... outside Athens. Fairies can be seen playing pranks on lovesick mortals, earnest youths enduring comical romantic confusion, and lovers finding understanding to the true meaning of love. Shakespeare uses the genuine admiration present between the Duke and Queen in contrast to the false attractions of the other characters ... . Serving as an example, Theseus and Hippolyta embody a relationship that remains true. Although they found love on the battlefield, the couple manages to overcome hardship, and is to be married soon. "Four happy days bring ... woman is in need of little convincing an...

• Word Count: 716
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... insistent that Duncan be murdered. This statement is further supported by Macbeth's actions immediately preceding Duncan's murder when Macbeth recounts the reasons why he should not murder Duncan, describing his loyalty and appreciation for the king. Lady Macbeth bluntly states that Duncan must be murdered and tells Macbeth that the murder is a test of his manhood, leaving Macbeth no choice but ... witches, or was it an inevitable fate that Macbeth could not change? The witches predictions all turned out to be factual leading Macbeth to believe that these prophecies were indeed true. Ho...

• Word Count: 979
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , we learn that Claudius murdered Hamlet's father - and then remarried his mother far too quickly. For Hamlet, and for the audience, his mother's behavior is coldly disconcerting; she shows no loyalty to her dead husband, and far too much base desire in her decision to remarry so quickly. Even more significant to Shakespeare's overall treatment of women is Ophelia, Hamlet's love ... is metaphorically doomed - but Hamlet is unaware of the damage she will cause. When Hamlet goes to his mother's chamber and kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, by accident, Shakespeare reveals Ophelia's true ch...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... all the more entertaining. Othello is one such play in which the social status of the main character Othello, the confidence of his wife Desdemona, and the wisdom and fierce loyalty of her lady in waiting Emelia all contradict the stereotypes of the Jacobean era. Othello is a black man in a position of significant social status, Desdemona is a confident and assertive woman ... instruct us so. The accuracy of her statement is particularly valid as she is married to a man who is extremely dishonest. It is arguable that Emelia does not ever become a true representation of the dominant ster...

• Word Count: 1558
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... more often used to described women. Furthermore, it has advantage over the female eye in that it does not "roll", as if with madness or unfaithfulness. Temperateness and loyalty are two idyllic features in a lover, and it is in this gentle perfection as superior version of a woman that the subject finds his power-the power to "steal men ... areas of gender roles-questions which the speaker grapples with in coming to terms with homosexual feelings, as evidenced by the resignation in the poem following the volta. However, the true heart of the poem lies in the curiosity of its meter, whic...

• Word Count: 1124
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , where she states a wife's obligation to her husband. "Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe, and craves no other tribute at thy hands but love, fair looks, and true obedience and when she is froward, peevish, sullen and sour, and not obedient to his honest will, what is she but a foul contending rebel and graceless traitor to her loving ... offers her subservience. The speech carries the message in the play's view of marital harmony, in which husbands provide peace, security and comfort to their wives, who, in return provide loyalty and obedience. Implicitly, messages regardi...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... wrong. Othello tells her peremptorily "Get you to bed on th'instant" and Desdemona exclaims to Emilia "we must not now displease him." The submissive actions of Desdemona show her loyalty and obedience, which further highlights the view of women as tamed. Othello's control over Desdemona emphasizes her role as an angel in the play. Shakespeare uses Desdemona to illustrate the ... is submissive to no one in the play. Shakespeare uses Emilia to show that women cannot be classified as just good wives or strumpets. Emilia's nonconformist acts are a sign of true feminism in Shakespeare. Emil...

• Word Count: 616
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate