In William Shakespeare's play "Much Ado about Nothing" there are sharp contrasts between Hero and Beatrice in comparison to women during the Shakespearean period. Hero is the typical example of a woman during the Shakespearean period. Hero is depicted in the play as a morally upright woman of good keep, and she seem to be a very loving and warm person in comparison to her cousin Beatrice. However she is made out to be a whore by Claudio at her own expense on her wedding day. Beatrice is the heroine of the play; she possesses a quick wit and a quick tongue.
William Shakespeare’s plays often put emphasis on the role of female characters and their influence on the male protagonists. This statement rings true whether it is regarding the impact of Ophelia’s insanity on Hamlet, the devastating results of Romeo’s love for Juliet or the shocking behaviour of Macbeth under Lady Macbeth’s control. Women have always been an integral part of Shakespeare’s works. Similarly, it is no different when concerning the women in the playwright’s quintessential tragedy, ‘Othello’. The play features only three women throughout its course, with each of them representing various levels of class, virtue and intelligence.
When Brabantio finds out that his sweet Desdemona is now married, he accuses Othello of being a foul thief and taking his daughter away from him. When accusations are raised against Othello by Brabantio, she is quick to be audacious enough to stand up against her father to defend her
Later that night they meet in secret and Juliet talks to Romeo from her balcony and they realise how much they are in love with each other and they decide to get married. Romeo then goes off to talk to Friar Lawrence to arrange the wedding. Juliet’s cousin Tybalt is very angry when he hears about Romeo gate crashing the party and vows to take revenge. When Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel he refuses, but Mercutio fights instead and as he dies he curses both families. Romeo is extremely upset about Tybalt killing Mercutio and in a fit of rage fights and kills Tybalt.
Romeo and Juliet get married on a Monday evening in Friar Laurence’s cell. Romeo then leaves to meet his friends. He finds out that Mercutio is killed by Tybalt and goes after Tybalt to return the favor and kills him. Romeo is caught by the Prince and is banished from Verona. Juliet later finds our everything that happened and becomes suicidal.
But though Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages. A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test his uncle's guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves his guilt.
Beatrice’s comical nature and extrovert personality allows Shakespeare to illustrate a persona to which the Elizabethan audience would not have been able to relate. Hamada states that ‘…imposed on women three virtues-obedience, silence, and chastity’. Beatrice is a character who rebels from these expectations. Contemporary audiences would have been shocked and humoured by the fact that Shakespeare allows a female character to be so vocal in the play. However, a twenty first century audience would find her to be relatable as many modern females have similar personality traits to Beatrice.
For him it is heaven on earth. And all the while, almost within arm’s length, stands Iago, the embodiment of evil, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. (87) In Act 1 Scene1, Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two awaken him with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. In response to Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed and, with Roderigo’s help, gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona and bring her home.
(87) In Act 1 Scene1, Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two awaken him with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. In response to Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed and, with Roderigo’s help, gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona and bring her home. The father’s attitude is that life without his Desdemona will be much worse than before: It is too true an evil: gone she is; And what's to come of my despised time Is nought but bitterness. (1.1) So obviously the senator has great respect for his daughter, or at least for the comforts which she has afforded him up the beginning of the play.
Emilia, A Heroine of Shakespeare's Othello Shakespeare, in his tragedy Othello, presents a minor character who does great things in the final act. Her character is deserving of analysis. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the motivation of Emilia through most of the play: Emilia’s character, too, is determined by the plot. In the source, the villain’s wife is privy to the nefarious designs. Shakespeare wisely makes her, like the other characters, ignorant of Iago’s character.