Using the Plays “Much Ado About Nothing” and “the Rover”, Discuss and Compare Each Play’s Treatment of Women.
Using the plays “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Rover”, discuss and compare each play’s treatment of women.
The Renaissance comedy, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, written by Shakespeare in 1600 during the Elizabethan era, addresses male inconstancy and female persecution; how women are controlled by the prevailing patriarchal system. Hero, the conventional heroine, is a ‘shrinking violet’, who suffers character assassination through male actions. ‘The Rover’, written in 1677 for the Restoration society of Charles II where men were hedonistic, uncommitted and brimming with bravado, also explores gender conflicts. However playwright, Aphra Behn, in this Restoration comedy, critically comments on male attitudes, and - through female rebellion where, not one, but three virgins challenge patriarchal control by seeking love - questions the traditional fabric of society and the status quo of male authority.
In ‘Much Ado’ Hero’s silence defines her submissive character. SP Cerasano’s comment that women were expected to be ‘chaste, silent and obedient… property of her father, husband or guardian’, typifies Hero as the model of Elizabethan womanhood. The unspoken implication of ‘you know your answer’ from Leonato in 2/1 regarding gossip about Don Pedro expresses male dominance.
In addition to patriarchal control Shakespeare provides evidence of the Elizabethan preoccupation with marriage’s financial aspect, evident in Claudio’s inquiry in 1/1 of Don Pedro, “Hath Leonato any son?” and the reply, “No child but Hero, she’s his only heir” illustrating what a contemporary audience might consider a mercenary approach that suggest doubt against his sincerity. However, for the Shakespearean audience, this commodification of women and financial basis of marriage was entirely acceptable.
The greatest evidence of women’s subordinate position comes in 4/1 when Hero is brutally slandered by Claudio. In what Cerasano calls Claudio’s, “brutal and unambiguous manner” calling her a
The Renaissance comedy, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, written by Shakespeare in 1600 during the Elizabethan era, addresses male inconstancy and female persecution; how women are controlled by the prevailing patriarchal system. Hero, the conventional heroine, is a ‘shrinking violet’, who suffers character assassination through male actions. ‘The Rover’, written in 1677 for the Restoration society of Charles II where men were hedonistic, uncommitted and brimming with bravado, also explores gender conflicts. However playwright, Aphra Behn, in this Restoration comedy, critically comments on male attitudes, and - through female rebellion where, not one, but three virgins challenge patriarchal control by seeking love - questions the traditional fabric of society and the status quo of male authority.
In ‘Much Ado’ Hero’s silence defines her submissive character. SP Cerasano’s comment that women were expected to be ‘chaste, silent and obedient… property of her father, husband or guardian’, typifies Hero as the model of Elizabethan womanhood. The unspoken implication of ‘you know your answer’ from Leonato in 2/1 regarding gossip about Don Pedro expresses male dominance.
In addition to patriarchal control Shakespeare provides evidence of the Elizabethan preoccupation with marriage’s financial aspect, evident in Claudio’s inquiry in 1/1 of Don Pedro, “Hath Leonato any son?” and the reply, “No child but Hero, she’s his only heir” illustrating what a contemporary audience might consider a mercenary approach that suggest doubt against his sincerity. However, for the Shakespearean audience, this commodification of women and financial basis of marriage was entirely acceptable.
The greatest evidence of women’s subordinate position comes in 4/1 when Hero is brutally slandered by Claudio. In what Cerasano calls Claudio’s, “brutal and unambiguous manner” calling her a