Female or Male Gender Roles in the Play Much Ado about Nothing by Shakespeare (Essay Sample)

Name: Professor: Course: Date: Female or Male Gender Roles in the Play Much Ado about Nothing by Shakespeare Introduction In Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, female and gender roles are clearly defined. Through all the wordplays and misconceptions, the ugly truth about gender inequality and gender roles in widely explored in the Elizabethan society. Acted between the 12th and 16th century, the renaissance context greatly applies in this play. It was at this age when men were considered superior and women inferior. Everything right from roles and behaviour were highly based on gender. Men were considered head of the home and it was their duty to take care of their families. Unlike women, men had a greater extent of freedom and rarely faced the same consequences faced by women. Men as head of the family were expected to be brave and honourable while women were expected to submit. Much Ado about Nothing is an argument about the much famous topic: female or male gender roles. Female and Gender roles In the patriarchal society of Much Ado about Nothing, the sense of men superiority manifests deeply. Through different characters, Shakespeare deconstructs the fraud of men in a rather dramatizing session. As portrayed by the author, Hero is an ideal renaissance woman. Unlike many other women characters, she is loyal, obedient, respectful, fair, and quit before men. She subscribes to patriarchal rule of the society without question. When her father commands her to accept Claudio’s hand in marriage she does so without question. Even when Claudio questions her virginity and ashamed her she remains submissive to her fiancée. She is quoted saying, “'One Hero died defiled; but I do live. And surely as I live, I am a maid' (V, IV). Here her virginity as a woman is confirmed and clearly comes out that Hero matches the characteristics of an ideal woman during that time. The violent reaction by Claudio when he heard that Hero had betrayed him indicated the importance of virginity during the play setting. Hero is even disowned by her own father when she thinks Hero has lost her virginity, she is even states that, “Death is the fairest cover for her shame that may be wish'd for' (IV, I). Unlike Hero, Beatrice is one of the roundest characters in Shakespeare play. She is sharp and feisty throughout the play. She has been placed in the play to reiterate the issue of gender inequality and to highly the reasons why people and society as a whole should oppose the “traditional woman.” She has refused to conform to the social expectations forced by the society on women. Beatrice has been strategically placed in the play to single-handedly disrupt the conventional gender polarities especially when she urges Hero to defy her father. She longs for male freedom so she can avenge Hero her cousin. She does not want to marry and hates the fact that she is a woman in a highly patriarchal society. Throughout the play her “unwomaness” stands out. In Act 1 of the play, she openly criticizes and speaks of Benedick forcing Leonato to apologize on her behalf to the messenger. Leonato says, “You must not, sir, mistake my niece.  There is a kind of merry way between Signor Benedick and her” (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 49-51).  Beatrice does not entertain the everyday sexism and has resorted to use insults made by men to hurt them back. In her society the idea of women criticizing men is against the gender roles and Leonato had to step up to dismiss what Beatrice had to say about Benedick. Beatrice knows the restrictions set by the society but she wants to escape them by refusing to get married. She does not want to be like Hero because if she does get married, she will fall deep into the subservient role of a wife. She proclaims that marriage is “hot and hasty” “full of state and anciently” and will end in boredom “until one sinks into his grave” (II.1.54-7). Men perceive women differently in the play. Their perceptions give much insight into the systemic gender inequality in Elizabethan. Women are referred to as objects and untrustworthy beings. In a conversation between Claudio and Benedick the topic is about buying women and their worthiness of love and marriage. According to Claudio and Benedick, beauty and obedience are two things to consider when evaluating a woman’s “worthiness”. In Act 2 of the play, Benedick tells Claudio that Don Pedro, “stole your meat” with meat here used to symbolize Hero. Women objectification clearly portrays them as a weak gender. Unlike men, women are there to be taken and therefore they must be submissive. The conversations between men about women further depict women as an unfaithful and untrustworthy gender. For benedick, married men are easily cheated on especially when Hero’s premarital affair came to the ...