Gender Roles in a Changing World
From Shakespearean society to today, men have been treating women as lesser than themselves, forcing them to lower their potential in the process. Men have also felt the need to protect women, as they are portrayed as the weaker sex. However, in the play, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare shows the reader that women, when they go against society’s standards can be accepted as strong, capable, and independent, despite opposition. Shakespeare incorporated Beatrice into his play as an example of how some woman could go against the standards of the time, yet still be accepted. In Act 2 scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice declares that she doesn’t wish to marry, which was contrary to the popular belief of …show more content…
Men often had unfair expectations for women such as when Benedick had listed the qualities for a woman of his standards. He describes this fantasy woman as “‘Rich … that's certain; wise, or I'll none; virtuous, or I'll never cheapen her; fair, or I'll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel’”(II.iii.27-36). Benedick refused to consider a less-than-perfect women, until he met Beatrice who was independent, and despised the idea of a man ever loving her. Contrarily, Benedick had felt the same, and that is when he proposed what a “perfect” woman shall be. Later in the play, he begins to fall madly in love with someone who is opposite what he had pronounced right for him. Most often than not, men treated women more like items of value than their true worth, much like Benedick had in the beginning of the play. Along with women being thought of as “items”, men also thought that unless a women was perfect on the outside, she was not worth getting to know on the inside. This is shown as the opposite in the play when Claudio had sought out to marry Hero. He had not questioned her due to her unmistakable beauty, and he had not taken the time to get to know her before the wedding. When Claudio found out she was mistakenly dishonorable to her fiance, he was not able to say other wise because he did not know her enough to that extent. If
From Shakespearean society to today, men have been treating women as lesser than themselves, forcing them to lower their potential in the process. Men have also felt the need to protect women, as they are portrayed as the weaker sex. However, in the play, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare shows the reader that women, when they go against society’s standards can be accepted as strong, capable, and independent, despite opposition. Shakespeare incorporated Beatrice into his play as an example of how some woman could go against the standards of the time, yet still be accepted. In Act 2 scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice declares that she doesn’t wish to marry, which was contrary to the popular belief of …show more content…
Men often had unfair expectations for women such as when Benedick had listed the qualities for a woman of his standards. He describes this fantasy woman as “‘Rich … that's certain; wise, or I'll none; virtuous, or I'll never cheapen her; fair, or I'll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel’”(II.iii.27-36). Benedick refused to consider a less-than-perfect women, until he met Beatrice who was independent, and despised the idea of a man ever loving her. Contrarily, Benedick had felt the same, and that is when he proposed what a “perfect” woman shall be. Later in the play, he begins to fall madly in love with someone who is opposite what he had pronounced right for him. Most often than not, men treated women more like items of value than their true worth, much like Benedick had in the beginning of the play. Along with women being thought of as “items”, men also thought that unless a women was perfect on the outside, she was not worth getting to know on the inside. This is shown as the opposite in the play when Claudio had sought out to marry Hero. He had not questioned her due to her unmistakable beauty, and he had not taken the time to get to know her before the wedding. When Claudio found out she was mistakenly dishonorable to her fiance, he was not able to say other wise because he did not know her enough to that extent. If