Each week I will answer the question, "What image of womanhood is represented in this piece and how does that image uphold or subvert Renaissance expectations regarding the female gender?" for my English 302 class.
Week 1 through 8 is about women who voice their opinions and don't stand behind. They let the male do all the talking. The female characters are all strong women and characters that everyone would like because they are fighting for a cause. The characters are respectful. Week 9, we will explore a different type of female characters. These female characters are wicked.
I love this version of "Much Ado About Nothing" because the scenery is fantastic. The director did well by showing how beautiful nature is. The video I have posted above is the beginning of the movie, when Beatrice insults Benedick. Beatrice like many of Shakespeare's female character don't act the part of a Renaissance women. A Renaissance women is suppose to speak highly of men not insult them.
Very easily possible: he wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block.
(Act 1. Sc. 1.)
The quote that I stated above shows how Benedick and Beatrice's relationship is like love and hate. Beatrice is insulting Benedick without him being present.
Beatrice is a woman just like Katherine from "The Taming of the Shrew" who stood up for what she believed in and didn't care of what anyone thought of her. Beatrice's uncle said to Beatrice that Benedick wasn't a bad man and that they didn't personally know each other but Beatrice didn't want to hear it.
The video I have uploaded to this post is when Petruchio met Kate (Katherine). At first he wanted to marry Kate for money but once he met her he knew that she was the love of his life. Kate was his picture perfect wife. Kate didn't want anything to do with him at first. We might believe that their relationship wasn't picture perfect but for them it was. They balance each other out. Katherine played a women that was a outcast in the Renaissance era because usually the women were pleasant and Kate wasn't pleasant. Kate was horrific but I believe towards the ending of the move she was a little tamed.
"Act V of The Taming of The Shrew"
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee ,And for thy maintenance commits his bodyTo painful labour both by sea and land,To watch the night in storms,
the day in cold,Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;And craves no other tribute at thy handsBut love, fair looks and true obedience;Too little payment for so great a debt.Such duty as the subject owes the princeEven such a woman oweth to her husband;And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,And not obedient to his honest will,What is she but a foul contending rebelAnd graceless traitor to her loving lord?I am ashamed that women are so simpleTo offer war where they should kneel for peace;Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
(The Taming of the Shrew Act V, Scene II)
As I quoted above Kate started a transformation of being a good wife to her husband. and she let it be known by mentioning it. Kate states that the women should obey their husband and that her marriage is for eternity.
I love the film BBC Shakespeare Retold: The Taming of the Shrew. I can watch this film over and over again. Shirley Henderson played a great role. I love the character Kate because she is a strong female. Her character isn't at all how most of the women in the Renaissanceera were. Women were suppose to be housewives and only the men would work. Kate was a character that worked from the beginning of the film to the end. She was able to have a family and a career. She was a women that other women in era envied because they wished they had the courage to stand up for what they believe in. I know that most of the young girls were dying inside because they couldn't voice their opinion on what kind of man they would like to marry.
Director Bas Luhrman did a superb remake of Romeo and Juliet. I remember when the movie first came out, I went with my friends to watch the movie in the movie theater. I fell in love even more with Shakespeare's. The women in this film are portrayed just like many women in this era were. The men were dominate and the women needed to obey their father or husband. The females like Juliet weren't able to choose their mate. A suitable man was chosen by the father. The women also marry at a very young age. Juliet was a female that was very strong minded and didn't want to follow her father's orders. Juliet chose a path that at the end was death but I believe that she was happy because she was with her love Romeo in a peaceful place. They went to heaven a place where their parent's hate couldn't reach or destroy their love for one another.
This week reading does uphold to Renaissance expectations regarding the female gender because female weren't able to wed freely. Romeo and Juliet support that notion because Juliet's father wanted her to marry someone she didn't love.
This was a very informative week about the theaters. The poor people would stand up and watch the plays. The plays were mostly to impress the Queen. The theaters were up and running because the Queen love the plays.
I didn't like much the idea that the men played both male and female parts. Females weren't able to participate in the plays. I am so happy that this era has changed. Individuals in our era are treated as equal, females have definitely come a long way. The image of women does uphold Renaissance expectations regarding the female gender because women aren't suppose to be equal with men.
