female monarchs of this time, most importantly Queen Elizabeth I, either had claims to or did ascend to the English throne. Females at the time were doubted as capable of being sole rulers, as their natures would cause them to be weak and vulnerable to failure. Despite this long-standing view Queen Elizabeth successfully reigned due to the idea of “the king’s two bodies” that disregards gender in the case of being a monarch. (Greenblatt 359-361, 392-393) Like many aspects of court life for play writers, the queen probably influenced the substance of Shakespeare’s writing to some degree. This play in particular contains some intriguing looks at gender roles and even more fascinating female…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Shakespeare Change Over Time
    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Did Shakespeare Change Over Time

    Women couldn't act, go to school, or choose who they wanted to marry. In Shakespeare's time women couldn't act. It was so serious that they even had a law about it. We have lots of women actors now. Some are even more successful than the men. Now we have things like protesting to get paid the same amount as men. At one point women couldn't even vote. Women didn't have much say in anything back then.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Masculinity In Macbeth
    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Masculinity In Macbeth

    In Shakespeare's, Macbeth, (1606), and as in many of his tragic plays, gender roles have an important impact upon the courses of events. Besides the obvious difference of gender, these roles convey a unique and important processes throughout a short, tragic, and bloody play. Weather it's the ambition of a man, and the greed of a woman, their biggest fear of them all, would be fate and their chosen destiny.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Explore the gender roles in Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew
    • 2016 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Explore the gender roles in Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew

    Shakespeare enforces the idea that for a woman to be different, she is an outsider, for example in Macbeth the witches are seen to be outcasts of society. Macbeth refers to them as “imperfect speakers”, the emphasis on the word “imperfect” suggests that Macbeth believes the witches are inferior to him and what they say shouldn’t be taken seriously. Shakespeare gives the idea to the audience that there is a ‘perfect’ speaker, someone who can manipulate him that he respects and listens to. Perhaps his ‘perfect’ speaker is Lady Macbeth, despite the fact that she is a woman Macbeth recognises and acknowledges her thirst for power. Not only are the witches’ outcasts to society, they are also women, who in the Jacobean era would have been considered as the underclass and inferior to men. Women with the power to determine the fate of a higher class man would have been seen as something quite disturbing to a renaissance audience, a woman’s duty was to marry and have and take care of children not to govern the life of a man.…

    • 2016 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet And Ophelia Analysis
    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet And Ophelia Analysis

    In many of William Shakespeare’s works, it is evident that Shakespeare is alluding the lack of intelligence and weakness of women. “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.146), quoted by Shakespeare in Hamlet is an example of this. In Hamlet, Shakespeare depicts characters like Ophelia and Gertrude as demonstrating weakness and being tools of manipulation by the males in their lives. Their actions and fates are greatly influenced by the men's decisions and are led by the men in their lives, which gives them a weak image. Women in the Elizabethan era were reliant on men to make their decisions as they were oppressed and disregarded in society. As Alex Gilbertson states, “this was not a glorious time…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    "Othello": Women Breaking Through Societal Roles
    • 2956 Words
    • 9 Pages

    "Othello": Women Breaking Through Societal Roles

    Women have more rights and freedoms in today's society than in previous eras. The lines between social classes are more relaxed, expectations have been lowered, and a woman speaking out has become more accepted. Today, women are allowed to do whatever men are. This, however, was not always the case. Take, for example, William Shakespeare's play Othello. There are two main female characters in the play: Desdemona, Othello's wife; and Emilia, Iago's wife. Both of these women fit into a certain social category from the time, each category with its own specific expectations and requirements. Throughout Othello, whether or not these women take action to break through the societal expectations has a great effect on their ends.…

    • 2956 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Treatment Of Women In Othello
    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Treatment Of Women In Othello

    Based on the situations that the three female characters of Othello endure it is clear that Shakespearean society viewed women as lesser beings who existed only to serve the men in their lives, and who were supposed to subservient, submissive, pure and above all else obedient. Obedient to their husbands, father, brothers and all men. Patriarchal rule justified women's subordination as the natural order because women were thought to be physiologically and psychologically inferior to men. Although the women in Othello are measured against these ideals and in this society. Shakespeare is not inviting the audience to accept these standards, but rather to assess them with a critical eye. This is shown through his representation of the women and…

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics