William shakespeare william shakespeare feminist criticism and gender studies. Last week the debrief gave you all the knowhow on shakespeare s first theatres in east london, and shakespeare in shoreditch festival has returned for a second run, dedicated to showcasing modern reworkings of some of the classics, in the very spaces. According to some, the history of feminism can be divided into. Shakespeare and gender freedman 2004 literature compass. In shakespeare s plays, one notable character wears a literal disguise to accomplish a goal, while others use figurative disguises markels 63. The taming of the shrew revisited 49 ann thompson 3. The impact of feminist critics over the last twenty. Informed by contemporary and early modern debates and insights into gender and sexuality, including intersectionality, feminist geography, queer and performance studies and fourthwave feminism, this. Hall proposes that feminism offers one way of helping students look at shakespeare multiculturally, since gender is one area of inquiry that both crosses cultures and forces one to think about the differences between cultures. The emergence of queer studies in the academy has led to many influential rereadings of renaissance works, including those of shakespeare.
Feminist and gender study approaches to shakespeare criticism made significant gains after 1980. Feminist theory, is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical discourse, which aims to fulfillingly understand the. Fiennes william shakespeare, gwyneth paltrow viola, geoffrey rush philiph. Pdf feminism and gender equality in the plays of shakespeare. Shakespeare a feminist, some critics feel that his audience influenced avhat. Shakespeare, hamlet, gertrude, ophelia, women, feminism, feminist. Pdf on gender and identity in three shakespearean texts. The patriarchy that prospero enforces is not an independent or coherent system. There is no original or primary gender a drag imitates, but gender is a kind of. Brittney blystone, northern kentucky university volume v.
Shakespeare s female characters to express their views about victorian gender ideology. The question is not whether shakespeare studies needs feminism, but whether feminism needs shakespeare. Feminism is a range of social movements, politi cal movements, and ideologies that aim to defi ne and establish the political, economic, person al, and social equality of the sexes. Over the last quartercentury, feminist criticism of shakespeare has greatly expanded and enriched the range of interpretations of the shakespearean texts, their original historical location, and subsequent reinterpretation. Provides the definitive feminist statement on shakespeare for the 21st century updates address some of the newest theatrical andcreative engagements with. Shakespeare, feminism and gender lecturer in english and. Through their commentary on shakespeare s plays, anna jameson, constance obrien, grace latham, helena faucit, and madeleine leighnoel elliott reveal their own conceptions of gender. Virginia woolf, author and feminist, discussed the concept of androgyny in her work a room of ones own, some collaboration has to take place in the mind between the woman and the man before the act of creation can be accomplished. Sketching the approaches feminist criticism has taken, this article goes on to highlight the importance now attached to stage performance and the role of the female actor. Feminism and gender equality in shakespeares king lear cram. Key concepts queer theory heterosexual matrix performativity. As she likes it tackles the question of how the unruly women at the centre of shakespeare s comedies have been embodied in performance. The work is based on two lectures woolf delivered in october 1928 at newnham college and girton college, womens constituent colleges at the university of cambridge an important feminist text, the essay argues for both a literal and figurative space for women writers within a literary tradition.
Society, as a whole, has been generally been ruled and dominated by men. The drama from 1590 to 1625 is feminist in sympathy. Feminism comprises a number of movements, theories and. Feminism and gender equality in the plays of shakespeare abstract. A lthough not immediately evident to modern sensibilities, william shakespeare was in many ways a sixteenthcentury feminist.
New casebooks shakespeare, feminism and gender gbv. Womens alternative shakespeares and womens alternatives to shakespeare in contemporary british theatre 70 lizbeth goodman \ 4. Shakespeare makes it clear that gender roles can be imitated and performed in theater as. Shakespeare, cultural materialism 473 to indicate not distinct areas of inquiry, but ones which overlap and intersect. Write an essay that will demonstrate your understanding of and acculturation to shakespeare, intrigued by his plays closely examined up to midterm. Today marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and london is going crazy for all things bard.
Shakespeares feminist concerns are reflected in his tragedies like. Shakespeare s courageous women include an extensive variety of portray als and types. This year, 2014, marks the 450th anniversary of shakespeare s birth and this issue if gender forum will focus on how gender is addressed in works of shakespeare in honor of this event. Yet the convention of the boy actor vexes critical speculation. Octavius is restrained he doesnt drink too much on pompeys boat, for example, strong, and brave. Pdf shakespeare, sexuality and gender justin borrow. Ecofeminism has been an important field of theory in philosophy and environmental studies for decades.
Gender trouble in twelfth night casey charles, university of montana see also, twelfth night criticism and volumes 34 and 85. Shakespeare s modernity in his treatment of women has always attracted attention dusinberre 1975, p. Kate chedgzoy 2001 abstract this article has no associated abstract. It takes as its primary concern the way the relationship between the human and nonhuman is both material and cultural, but it also investigates how this relationship is inherently entangled with questions of gender equity and social justice.
Shakespeare and gender gender studies bibliographies. His plays were fascinating and brilliantly written. Shakespeare gender role reversal in shakespeare december 15, 2010. Silence, speech and gender in shakespeares othello. This is the explicitly political approach taken in the dynamic and newly updated edition of a feminist companion to shakespeare. Key concepts hegemonic masculinity patriarchal dividend.
Gender bias is visible in shakespeares plays where women are. The belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women. I truly believe that some of the most illuminating discussions of gender and sexuality are at the points of connection and controversy between these areas. Pdf shakespeares courageous women include an extensive variety of portrayals and types. She has also edited the taming of the shrew 20 for norton, and a contextual edition. Unique amongst both shakespearean and feminist studies, as she likes it asks how gender politics affect the production of the comedies, and how gender is represented, both in the text and on the stage. Pdf on jan 1, 2015, anca gheaus published feminism and gender find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Modern period, shakespeare is widely regarded as proto feminist. Title author type language date edition publication. Feminists, like new historicists, were interested in contextualizing shakespeare s writings rather than subjecting them to ahistorical formalist analysis. Formats and editions of shakespeare, feminism and gender. Silence, speech and gender in shakespeare s othello. Anticipations of modernity in the second tetralogy 93 jean e.
Issue 2014 shakespeare, gender, and sexuality edited by prof. Depending on the genre of the play, sexuality and gender are used as either a tool of manipulation, a form of propaganda or in. In trying to understand her violence, i make use of a feminist analysis of lady macbeth by cristina leon alfar and historical interpreta tions of the gender norms of. The transgression of gender roles in antony and cleopatras relationship is made even clearer by the behavior of other characters, in particular octavius and his sister octavia. Gender roles theme in antony and cleopatra litcharts. Patriarchy is a form of male dominance exercised by society over women. Radical feminism within the context of feminism, radical feminism focuses on the theory of patriarchy. A feminist companion to shakespeare, 2nd edition wiley. Shakespeare and gender guides students, educators, practitioners and researchers through the complexities of the representation of gender and sexuality in shakespeare s work. With the rising influence of feminist studies and the application of new historicism, scholars have applied a previously unexplored set of questions to the play.
Feminism and gender equality around the world base. In william shakespeare s the tempest, prospero and sycorax are extreme ends in the spectrums of power and gender. Feminism and gender equality in shakespeare s king lear. Chief among them is the nature of gender relations, the role of eroticism, and the degree. A feminist critique for shakespearean performance must, as mcluskie argues, acknowledge shakespeare s androcentric playhouse as the originating context for his representation of gender before seeking a feminist potential within twentiethcentury theatre conditions. Power and gender in the taming of the shrew the british. William shakespeare shakespeares representation of women.
Depending on the genre of the play, sexuality and gender are used as either a tool of manipulation, a form of propaganda or in some cases, both. Feminism the advocacy of womens rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. He enjoyed the element of crossdressing men and women in order to hide the gender. Shakespeare and ecofeminist theory shakespeare and theory. A presentist, palestinian perspective this paper follows the critical lines of feminism and psychoanalysis to argue that othello is a conflict between female characters moral voices and male figures treacherous voices.
In his own time, shakespeare seems to have been raising questions about the standard images of males and females, about what the characteristics of each gender are, about what is defined as masculine and feminine, about how each gender possesses both masculine and feminine qualities and behaviors, about the nature and power of a hegemonic patriarchy, and about the roles women and men should play in. A room of ones own is an extended essay by virginia woolf, first published in september 1929. A consciousness of masculinity and femininity as acting is implicit in both these speeches. Heres why shakespeare was a kickass feminist grazia. Characteristically it weaves between past and present, driven by a commitment both to intervene in contemporary cultural politics and to recover a fuller sense of the. Barker and ivo kamps23 and shakespeare, feminism and gender edited by kate chedgzoy. Through their combined criticism of shakespeares female characters, these critics engage in the public discourse surrounding gender and demonstrate.
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