Was Shakespeare a Mysogynist?
Was Shakespeare a Misogynist? William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest English playwright of all time. His plays bring out emotion, and inspire people many generations after his death. Many of the themes that are present in his writings are still relevant today. However, Shakespeare hasn’t shed a very good light on all of his characters, especially the female characters. Based on his portrayal of the women in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Othello, Shakespeare appears to be a misogynist. Hippolyta from the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the first example. Hippolyta was Queen of the Amazons, a clan of warrior women, before Theseus conquered her people and took her away to marry him. Shakespeare portrayed Hippolyta as a trophy wife for Theseus, instead of a powerful woman who used to go around killing and eating men. It appears that she doesn’t mind being dominated by a man, which is strange considering that the Amazons used men as slaves (Findlay). This is a classic example of a woman’s power being suppressed by male influence.
Hippolyta represents female power that 's been suppressed by male authority. It is possible to see Hippolyta as an allusion to Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth was notorious for refusing to marry and give up her power as England 's first female monarch (Vickers). Hippolyta’s submission to Theseus depicts a common fantasy about making a powerful female ruler submit to male authority, which is exactly what Queen Elizabeth refused to do when she declared to remain unmarried. Another example of a woman being suppressed by a man is Titania, the Queen of the Fairies from the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania is being dominated by her husband, King Oberon. Titania starts off strong, refusing to hand over the Indian child just because Oberon told her to. Oberon is upset at this so he decides to trick Titania into giving him the child by making her fall in love with a “vile thing”. When Titania finally gives Oberon
Hippolyta represents female power that 's been suppressed by male authority. It is possible to see Hippolyta as an allusion to Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth was notorious for refusing to marry and give up her power as England 's first female monarch (Vickers). Hippolyta’s submission to Theseus depicts a common fantasy about making a powerful female ruler submit to male authority, which is exactly what Queen Elizabeth refused to do when she declared to remain unmarried. Another example of a woman being suppressed by a man is Titania, the Queen of the Fairies from the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania is being dominated by her husband, King Oberon. Titania starts off strong, refusing to hand over the Indian child just because Oberon told her to. Oberon is upset at this so he decides to trick Titania into giving him the child by making her fall in love with a “vile thing”. When Titania finally gives Oberon
Cited: Findlay A. Hippolyta. Women In Shakespeare [serial online]. March 2010;:188-190. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 18, 2013. Vickers B. Approaching Shakespeare 's late style. Early Modern Literary Studies [serial online]. January 2008;13(3):21. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 18, 2013. Walters L. Oberon and Masculinity in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Anq [ serial online]. September 2013;26(3)157-160. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 20, 2013.