Empowerment and Assertion in the Female Voice
Ariel Charles Charles I
Mr.Sadberry
Honors English II
24 October 2012 Empowerment and Assertion in the Female Voice Feminist criticism is about empowering the female character(s). Feminist criticism is a type of literary criticism focusing on the role of women in literature. It shows the distinguished relationships between males and females and their roles in life. Feminist criticism also shows the many basic roles that women and men have in life. But with feminist criticism the roles are switched. In Julius Caesar, Portia and calphurnia show their empowerment through assertion. Portia is Brutus’ wife and she tries her hardest to be the best wife she can be. She wants her husband to be trustworthy and not to be so separated from her. She tries asserting her power by telling him what’s on her mind: “if this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman that lord Brutus took to wife. I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman well reputed, Cato’s daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, being so fathered and so husbanded? Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose’em. I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here in the thigh; can I bear that with patience, and not my husband’s secrets?” (Act II, Scene II, Line 291-302). In this scene, Portia showed that she was very worried about her husband. She wants to know what the secret he is holding from her is. With her assertion, she tried to pry the answer out of Brutus. But Calphurnia her circumstances are very different. Charles II
With Calphurnia, she shows the readers how afraid she fears for Caesar’s life. She has bad dreams and sees bad omens everywhere. She tries to warn Caesar but he doesn’t listen: “Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, yet now they fright me. There is one within, besides the things that we have heard and seen, recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelped in the
Mr.Sadberry
Honors English II
24 October 2012 Empowerment and Assertion in the Female Voice Feminist criticism is about empowering the female character(s). Feminist criticism is a type of literary criticism focusing on the role of women in literature. It shows the distinguished relationships between males and females and their roles in life. Feminist criticism also shows the many basic roles that women and men have in life. But with feminist criticism the roles are switched. In Julius Caesar, Portia and calphurnia show their empowerment through assertion. Portia is Brutus’ wife and she tries her hardest to be the best wife she can be. She wants her husband to be trustworthy and not to be so separated from her. She tries asserting her power by telling him what’s on her mind: “if this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman that lord Brutus took to wife. I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman well reputed, Cato’s daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, being so fathered and so husbanded? Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose’em. I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here in the thigh; can I bear that with patience, and not my husband’s secrets?” (Act II, Scene II, Line 291-302). In this scene, Portia showed that she was very worried about her husband. She wants to know what the secret he is holding from her is. With her assertion, she tried to pry the answer out of Brutus. But Calphurnia her circumstances are very different. Charles II
With Calphurnia, she shows the readers how afraid she fears for Caesar’s life. She has bad dreams and sees bad omens everywhere. She tries to warn Caesar but he doesn’t listen: “Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, yet now they fright me. There is one within, besides the things that we have heard and seen, recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelped in the