There were many things I found perplexing in the first acts of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I haven't seen the play performed in a while, but as I started reading I was expecting something very light. So when Egeus starts begging for the "ancient privelege of Athens", I wasn't sure how seriously I should be taking it. This situation, I suppose, is appropriate for the setting of the play, but at the same time I couldn't really factor it into what my understanding of the play as a whole. Egeus says that Lysander has "bewitched" Hermia into loving him and thus disobeying Egeus' order that she marry Demetrius (I.i.21-38). But what I don't understand is that if Egeus blames Lysander for brainwashing Hermia, why doesn't he beg that Lysander be punished? Then, later, when Lysander accuses Demetrius of having made love to Helena and then leaving her, Theseus says he had heard about this but quickly forgot about it ("but being over-full of self affairs, my mind did lose it"- I.i.111-113). Why is Demetrius not held accountable for his actions and why is Egeus so casual about something that could mean life or death for Hermia? This interaction seems to set up the gender hierarchy within the play, at least for the human characters.
The relationship between Titania and Oberon suggests that division of power is not so clean cut in the faery kingdom. Titania and Oberon's first interaction in the play displays a definite power struggle in which neither party seems to hold much power over the other. That Titania denies Oberon the changeling boy "perforce" shows that she has power and can exert that power in spite of her husband (II.i.26). Also, Titania's assertion that she must keep the boy to honor the relationship that she had with his mother shows that Titania values her friendship just as much or more than her relationship with her husband, displaying her autonomy. Oberon's mischief with the love potion is a way to undermine the autonomy that Titania displays, and perhaps to assert a patriarchal power dynamic.
New Paltz Students Blogging about Shakespeare
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Although A Midsummer Night's Dream is recognized as a comedy, one of the major themes within this play is love. Does love intertwine with comedy or is it more associated with tragedy? As human beings, do we dream the impossible dream? I think everyone does in some way and we see this in the play as well. Although the women get what they want in the end, is it really what they wanted? Their rights are taken away and they have become silent. Bottom, Snug, Snout, Quince and Flute all decide to put on a play, and are all comedic characters. These are actors who rarely have used knowledge, but at the same time are hard working individuals. One major reason they put on the play is because they think they will get paid for it. They didn’t agree to be in the play because they want to make a career out of it. They feel that this will enable them to move up in society and become a higher class.
A moral within this play is if you dare to dream your dream, it MIGHT come true; and if it doesn't then hopefully it will still be fun and entertaining. Dreams are something we always wish to be true but they might be hard to fulfill. The course of true love is not an easy thing and in the play Lysander assures Hermia of this. No matter what there will always be difficulties and obstacles that people must face. Hermia does everything she can to remain positive and thinks that after overcoming and facing the difficulties of love that it will all soon come together. This is the price that lovers must pay. The exploration of love is at the heart of the play, although it is recognized to be a comedy. In this play we see that it is a male dominated society. Gender is one of the big issues, does it ever really get resolved? As far as gender roles go, Hippolyta is the most traditional feminine woman because the other female characters don’t listen to the men. This may show us that they are strong willed and will fight for what they want despite what others say.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Portia vs. Shylock
Portia vs. Shylock
Portia and Shylock are the two characters who interest me the most in the play because they both find themselves within a hierarchy that marks them as subordinate to the Christian men; Portia because she is a woman and Shylock because he is a Jew. The Christian men are the “norm” against whom everyone else is judged and Portia and Shylock are recognized as “the other.” However, because she is Christian and rich, Portia, in a sense, outranks Shylock, as can be seen in her dismissal of all her former suitors based on stereotypes. This makes Shylock’s “otherness” even more pronounced. This hierarchy pits the two against each other, and I think this is most clearly illustrated when Portia initially tries to persuade Shylock to “consider this, that, in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.” She is essentially asking Shylock to adhere to the status quo and become a Christian, which made her judgment that he should immediately convert less of a surprise. It reminded me of when Antonio said “Hie thee, gentle Jew. The Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind,” which makes it clear that the entire momentum of the play has been aimed at ridding Shylock of his Judaism. Her speech also made me wonder who she is referring to when she says “we” and “us all.” Is she talking about the Christians, or is she including Shylock in this collective “we”? In the treatment of the two characters I see a powerplay not just between religions, but also between genders. While Shylock is forced to convert to Christianity, all the women in the play have to dress up and act like men in order to exercise some semblance of agency. In Portia’s case, however, her “conversion” only serves to strengthen the tenants of the social order, because although she manages to get her ring from Bassanio (thereby gaining some sort of autonomy and independence, I assume) she is able to turn back into a woman, while Shylock’s transformation is permanent. It basically robs him of his identity. His being Jewish is how he differentiated himself from the other characters and also how the other characters addressed him, as opposed to using his actual name, and now that categorization no longer applies to him.
Finally, what I find most interesting about the play so far is that that while Venetian law is upheld and therefore Jews and Christians are supposedly allowed to live together and conduct business with one another, the only two prominent Jews in the play both convert to Christianity, either willingly (Jessica, and even so she is still considered a Jew by Lancelot,) or through blatant coercion and duress (Shylock.) Both are co-opted into the dominating Christian social system and Judaism is effectively eradicated (neutralized?) removing the threat Shylock’s Judaism posed to the community – the Christian community, not the overall Venetian trading community – so that the remaining characters in the play can go on to live happily ever after, which I suppose is what makes it a comedy. I also find myself wondering if Shylock, now a Christian, will still be in the same societal position as before, and if not, where it will be in comparison to Portia. I’m tempted to think that Shylock’s real crime wasn’t in trying to kill Antonio, but in refusing to properly fulfill his role as a Jew – meaning he didn’t show the deference to his Christian counterparts that his society demanded.
Portia and Shylock are the two characters who interest me the most in the play because they both find themselves within a hierarchy that marks them as subordinate to the Christian men; Portia because she is a woman and Shylock because he is a Jew. The Christian men are the “norm” against whom everyone else is judged and Portia and Shylock are recognized as “the other.” However, because she is Christian and rich, Portia, in a sense, outranks Shylock, as can be seen in her dismissal of all her former suitors based on stereotypes. This makes Shylock’s “otherness” even more pronounced. This hierarchy pits the two against each other, and I think this is most clearly illustrated when Portia initially tries to persuade Shylock to “consider this, that, in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.” She is essentially asking Shylock to adhere to the status quo and become a Christian, which made her judgment that he should immediately convert less of a surprise. It reminded me of when Antonio said “Hie thee, gentle Jew. The Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind,” which makes it clear that the entire momentum of the play has been aimed at ridding Shylock of his Judaism. Her speech also made me wonder who she is referring to when she says “we” and “us all.” Is she talking about the Christians, or is she including Shylock in this collective “we”? In the treatment of the two characters I see a powerplay not just between religions, but also between genders. While Shylock is forced to convert to Christianity, all the women in the play have to dress up and act like men in order to exercise some semblance of agency. In Portia’s case, however, her “conversion” only serves to strengthen the tenants of the social order, because although she manages to get her ring from Bassanio (thereby gaining some sort of autonomy and independence, I assume) she is able to turn back into a woman, while Shylock’s transformation is permanent. It basically robs him of his identity. His being Jewish is how he differentiated himself from the other characters and also how the other characters addressed him, as opposed to using his actual name, and now that categorization no longer applies to him.
Finally, what I find most interesting about the play so far is that that while Venetian law is upheld and therefore Jews and Christians are supposedly allowed to live together and conduct business with one another, the only two prominent Jews in the play both convert to Christianity, either willingly (Jessica, and even so she is still considered a Jew by Lancelot,) or through blatant coercion and duress (Shylock.) Both are co-opted into the dominating Christian social system and Judaism is effectively eradicated (neutralized?) removing the threat Shylock’s Judaism posed to the community – the Christian community, not the overall Venetian trading community – so that the remaining characters in the play can go on to live happily ever after, which I suppose is what makes it a comedy. I also find myself wondering if Shylock, now a Christian, will still be in the same societal position as before, and if not, where it will be in comparison to Portia. I’m tempted to think that Shylock’s real crime wasn’t in trying to kill Antonio, but in refusing to properly fulfill his role as a Jew – meaning he didn’t show the deference to his Christian counterparts that his society demanded.
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