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Portrayal of Women in King Lear and Ran

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Portrayal of Women in King Lear and Ran
Portrayal of Women in King Lear and Ran Women have a position, characteristics and a role in King Lear and in Ran. These films take place in a time period when geography influenced the portrayal of women. A significant portion of how women were portrayed to the audience in both films is based on the positions women held in the established hierarchy and how their new position in the hierarchy impacted the people around them. The characteristics of female characters display very clearly how women were portrayed. In comparing women in reference to their characteristics there are separate women in each film that portray women to be good or evil. Lastly, the portrayal of women was also shown through the specific role they had in each film. The role of women in both films is to start the cycle of life and attempt to create a final outcome that is in their favour. Women create the chaos that is essential in each film. The portrayal of women will be compared and contrasted in Ran and King Lear through their positions, characteristics and roles which portray women to be sinister and supporting people in King Lear and primarily evil in Ran.
The great chain of being displays how women were negatively portrayed in both films. When a woman is given a position of authority or has an influence on a position of authority, chaos ensues. In King Lear, the great chain of being is broken because the position of the supreme ruler of the land is handed over to two women. (King Lear, Act 1, scene 1 lines 55-86) A king, ergo, a man is always intended to rule over the kingdom according to the great chain of being. The disruption of this chain led to chaos in the upper echelons of the English hierarchy. Ran also displays women to be detrimental through Lady Kaede’s influence on the male leader. Lady Kaede persuades her husband to eliminate Hidetora from the kingdom. (Ran) Lady Kaede's action starts all of the chaos in the play. The great chain of being is broken because Lady Kaede, a


Cited: Shakespeare, William, and David M. Bevington. King Lear. Toronto: Bantam, 1988. Print. Ran. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. By Akira Kurosawa, Oguni Hideo, and Masato Ide. Prod. Serge Silberman and Hara Masato. S.n., 1985. DVD. King Lear. Dir. Michael Elliott. Perf. Laurence Olivier. 1983. DVD.
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