Jacobean Women Essay

The present bachelor paper, entitled Women in Shakespeare’s tragedies aims to provide an overall image of the women depicted in shakespearean tragedies, to analyse, to characterise and to understand the female characters and how the norms and laws of the patriarchal society of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries influenced the development of this personages. The major characters examined are Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra, Gertrude, Ophelia, Juliet, Desdemona and Ophelia.
The methodology used in order to fulfill the purpose of this paper included research of the relevant literature, mainly critical studies of the shakespearean tragedies. I also relied on cultural and historical studies of Elizabethan and Jacobean period for a better understanding of the women’ status in those days. …show more content…
All this women impress by their powerful personality and by the fact that they disobey the pre-established rules of the hierarchical society, neglecting their roles imposed by the society. Lady Macbeth embodies the evil, cruel woman who violate the limits imposed by her gender and whose power of suggestion determines her husband to commit crimes. Her influence upon the patriarchal system, her female ideas on manhood, the conflict between genders and the result of her actions are also discussed in this part. Another powerful character examined in this chapter is illustrated by Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. She represents the passionate cunning woman who acts according to her position and who knows how to subdue her lover. This section highlights the greatness of Cleopatra, her strong personality and wavery attitude, as well as the affection between her and Antony. Even though, Gertrude’s figure is not as well shaped as the female characters mentioned above, she gain her place among them by disregarding her role of mother of Hamlet and remarring shortly after her husband’s