Evil Women in Macbeth

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the female characters have noticeably evil personalities.  Instead of being loud or rebellious, like the women we've seen in other Shakespearean plays, these women have the power to make their will a reality, and will do so even if it hurts the people around them.

Lady Macbeth is a very important character to the plot of the play; she is able to convince her husband to perform actions that will benefit her.  When Macbeth decides it would be better not to murder Duncan, she convinces him otherwise; when he commits the murder but forget to plant the daggers and frame the servants, Lady Macbeth performs this action herself.  Men living in the Elizabethan era should feel threatened of her not only because of her strong will and malevolent behavior, but also because her husband considers her as an equal.  Macbeth makes sure to inform her of his run in with the witches immediately, and the driving actions of the play are performed by Lady Macbeth and her husband as a team.

The witches are very evil characters; although they have nothing to gain by putting their curse on Macbeth, they do so anyway.  To an extent, it would make sense that they would harm someone that they believe to have mistreated them, such as the sailor and his wife.  However, the play tells us of no reason for the witches to hate Macbeth to the extent that they would cause his untimely death.

The men in this play, with the exception of Macbeth, act as proper gentlemen throughout the play; this helps us see the contrast between the two genders.  This reflects many of the ideas set forth by Elizabethan society, none more so than the feeling that women shouldn't be trusted.

Opinions of Much Ado About Nothing, Then and Now

We can tell a lot about a time period based on individual interpretations of texts that have been present over a long period of time. Many Shakespeare plays have been made into films in ways that the modern era is more likely to enjoy. For example, director Baz Luhrmann created a film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that retained most of Shakespeare's original script, while changing the meaning of it based on locations and the character's actions.

More recently, BBC One made a film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing that changed Shakespeare's script but mimicked the plot of his play. Shakespeare's original work, in addition to film adaptations of it before the new millennium, captured the plot in a way that would best please a more conservative crowd. To create a happy ending in his play, Shakespeare made it so Hero would be able to marry Claudio despite the scandal that occurred. However, in the more recent film version of Much Ado About Nothing, Hero chose not to marry Claude for his mistrust. As a woman living in modern times, the ending of the more recent film had a more satisfactory ending; when reading Shakespeare's play, it's difficult to process the fact that that a woman would still marry man who had more trust in someone with an ill reputation than in his own fiance.

Since what is considered a "happy ending" can change based on the social movements of a time period, its important to consider the role of women in the Elizabethan era to truly understand Shakespeare's work.

Juliet, Kate, and Beatrice

Thus far, we've examined the role of both Kate in Taming of the Shrew and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.  Kate fights against the perception of "womanly behavior" through her temper; she is outspoken and violent towards others.   Juliet goes against this ideal by purposely acting against her parents wishes; although she looks polite compared to Kate, her behavior is still considered abnormal.

In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice seems to use a combination of Kate and Juliet's tactics.  Like Kate, she is very witty and wont pause before hurling an insult at anyone whom she thinks deserves it.  Like Juliet, she goes against the wishes of her guardian.  Beatrice's uncle wishes her to be married, as it would be the proper thing for a woman to do; although he doesn't name any particulars, Beatrice swears that she will never marry.  Although Juliet was contradicting her parents because she found someone she wanted to be with instead, this situation is still comparable; both were unwilling to compromise when it came to the person who they would (or would not) spend the rest of their lives with.

However, unlike Kate, Beatrice doesn't resort to physical violence.  In addition, Beatrice's biting words are said with less anger that those spoken by Kate; Beatrice lets her voice be heard in a manner that makes her seem calm, which helps strengthen her words.  Also, unlike Juliet, Beatrice doesn't seem like the person to give up her family ties for a man; even though Benedick became an important part of her life towards the end of the play, she still cared for her family, particularly Hero, more than anything.  This can be demonstrated by Beatrice's request to Benedick; after Claudio shames Hero at the altar, she says that if Benedick truly loves her, he would kill Claudio for her.

Taming of the Kate Part II

Petruchio tames Kate by being just as much of a shrew as she is. When the two meet, Kate finds it impossible to give the last word; her insults are quickly responded by comebacks with equal wit. Eventually, Kate becomes very annoyed at Petruchio's behavior, but there is nothing she can do; Petruchio demands that they will be married, and eventually, that is the case.

During their honeymoon, Petruchio continues to torment Kate, until Kate finally realizes that she needs to play his game. At the end of the play, it would appear that Kate is tamed; out of all the wives, she seems to be the only one willing to obey her husband. However, this is unlikely to be the case in reality; Kate is too smart and independent of a character to have changed so easily. During her time with Petruchio, she likely realized that she needs to let him believe that she has been tamed; in tricking him so, she will be able to control her husband as she wishes, and she will be dominant in the marriage while letting Petruchio think that he is.

Taming of the Kate

In The Taming of the Shew, William Shakespeare gives us a direct look about the general opinion of women in Elizabethan society.  Women who were coy and silent were considered to be more attractive and desirable than brash and outspoken women.  In fact, it was completely unheard of in society for the latter to occur; women who were who spoke their minds were considered embarrassments, and the men in her family would likely attempt to cover up her behavior from the outside world.  These women were considered "shrews", which was a curse word at the time that equates to "a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman".

In beginning of the play, Bianca plays the role of the typical, desirable woman.  She is a silent beauty, who has many gentleman callers.  However, her father will not allow her to marry until her older sister, Kate, does so, which seems an unlikely prospect.  Kate is the epitome of the word shrew, who goes so far as to even hit her own sister for not responding to her.  No man was willing to even think of being close to her, until Petruchio, who wanted her family's fortune more than anything, came into the picture. 

Queen Elizabeth, Juliet, and Marriage

It was not uncommon for women to be expected to marry; this notion even extended to Queen Elizabeth I, "The Virgin Queen". Despite common derogatory opinions on the subject, the queen remained unmarried to her death, even though she was courted strenuously by many. Based on the male dominated society in which she lived, she likely made this decision to stay in power; if she married, her abilities would be limited by her husband.

Erik of Sweden proposed to her many times, and in a 1560 letter, she politely declined him again, saying that she does not wish to take a husband; any husband. Even though Queen Elizabeth rejected the man on several occasions over a long period of time, it was likely that he was so shocked by her behavior that he just kept trying; he couldn't make sense of it.

Juliet's behavior in denying marriage to Paris can be seen similarly; even though she knew her contrary attitude wouldn't be accepted, she stated her opinion on the matter anyway.  However, Juliet wasn't in a place of power to be making these treacherous decisions; unlike the queen, she had male family members who would be able to control her.  Thus, the outcome of Juliet's situation was very different than the queen's.

"Disobedient" Women in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare paints many images of womanly behavior uncharacteristic of Elizabethan era norms. Children, regardless of gender, were expected to behave as miniature adults, and women were to fully submit themselves to the will of the male figures in their lives.

Juliet expresses this contrary behavior throughout the play by committing to a secret marriage, downright rejecting her father's will, and by scheming for a release from her life as a Capulet. Likewise, Juliet's nurse is equally disobedient; she openly expresses her true opinions to both Lord and Lady Capulet, and often speaks out of turn. Furthermore, the nurse acts upon these personal opinions by assisting Juliet with her "unruly" plans.

In the beginning of the play, in Act 1, Scene 4, Lady Capulet approaches Juliet with Lord Capulet's wish for Juliet to be married to Paris. In the interim, the nurse goes off on a miniature rant about how Juliet's marriage would make her proud, and how much she loves Juliet, fondly remembering events in her childhood. Lady Capulet becomes annoyed with the nurse's speech, exclaiming, "Enough of this. I pray thee, hold thy peace".

The status of a nurse in the Elizabethan era was that as a servant; they would serve as a nanny in a wealthy household, and receive food, clothing, and shelter in exchange for work at all hours. Thus, it isn't surprising that Lady Capulet didn't value the nurses input into the conversation. She believed she was being kind enough in letting her be present to hear the matter of Juliet's marriage being discussed, but any more than this was unwelcome.

Lady Capulet then asks Juliet, "Can you like of Paris' love?" At this point in the play, Juliet is willing to be an obedient daughter, even though she would rather not marry. However, in Act 3, Scene 5, Lady Capulet informs Juliet that the date is set for this nuptial arrangement, to which she responds that she would sooner marry her enemy, downright rejecting the request.

When Lord Capulet hears of Juliet’s reaction he begins to scold her to the point that he says he would have her disowned and begging on the streets. The nurse interjects, directly telling Lord Capulet that he is speaking too harshly, to which he snaps back by telling her to be quiet.

It is interesting that this scene brought out the “worst” in these two women. The nurse spoke out of turn to defend Juliet, whom she loves as a daughter, while Juliet rebels because she seems to have no control over her life.