Power And Privilege In Shakespeare

Without power, one does not have privilege; without privilege, one is powerless. Shakespeare's understanding and ability to portray universal natures of the human condition allows one to see that power and privilege are one in the same in. When one gains wealth, from being born in to a rich family or working for their riches, they automatically become influential. In the Renaissance era, the wealthy had a vast amount of power over the poor, similar to men’s superiority to women; the same concept is still in society today, even if we wouldn’t admit to it. It is evident in many works by Shakespeare that power and privilege go hand in hand; even so, powerful, privileged women were not to be made superior or even equivalent to their weaker male
Even though her father had no way of knowing or acting upon Portia’s possible defiant actions, Portia remains to be the “living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father” (I.ii.21-22). Despite her superiority, to be able to share her power and wit, Portia must become a man. The idea that women are inferior and second-rate to men was a common idea shared by most, if not all, of the Shakespearean cohort. Even so, in Portia is the one who come out on top in Merchant of Venice. When Antonio is arrested and Bassanio and Portia must come back to save him from death, Portia is the one with the plan. Not only was she clever enough dress up as a man and fool the entire courtroom, but she also is able to find where her husband’s true loyalties lie. After Bassanio wins Portia by guessing the right casket, he is given a ring and makes a promise to Portia to never part with it; but when asked for compensation for saving Antonio’s life, Bassanio gladly hands over the ring to “Balthazar” to later be caught by Portia
Romeo on the other hand, is free to roam as he pleases, which leads him to Juliet’s balcony to profess his love. When Juliet defies her father by telling him that she with never go through with her arranged marriage to a man she doesn’t want to marry in Act Three, her father reacts by calling her several rude names, then threatening to disown her or drag her to the wedding himself. For if women had, had influence back in Renaissance times, Romeo and Juliet might have been able to successfully run away together and live out their lives. Even when under her father’s discipline, Juliet still remains to have control over some elements of her life, such as her fake death and then her actual, misguided