... to possess qualities such as leadership and strength is not typical, in fact it is seen as masculine and un-ladylike. Many Greek plays contain several complex female characters; Aeschylus is a playwright whom incorporates a very complex female character, Clytemnestra in his play Agamemnon. Although Clytemnestra is one of the most recognizable and noted female villains due to her involvement in the murder of ... roles in everyday Greek life, playwrights incorporate females as major dramatic characters in order to reveal insights on how women were thought upon and treated in society. Aesc...

• Word Count: 1190
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... they fully embody their wants and use their sexuality to obtain what they desire without showing shame. After Matilda has lost her virtue to Ambrosio her character wildly changes and, "she assumes a sort of courage and manliness in her manner and [speaks] no longer to insinuate but to command ... creatures. Beatrice de las Cisternas is a nun who leaves the convent to fulfill her desires and is described by the narrator as, "a character so depraved, she did not long to confine her characters to one being" (134). Beatrice's actions of murder and adultery are somewhat ... but these are acti...

• Word Count: 1567
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , in accordance with their sex. Shakespeare challenges the assumptions made about gender in his own society. He presents gender as a changeable trait, not necessarily corresponding to the sex of the character. Furthermore, he presents gender in a way contradictory to the conventions of his time, through the use of disguise. In Elizabethan times, women were not allowed to act on stage, and ... point that men's love is "more giddy and unfirm" than women's love, and later he says that his love is stronger than any woman's. However, I think that Orsino is a fickle character anyway, and Shake...

• Word Count: 2131
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... their "to-be-looked-at-ness". She offers that female characters add nothing or very little to actual elements of plot and character but rather are subjected to male scopophilia, the fetishistic and voyeuristic, due to phallocentricism and psychoanalytic fear of castration. She laments the way ... is in this isolated world that audiences receive pleasure from observing subjects in this voyeuristic gaze. She uses Lacanian and Freudian theory to explain her castration complex: the idea that men and women have a fear of lacking a penis as a function of our patriarchal society. This leads us t...

• Word Count: 4301
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... she claimed she was shunned by collegues and retired on medical grounds. (Report by Ros Wynne-Jones as cited in The Independant, February 19 1996). There are many different and complex issues surrounding the Sex Discrimination Act, and in some aspects there is no sufficient clarity to what amounts to discrimination within the law. Discrimination cannot be interpreted in one specific ... on the rights of women concerning rape. In cases of rape, the evidence is primarily the word of the man against the word of the woman, however it becomes more complex; inevitably it is the woman who beco...

• Word Count: 2476
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... main aspects of Shakespeare's writing that literary critics assess and praise is his ability to write women that are fully developed and rich in character. Women who were intelligent, willful, and opinionated, were under-appreciated due to the social, political, and artistic milieu in Britain during ... which implies her chastity, is promise that her husband's paternity will never be questioned". However, it can be argued that it is far more complex than that. When Prospero is about to "give" Miranda over to Ferdinand, he sternly warns him not to break the virgin-knot before ... man who...

• Word Count: 2000
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... company that dominates full-length feature animations. Two feature long cartoons, Snow White (1937) and Mulan (1999), are good examples where a female character takes the central role, Snow White being from the first half of the 20th century and Mulan from modern times. Between the times when these ... this sense Mulan is a true liberated heroine, she is independent of anyone else, and makes decisions on her own. Mulan is far more complex than most Disney heroines; she has personal flaws, which make her easier to relate to than other characters. These flaws are ones such as ... (a drag...

• Word Count: 2236
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... wife of an affluent Creole businessman, unexpectedly becomes aware of a sense of discontent in many aspects of her life, which begins to plague her. During her struggle for renewal, her complex, and often problematic, sexual awakening is accompanied by the presence of several other transformations which further complicate her plight. The evolution of Edna's spirit and demeanor is fueled by many ... may refer specifically to one facet of its plot, intended by its author. However, this individual fundamental issue necessitates the emergence of several other "awakenings." The evolution of ...

• Word Count: 980
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate