In the face of Roderigo's urgent persuasions, Violenta claims to be "a maidwho knows the the true estimation of virtue" and counters his dramatic claims of death by simply stating, "You very eloquently tell me you shall die if I continue unkind; but I very plainly tell your Lordship, that I must perish if I prove otherwise: since I know it will be impossible for me to live after the loss of my honor" (146). Violenta reiterates the conventional belief of the time: the notion that the value of a woman's life is linked irrevocably to her virginal status, and, that a ...

• Word Count: 1986
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Graduate

In Twelfth Night, the reader meets two female characters who are different from Hermia in many ways, but who are affected similarly by the constrictions of the dominant social norms that determined how women should act and what they could reasonably expect from life. ...

• Word Count: 2208
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate