Gender Roles in Much Ado About Nothing - Essay Example

?Gender Roles in Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and is considered the greatest of English literature. Much Ado About Nothing was probably written in 1598 and 1599 and is considered one of his best comedies as it combines elements of a comical drama with darker human concerns of human frailty or man’s imperfect nature. Renaissance refers to the period of western civilization which marks the change from the medieval to the modern world, the period between the 14th and mid-17th century. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare explores Renaissance values and ideals such as gender roles by creating characters that either adhere to or rebel against the philosophies of the era. In the play the majority of characters including Hero, Leonato, Claudio and Benedick are characters who adhere to Renaissance ideals. In contrast, Beatrice stands out as the only character that does not conform to the ideals of the Renaissance period. During the Renaissance, man was superior to woman in all aspects. Women were seen as inferior to men. They were subservient to the men in the family and were expected to obey the men in all aspects of their lives. Men made all decisions and the women were expected to obey them. Women represented virtues such as obedience, piety, chastity, humility and patience. Renaissance society was a patriarchal society. At every point on the social scale, a man was the head of the household. A woman was controlled by her parents throughout her childhood, then, handed over to her husband who would exercise control over her until death. This patriarchal attitude can be seen in the characters of Antonio and Leonato. Antonio advises Hero, “Well niece, I trust you will be ruled by your father” (Act 2 Sc i). A daughter is supposed to obey her father even when it comes to choosing a husband. Leonato reminds Hero how to behave when the prince comes to woo her. Then, when it becomes clear that the prince was on behalf of Claudio and not himself, Leonato accepts the sudden change of son-in-law with no consideration for his daughter’s feelings. He demands that his daughter agree to a marriage whether she approves of it or not. Beatrice suggests that Hero agree with her father only if it pleases her to do so. She says, “Yes, faith, it is my cousin’s duty to make cursy and say, ‘Father, as it please you.’ But for all that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow, or make another cursy, and say, ‘Father, as it please me’” (Act 2, Sc i. 52 -56). To this, Leonato says “Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband” (Act 2, Sc i. 53 -54). In fact, Leonato is reminding Beatrice that she is a maid, an old unmarried maid, something that is looked upon unfavorably by the Renaissance patriarchal society. In the patriarchal society, a woman’s ultimate goal is to marry and be an obedient wife. Similarly, Leonato displays his adherence to the traditional male role in other sections of the play. Later in the play, following Claudio’s denunciation of Hero, Leonato does not heed to his daughter’s claims that she is innocent and wishes her death rather than live with a tarnished reputation. “Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes, / For, did I think thou wouldst not quickly die, / Thought I that thy spirits were stronger than thy shames, / Myself would on the rearward of reproaches / Strike at thy life. (Act 4, Sc I 123 – 127). Even when the rest of the household believes in Hero’s innocence and takes her side in the conflict, he is convinced of Hero’s tainted reputation. It is only after Benedick and the friar swear they believe in Hero’s innocence, does he relent. Leonato’s love for his daughter only lasts as she protects his name and honor. Once it appears that she has brought shame, he wants her to die and put an end to the dishonor she has brought. Not only does Hero willingly submit to her father as his obedient daughter, she is also willing to submit to her husband as his wife. She is performing her roles as an obedient daughter and wife as a woman of the Renaissance era. Hero maintains her silence throughout the play. She remains silent when Leonato and Antonio discuss the plans for her marriage to Don Pedro. As a daughter, she has no say in her marriage. By listening and following her father’s instructions, Hero represents the ideal Renaissance woman. In Act 4, Scene i, Hero is wrongly accused of cheating on Claudio. Throughout the slander to her character, Hero maintains silence. Instead of standing up for herself, she simply tries but fails to defend her honor, “O, God defend me! How am I beset! What kind of catechizing call you this?” The Renaissance era prescribed silence as a necessary virtue for the ideal woman. As she is silent for most of the time she appears in the play, the men can only read her as a text. Leonato regards her as a text that contains proof of her infidelity. He says “Why, she, oh, she, is fallen / Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea / Hath drops too few to wash her clean again / And salt too little which may season give / To her foul-tainted flesh!” (Act 4, Sc i 139 – 143). Using metaphorical language, Leonato reduces Hero to a piece of paper rather than an individual. Just as ink is used to write words on paper that can be read, Hero’s character is viewed as the ink that is written on the paper of her body. Because Hero does not speak, the men interpret her meaning. In Act 2 Sc iii, Benedick lists all the qualities of an ideal woman when he says “One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace. Rich she shall be, that’s certain; wise or I’ll none; virtuous or I’ll never cheapen her, fair, or I’ll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel; of good discourse, an excellent musician …” (Act 2 Sc iii, 18 -23). Benedick says he will never be tempted to love any woman unless she has all these qualities in her. Renaissance men have high expectations of the women they are going to marry. Once the woman falls short of these expectations, they are discarded. Claudio refuses to marry Hero in order to protect his own reputation. In other parts of the play, it is interesting to note that Hero is treated more as a commodity then a person with feelings. When Benedick asks “Would you buy her that you enquire after her?” Claudio replies, “Can the world buy such a jewel?” (Act 1, Sc i 156). Claudio’s association of Hero with a “jewel” shows his appreciation of Hero only for her beauty and not for her character. Later, Prince Pedro woos Hero and then after having obtained her, gives her to Claudio. Hero is treated as a commodity that can be bought and resold, not as a woman with feelings. However, not all women characters uphold the ideals of the patriarchal system. In contrast to the quiet and shy Hero, Beatrice is more daring and outspoken. Shakespeare portrays her as having more masculine than feminine qualities. She is always engaged in a witty banter with the male characters of the play almost as if she is one of them. She refuses to accept the ideals of a system that gives men power and authority because of their sex. Beatrice admits to the gender inequality inherent in marriage when she gives her reasons for not marrying. She says, “What should I do with him? Dress him in my apparel, and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth; and he that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me; and he that is less than a man, I am not for him” (Act 2, Sc i 33-38). Beatrice refuses to marry because she has not discovered the perfect, equal partner and because she is unwilling to give up her liberty and submit to the will of a controlling husband. Beatrice explains the limited role of a woman during the Renaissance. Until the time of her marriage, a woman is under the control of her father. After marriage, she is under the control of her domineering husband. When Leonato expresses his wish to see her married, Beatrice replies: “Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmaster’d with a piece of valiant dust? To make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl? No, uncle, I’ll none. Adam’s sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kinred” (Act 2, Sc i 53-57). She argues that since in the end, all men are reduced to ashes or dust, it is not fitting that she be ruled by a man, who in the end is only dust. As all of Adam’s sons are her brothers, she would be committing incest if she marries them. Of course, she does not truly believe in the blood-sister relationship. Beatrice’s argument is that since men and women are made of dust and return to dust upon death and since they are all God’s children, men and women are equal. In doing so, she voices her disapproval of the Renaissance ideal that men are superior to women. Many times throughout the play, Beatrice wishes that she was a man. After Claudio shames Hero at the altar, Beatrice begs to God so that she could be a man so that she could avenge Hero like a man. “O that I were a man! …. O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the market place” (Act 4, Sc i 298-302). In her frustration and anger about Hero’s treatment, Beatrice voices her disapproval of the unequal status of women in Renaissance society. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare portrays the patriarchal male characters Leonato, Claudio and Benedick as cruel and egocentric. They are more obsessed with their public image than with the feelings of those they love. The female characters, on the other hand, represent two different ideals. Hero symbolizes what women were at that time and Beatrice symbolizes one who rebels and speaks her mind against the injustices to women. Shakespeare shows his belief that women do not need men to control every aspect of their lives. As women are intelligent and capable, he sees them as equals to their male counterparts. His sympathetic portrayal of women throughout the play shows Shakespeare’s disapproval of the Renaissance gender roles. Shakespeare may have seen men and women as equals and realized that they live in an unequal world. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. 5th de. David Bevington, ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004. 223-255 Read More