Women In Shakespeare Henry V And Merchant Of Venic Essay Example For Students

Women In Shakespeare Henry V And Merchant Of Venic Essay eShakespeares presentation and portrayal of his female characters in TheMerchant of Venice and Henry V follows a typical pattern that is present in allof the Shakespearean plays that I have read so far. When looking closely at thefate of his female characters, this pattern becomes even more evident for itrepeats itself no matter how different the plays are. For instance, Henry V andThe Merchant of Venice are different in every respect. The female characters notonly come from different backgrounds, they also have very differentpersonalities. However, as different as these plays and their characters are,the female characters end up suffering the same fate. It doesnt seem tomatter whether they are born into a life of peasantry, nobility, or come fromroyalty, for they ultimately will end up being no better than a piece of land,or cattle, or some possession that a man can own and do with as he pleases. We will write a custom essay on Women In Shakespeare Henry V And Merchant Of Venic specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Scholars have been debating for centuries now as to whether Shakespeareswomen reflect his societys attitudes or that of his own. Henry V isdefinitely geared more for the male audience. There are only two or three actsin which a female character is present at all. When we first get a glimpse ofKatherine, she is trying to learn the English language. This scene is supposedto be somewhat comical, but are we really supposed to believe that while thereis a war raging throughout her country, that all Katherine is concerned about isthe fact that she cant speak the language of her enemy? This scene in whichwe get our first glimpse of Katherine is somewhat degrading to her character aswell as misleading. This leaves the audience with the inaccurate perception thatKatherine, and thus all women in general, care very little about whats goingon around them, and more about making themselves presentable. Afterall, isntKatherine the Grand Prize that will be awarded to the winning side? I findit very insulting that Shakespeares only significant female role in the wholeplay, is being used as a Prize to be given away. Shakespeare doesnteven try to hide the fact that he is setting Katherine up as a prize. I findthis kind of arrogance to be offensive and very belittling to women. While themen are off fighting the battle, Katherine, the future Queen of France, does notappear to be a bit concerned over the fate of her own country. Instead, shereadily accepts her fate as she prepares herself for the role of Queen ofEngland. This play is very biased and one-sided. Most of the English men areportrayed as noble, humble and superior to the French. Henry himself can do nowrong, and is portrayed through out the play as the best leader that the Englishhave ever had. This image that he can do no wrong and is as close to beingperfect as one can get, only holds up if you dont go digging around inHenrys past, in which he had been portrayed as a spoiled, pampered partyingboy. The French, in contr ast to the English, are presented as arrogant,incompetent, and weak, very similar to what Henry had been not to long ago. There is, however, one thing lower than a Frenchman, and that is, a Frenchwoman. The fact that Shakespeare subjected Katherines character, (she, whohad been born into royalty which was the highest social position one can reach),to being treated as a possession or prize for a man, only adds credence to theargument that Shakespeare had very little respect for women. Katherinecharacter, for the most part, adds very little, if anything at all, to the play. In fact, the role of Katherine could have easily been omitted altogether, andpersonally, I wish it had been The last act, in which Henry easily manages towin the affections of Katherine, is a weak attempt on Shakespeares part toend the play on a an uplifting note. Its a shame that Shakespeare put it inat all because it definitely changes the way I feel about this play, inparticular, as well as the others. The women characters in The Merchant ofVenice are treated with much more respect than Katherine had been. However, Ihave a feeling that its only due to the fact that Shakespeare thinks less ofJews than he does women. The Merchant of Venice, does have a strong castof women who play very important roles throughout the play. These women are muchmore impressive than those found in Henry V. Portia, in particular, is by farthe superior one of the play. Like Queen Elizabeth herself, Portias characteris a blending of femininity and masculinity. Portia has great strength ofcharacter, a quick wit, and is very well educated in the affairs of the worldaround her which is not a common theme in Shakespeares women. She is in everyrespect far superior to the fools she ends up being surrounded by. This mightnot have been the case if it werent for the fact that she, with all herintelligence and wit is still being dictated by a male. Her dead father dictatesher life through his will. I guess Shakespeare does not miss an opportunity toput even the most superior of all women in her place as he does just that toPortia. For all her power, riches, and strengths, she still is no better thanthe man she marries. Her new husband, Barsenio, is no match for her, and yet heis handed over everything that belongs to her, including her soul. AlthoughShakespeare gives the very best of qualities and traits to the female characterPortia, he knows that in spite of her superiority and domination over all theother characters including the male characters, he can later strip her of allher greatness a t any time, and does just that at the end of the play. What Ifind so unbelievable is the way that Shakespeares women just hand overeverything including themselves, no questions asked, to a man they hardly knowand yet willingly and happily marry. I have a hard time believing that women ofhis day did this duty so graciously. Portias portrayal of being such a strongfigure and at the same time, a woman who is subservient to her times, makes mequestion whether Shakespeare really knew what was gong on in the minds of theElizabethan women. Just the fact that he disguises his women characters up asmen in order to bring them to higher levels, leads me to believe that he is justmaking it all up as he goes along. Dont get me wrong, I love most ofShakespeares work. Its just his female characters that I have a problemwith. When reading Shakespeare it is easy to question what his motives mighthave been. Scholars have been doing this for centuries. We will never be sure asto whether or not Shakesp eare was reflecting the times or his own feelings. Onemust keep in mind when reading Shakespeare that hs writings are not historicallyaccurate and therefore most likely only reflect his views on things. I only hopethat is the case, for I cant imagine women ever being so passive. Could wehave really been the passive beings that Shakespeare portrays women as, Iseriously doubt it. Kelley Vickers-Sullivan Engl. 141-Mid-Term Essay March 30,2000 Youve Come a Long Way Baby! Shakespeares presentation and portrayalof his female characters in The Merchant of Venice and Henry V follows a typicalpattern that is present in all of the Shakespearean plays that I have read sofar. When looking closely at the fate of his female characters, this patternbecomes even more evident for it repeats itself no matter how different theplays are. For instance, Henry V and The Merchant of Venice are different inevery respect. The female characters not only come from different backgrounds,they also have very diff erent personalities. However, as different as theseplays and their characters are, the female characters end up suffering the samefate. It doesnt seem to matter whether they are born into a life ofpeasantry, nobility, or come from royalty, for they ultimately will end up beingno better than a piece of land, or cattle, or some possession that a man can ownand do with as he pleases. Scholars have been debating for centuries now as towhether Shakespeares women reflect his societys attitudes or that of hisown. Henry V is definitely geared more for the male audience. There are only twoor three acts in which a female character is present at all. When we first get aglimpse of Katherine, she is trying to learn the English language. This scene issupposed to be somewhat comical, but are we really supposed to believe thatwhile there is a war raging throughout her country, that all Katherine isconcerned about is the fact that she cant speak the language of her enemy?This scene in which we get o ur first glimpse of Katherine is somewhat degradingto her character as well as misleading. This leaves the audience with theinaccurate perception that Katherine, and thus all women in general, care verylittle about whats going on around them, and more about making themselvespresentable. Afterall, isnt Katherine the Grand Prize that will beawarded to the winning side? I find it very insulting that Shakespeares onlysignificant female role in the whole play, is being used as a Prize to begiven away. Shakespeare doesnt even try to hide the fact that he is settingKatherine up as a prize. I find this kind of arrogance to be offensive and verybelittling to women. While the men are off fighting the battle, Katherine, thefuture Queen of France, does not appear to be a bit concerned over the fate ofher own country. Instead, she readily accepts her fate as she prepares herselffor the role of Queen of England. This play is very biased and one-sided. Mostof the English men are portrayed as nobl e, humble and superior to the French. .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 , .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .postImageUrl , .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 , .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:hover , .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:visited , .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:active { border:0!important; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:active , .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3 .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue07906095363db72e964c571d82128f3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Physics Of Scuba Diving: Swimming with the Fish EssayHenry himself can do no wrong, and is portrayed through out the play as the bestleader that the English have ever had. This image that he can do no wrong and isas close to being perfect as one can get, only holds up if you dont godigging around in Henrys past, in which he had been portrayed as a spoiled,pampered partying boy. The French, in contrast to the English, are presented asarrogant, incompetent, and weak, very similar to what Henry had been not to longago. There is, however, one thing lower than a Frenchman, and that is, a Frenchwoman. The fact that Shakespeare subjected Katherines character, (she, whohad bee n born into royalty which was the highest social position one can reach),to being treated as a possession or prize for a man, only adds credence to theargument that Shakespeare had very little respect for women. Katherinecharacter, for the most part, adds very little, if anything at all, to the play. In fact, the role of Katherine could have easily been omitted altogether, andpersonally, I wish it had been The last act, in which Henry easily manages towin the affections of Katherine, is a weak attempt on Shakespeares part toend the play on a an uplifting note. Its a shame that Shakespeare put it inat all because it definitely changes the way I feel about this play, inparticular, as well as the others. The women characters in The Merchant ofVenice are treated with much more respect than Katherine had been. However, Ihave a feeling that its only due to the fact that Shakespeare thinks less ofJews than he does women. The Merchant of Venice, does have a strong castof women who play very important roles throughout the play. These women are muchmore impressive than those found in Henry V. Portia, in particular, is by farthe superior one of the play. Like Queen Elizabeth herself, Portias characteris a blending of femininity and masculinity. Portia has great strength ofcharacter, a quick wit, and is very well educated in the affairs of the worldaround her which is not a common theme in Shakespeares women. She is in everyrespect far superior to the fools she ends up being surrounded by. This mightnot have been the case if it werent for the fact that she, with all herintelligence and wit is still being dictated by a male. Her dead father dictatesher life through his will. I guess Shakespeare does not miss an opportunity toput even the most superior of all women in her place as he does just that toPortia. For all her power, riches, and strengths, she still is no better thanthe man she marries. Her new husband, Barsenio, is no match for her, and yet heis handed over everything that belongs to her, including her soul. AlthoughShakespeare gives the very best of qualities and traits to the female characterPortia, he knows that in spite of her superiority and domination over all theother characters including the male characters, he can later strip her of allher greatness a t any time, and does just that at the end of the play. What Ifind so unbelievable is the way that Shakespeares women just hand overeverything including themselves, no questions asked, to a man they hardly knowand yet willingly and happily marry. I have a hard time believing that women ofhis day did this duty so graciously. Portias portrayal of being such a strongfigure and at the same time, a woman who is subservient to her times, makes mequestion whether Shakespeare really knew what was gong on in the minds of theElizabethan women. Just the fact that he disguises his women characters up asmen in order to bring them to higher levels, leads me to believe that he is justmaking it all up as he goes along. Dont get me wrong, I love most ofShakespeares work. Its just his female characters that I have a problemwith. When reading Shakespeare it is easy to question what his motives mighthave been. Scholars have been doing this for centuries. We will never be sure asto whether or not Shakesp eare was reflecting the times or his own feelings. Onemust keep in mind when reading Shakespeare that hs writings are not historicallyaccurate and therefore most likely only reflect his views on things. I only hopethat is the case, for I cant imagine women ever being so passive. Could wehave really been the passive beings that Shakespeare portrays women as, Iseriously doubt it.

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Developers We Need Your Help Free Online Research Papers There are amazing things happening with new advances in graphics and interfaces as technology improves and enthusiastic gamers have recently been introduced to convincing virtual reality with stunning visuals. There are videos of people playing these virtual reality games reacting in laughter, awe, and fear to playing these increasingly realistic games that have become fully immersive. Imagine some of the games today such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Minecraft some of which not only have marvelous graphics, but now also an added element of realism that is so immersive, so real, and so elaborate that the action may as well be taking place in real life. It has long been debated whether or not video games cause violence, but with such convincing options in virtual reality, there are now endless possibilities when it comes to the effects these games can have. Some people think video games do not affect players in the real world despite the evidence, and some people think de velopers should have an ethically responsible duty for the content of games because evidence has shown positive behavioral effects on users such as an increase in prosocial behavior, as well as negative traits such as a decrease in empathy and an increase in aggression. There is plenty of evidence and accusations on how video games and other violent media affect consumers in negative ways, but recent developments indicate there are also positive behavioral effects on users such as an increase in prosocial behavior. Prosocial behaviors are often defined as helping behaviors that are done mainly for the benefit of the recipient with little regard for selfish gain by the person helping. For example, in a study done by Happ, Melzer, and Steffgen, â€Å"[p]articipants who played the hero character (Superman) showed more helping behavior and less hostile perception bias than those who played the evil Joker† (Happ, Melzer, Steffgen, 2013, p. 776). The prosocial behavior was measured after participants of a study in which players were evaluated on their empathetic responses to a perceived bad guy when exposed to a backstory of bad circumstances that may explain villainous behavior or just a neutral background of both Superman and Joker. Prosocia l behavior was indicated in the response of the test subjects in which a letter was dropped, fully addressed and stamped, that could easily be seen, and was not mentioned to be part of the study outside of the lab area, then counted as prosocial if the letter was either given to the addressee or the experimenter. This may indicate that it is not only negative effects that would result from gameplay, but also indicates empathy in the case of bad behavior if such behaviors could be rationalized through a backstory of wicked circumstances. This seems to show that developers could, in fact, affect behavior in more positive ways, as well as have the ability to inspire empathy and even rationalization of bad behaviors. It appears as though video games could be a great tool for emotional and social development as long as they are created with intent and attention to detail to encourage more positive actions. Greitemeyer and Osswald, â€Å"†¦presented evidence that exposure to pro social video games increased the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which may instigate prosocial action† (Greitemeyer Osswald, 2011, p. 126), and that reinforces the idea for developers taking responsibility by writing positive storylines to show video games in a more encouraging light. This study demonstrated that prosocial thoughts were found to be more accessible through an experiment where reaction times were measured to either aggressive or prosocial words after playing an aggressive or prosocial game. The findings were dependent on the game played with either quicker reactions to aggressive words if the aggressive game was played or a faster reaction to prosocial words if the prosocial game was played, which indicated a priming effect. Essentially, if you are put into a negative frame of mind you will react quicker to negativity and if put into a positive frame of mind you will react quicker to positivity. It should be clearer that shunning the idea of being ethi cally responsible and continuing to churn out violent games will not have good consequences. A commonly featured negative aspect in studies of video game use is a decrease in empathy of players who play violent games. There was a recent analysis that concluded violent video games and exposure to those games can lead to increases in aggression while decreasing empathy (Fraser, Padilla-Walker, Coyne, Nelson, Stockdale, 2012). The analyses were concluded using many types of studies such as randomized experiments in which children were randomly assigned violent or non-violent games and their resulting behaviors were observed, cross-sectional surveys were utilized in which time was spent playing violent games was recorded and compared to self- reported acts of aggression, and longitudinal survey results were analyzed in which several measures of violent media were assessed for frequency and then compared to measures of aggressiveness. Most gamers who are adolescents are still developing and the most susceptible according to a study by Shin and Ahn who assert that â€Å"[p]la ying video games do not require game players to allocate mental resources to understand other agents, and this can lead to prolonged inactivity of the social brain† (Shin Ahn, 2013, p. 602). Video games do not require players to think about understanding the actions of other players, so, therefore, social interactions are not practiced as if they would be regularly with in-person social exchanges. These findings mean that if care is not taken and the gameplay is extended beyond a reasonable period where they are not utilizing or cultivating these skills that it may affect the emotional brain development of key social abilities in teenagers, such as cognitive empathy. A lack of skills or decline in cognitive empathy makes it harder for those affected to accurately recognize and understand the emotional state of others through visual cues. If reading the emotions of others is difficult it could lead to various misunderstandings, some of which could culminate into episodes o f aggression. Finally, the most important reason developers should be ethically responsible for the messages their games send is an increase in aggression. Hasan, Bà ¨gue, and Bushman found that â€Å"†¦ participants who played a violent video game were significantly more aggressive afterward than were participants who played a nonviolent video game. Violent game players gave their ostensible partners louder and longer noise blasts through headphones than did nonviolent game players† (Hasan, Bà ¨gue, Bushman, 2013, p. 68). This shows how a violent video game can have at the least, short-term displays of aggression, possibly caused by the agitation of a high-stress situation and how they were willing to inflict increasingly uncomfortable stimuli on their perceived partners. There may have been many reasons why their partners perhaps did not act as expected, but as mentioned previously playing video games does not require contemplating motives of other actors and it then becomes ea sy to act aggressively towards those around us. It has been, â€Å"†¦confirmed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior- but they also indicate that certain safeguards can be employed to reduce such unsavory outcomes† (Gitter, Ewell, Guadagno, Stillman, Baumeister, 2013, p. 353). As the research in this paper shows, there is a great hope that positive behaviors can be inspired, reinforced, and encouraged using video games as long as proper care is taken by those creating these powerful tools. Evidence shows games are able to nurture prosocial attitudes that developers could take advantage of and do a great service to the public. Indeed, while not everyone who plays violent video games will suffer adverse social effects, there should be more ethical awareness by game creators of the messages these games send. It is now known that video games can foster positive behavioral developments such as an increase in prosocial helping behaviors as well as adopting undesirable behaviors such as lack of empathy and aggression. If the video games we see on the screen a few feet away can have this powerful of an influence on our psyche, just imagine how detrimental or uplifting the futures of children could be with virtual reality and an ever-changing landscape of technology gaining more momentum into full immersion. It must be accepted that the future of the youth is not just up to parents. Developers, there are many great stories that can be told with games that will elicit the best qualities out of people and make the future more utopian, all that needs to be done is to take responsibility for the power wielded. References Anderson, C., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L. R., Johnson, J., Linz, D. (2003). The Influence of Media Violence on Youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 81-110. Fraser, A., Padilla-Walker, L., Coyne, S., Nelson, L., Stockdale, L. (2012). Associations Between Violent Video Gaming, Empathic Concern, and Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers, Friends, and Family Members. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 636-649. Gitter, S. A., Ewell, P. J., Guadagno, R. E., Stillman, T. F., Baumeister, R. F. (2013). Virtually justifiable homicide: The effects of prosocial contexts on the link between violent video games, aggression, and prosocial and hostile cognition. Aggressive Behavior, 346-354. Greitemeyer, T., Osswald, S. (2011). Playing Prosocial Video Games Increases the Accessibility of Prosocial Thoughts. Journal of Social Psychology, 121-128. Happ, C., Melzer, A., Steffgen, G. (2013). Superman vs. BAD man? The effects of empathy and game character in violent video games. Cyberpsychology, Behavior And Social Networking, 774-78. Hasan, Y., Bà ¨gue, L., Bushman, B. J. (2013). Violent Video Games Stress People Out and Make Them More Aggressive. Aggressive Behavior, 64-70. Shin, D., Ahn, D. (2013). Associations between game use and cognitive empathy: a cross-generational study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior And Social Networking, 599-603. Research Papers on Developer's We Need Your HelpOrganizational Behavior - Analysis of Wal-MartAdvertising EssaySociology EssayBiological, Strain, My Writing ExperiencePlastic Surgery Essay