The images of women in some of william shakespeare,s plays

I am really interested in the images of women in his plays such as Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”, Desdemona in “Othello”, Portia in “The Merchant of Venice”.. Juliet : "Romeo and Juliet"

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

I The rationale for choosing the thesis

II The aims of the thesis

III The objectives of the thesis

IV The methods of the study

V The limitation of the thesis

VI The main contents of the thesis

CONTENTS

Chapter I : BACKGROUND

I England in the Renaissance

1 What is the Renaisance?

1.1 The Middle Ages and the origins of the Renaissance 1.2 A surge of interest in classical learning and values, especially Greek and Roman achievements in the Renaissance

1.3 Renaissance men‟s ideas and attitudes 1.3.1 Changes in political attitudes

1.3.2 Changes in religious attitudes 1.3.3 New inventions and discoveries in science in the Renaissance

2 England in the Renaissance

II Elizabethan and Jacobean drama

1 What is drama?

2 Elizabethan and Jacobean drama III William Shakespeare

1 His life

2 His career and works

Chapter II: THE IMAGES OF WOMEN IN SOME OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE‟S PLAYS

I The innocent, faithful women striving for true love and fighting to protect their love and happiness

1 Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”

1.1 A brief summary of "Romeo and Juliet"

1.2 Juliet

2 Desdemona in “Othello”

2.1 A brief summary of "Othello"

2.2 Desdemona

II The intelligent woman : Portia in “The Merchant of Venice”

1 A brief summary of “The Merchant of Venice”

2 Portia III The fearless, stubborn and valiant women

1 Emilia in “Othello”

2 Cordelia in “King Lear”

2.1 A brief summary of “King Lear”

2.2 Cordelia

CONCLUSION

REFERENCE BOOKS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr Christopher Staples, who has enthusiatically instructed me in all the time of writing this thesis

Secondly, I would like to thank very much to the Dean of The Foreign Languages Department, and especially, the teacher of English Trần Ngọc Tưởng and the teacher of Literature Nguyễn Đình Ba who lent me some interesting materials and gave me a lot of useful ideas

Finally, I also thank my parents and my friends for their encouragement Due to the help of all above-mentioned people, I can finish this thesis

I THE RATIONALE FOR CHOOSING THE THESIS:

I have been learning literature since I was twelve years old and it has been one of my most favourite subjects so far When I was a pupil, I used to learn many works with various themes by famous Vietnamese writers Among them, “Người con gái Nam Xương” by Nguyễn Dữ, “Truyện Kiều” by Nguyễn Du were two stories I liked most and they tell us about destinies of women in Feudal Society in Vietnam

Now I am a student of English and fortunately, I have the opportunity to study English literature, to know the literature in the Renaissance, especially William Shakespeare and his works I am really interested in the images of women

in his plays such as Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”, Desdemona in “Othello”, Portia

in “The Merchant of Venice” etc

Besides, in process of studying English literature, I usually face many difficulties in understanding the English literary language, especially as it used by Shakespeare It seems to challenge for me to discover

All the above things are the main rationale for choosing my graduation thesis

II THE AIMS OF THE THESIS:

Firstly, studying this thesis helps me to understand more about the Renaissance, drama in Elizabethan and Jacobean ages, English literature in the Renaissance and to know more deeply about William Shakespeare‟s life, career and famous plays

Secondly, through studying this thesis, I can improve my English language, especially English literary language

III THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

To study the images of women in the plays “Romeo and Juliet”, “Othello”,

“King Lear” and “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare

IV THE METHODS OF THE STUDY:

- Using collective method: Collecting the materials that are concerned with the thesis and studying them carefully

- Using analysis and synthetic methods

- Making use of the help of my supervisor Christopher Staples

V THE LIMITATION OF THE THESIS:

- Studying the Renaissance, England in the Renaissance

- Studying Elizabethan and Jacobean drama

- Studying Shakespeare‟s life and career

- Focusing on “the images of women” as Shakespeare‟s following characters: Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”, Desdemona and Emilia in “Othello”, Portia in “The Merchant of Venice” and Cordelia in “King Lear”

VI THE MAIN CONTENTS OF THE THESIS:

Chapter I : BACKGROUND

I England in the Renaissance

1 What is the Renaisance?

1.1 The Middle Ages and the origins of the Renaissance 1.2 A surge of interest in classical learning and values, especially Greek and Roman achievements, in the Renaissance

1.3 Renaissance men‟s ideas and attitudes 1.3.1 Changes in political attitudes

1.3.2 Changes in religious attitudes 1.3.3 New inventions and discoveries in science in the Renaissance

2 England in the Renaissance

II Elizabethan and Jacobean drama

1 What is drama?

2 Elizabethan and Jacobean drama III William Shakespeare

1 Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”

1.1 A brief summary of "Romeo and Juliet"

1.2 Juliet

2 Desdemona in “Othello”

2.1 A brief summary of "Othello"

2.2 Desdemona

II The Intelligent woman : Portia in “The Merchant of Venice”

1 A brief summary of “The Merchant of Venice”

2 Portia III The fearless, stubborn and valiant women

1 Emilia in “Othello”

2 Cordelia in “King Lear”

2.1 A brief summary of “King Lear”

2.2 Cordelia

CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND

I ENGLAND IN THE RENAISSANCE:

The word “Renaissance” means “Rebirth” which is the French translation of the Italian “Rinascita” The Renaissance was a series of movements in literature and culture in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries in Europe These movements began

in Italy and eventually expanded into Germany, France, England, and the rest of Europe This period marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world in Europe

The Renaissance was inspired by a criticism of the styles and thought of the Middle Ages and a desire to return to the glories of ancient Greece and Rome It means that Europeans became interested in studying the great civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome and Renaissance men had many changes in their beliefs about the Universe, and the place of human beings and the worth of the individual within it

1.1 Middle Ages and origins of the Renaissance:

In Europe, the term Middle Ages is used to show periods in the history of Europe that lasted from about AD 350 to about 1450 It was invented by scholars

in the 15th century of the Renaissance These scholars thought that their Renaissance and the time of ancient Greece and Rome were advanced and civilized They called the period between themselves and the ancient world “The Middle Ages” The Middle Ages were divided into three main periods: The Early, Central and Late Middle Ages The period which is the considered as origins of the Renaissance is the late Middle Ages, so we will focus on this period‟s influences

on the Renaissance

The late Middle Ages which lasted from about 1300 to 1450 witnessed not only Europeans‟ famine, plague, war, and religious dissent but also a period of enormous vitality and advance in art, literature, and thought Two typical characters of this time who really affected the Renaissance were Petrarch and Boccacio

Petrarch (1304-1374), an Italian poet, restored the Latin of the Ancient Romans and vernacular literature Meanwhile all learned people used the Latin of the Church, of the Scholarsticism, and of the law courts Petrarch succeeded in writing vernacular love poems and imitating the great ancient Latin authors His perfection of the sonnet form later influenced such English poets as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and Edmund Spenser Petrarch was also one of the first humanists He and other humanists absorbed the ideas of the ancient Romans and made them their own such as ancient Roman writers gave them an example of how to express their own feelings of patriotism

Besides, Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian writer and humanist, one of the greatest authors of all time The writers in the Renaissance who were influenced by his works and used them as source material were Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and John Dryden

1.2 A surge of interest in classical learning and values, especially Greek and Roman achievements, in the Renaisance

During the Middle Ages, there were some scholars and researchers studying the achievements of ancient cultures but they were only theologians, philosophers and writers Their attention was mostly limited to their professional activities For instance, Alcuin (735 - 804) - an English scholar who supported and worked for the Carolingian Kings and Christianity revised and reedited a version of the Bible known as the Vulgate Moreover, these scholars wrote on parchment made of animal skins and all works were written out by hand, so their manucripts could hardly come to the readers

In the Renaissance, however, people from various segments of society - from kings and nobles to merchants and soldiers - sought and studied those achievements They began to learn the Latin of the Ancient Romans, so they could search manucripts of the old Roman writers easily Especially, the number of the readers who were interested in reading works of the ancient writers increased greatly due to the invention of printing

1.3 Renaissance men’s ideas and attitudes

1.3.1 Change in political attitudes

After the Western Roman Empire collapsed in about AD 500, The Holy Roman Empire and The Roman Catholic Church controlled much of Europe during the Middle Ages The Holy Roman empire influenced the polical life of the people, and through the papacy the popes of the Roman Catholic Church controlled the religious life So the state and the Church were viewed as two different aspects of one Christian society However, the strong ties between Church and State were gradually weakening because, firstly, popes and the emperors struggled with each other for control over Church administration and secular lands, and, secondly, they only concentrated on political control rather than spiritual matters The decline of the Holy Roman Empire and the office of the pope was a preparation for changes

in attitudes toward politics in the Renaissance

The struggle between the popes and the secular rulers was an advantage for many towns in European countries, especially, in Italy, towns such as Venice, Milan etc enlarged their power and independence We can call them independent city - states In some other areas of Europe, national monarchs established their power such as France, England, Spain, etc

The unstable politics formed modern ways of thinking about politics These new attitudes appeared in historical writings and in theoretical works written by humanists The humanists stated that God and religion couldn‟t control politics successfully, that was for human beings to do And the humanists also described

political development in purely natural and nonreligious terms The typical writers for this thinking way were Niccolo Machiavelli ( Italy ) and Jean Bodin ( France)

Although this new political perspective emerged during the Renaissance, it was not accepted at that time However, humanism was a stable and unifying framework for the organization of spiritual and material life

1.3.2 Changes in religious attitudes

The Roman Catholic Church which was the institution of official religion during the Middle Ages was discredited and weakened by series of failures such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism The Babylonian Captivity or the Babylonian Exile lasted from 1309 to 1377, the Popes were forced to live in Avignon in the south of France under the domination of several French monarchs The Great Schism was a term used to the period in the Western Church when three rival popes competed for control from 1378 to 1417

However, the decline of the institution of the Roman Catholic Church seemed to motivate religious fervor in Europe There were many successful movements in religion emerging and challenging papal authority For instance, the

“devotio moderna” movement in the Low countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands emphasized individual and practical faith, a contrast with the more communal and metaphysical faith of the Catholic Church; a mystical religious movement appeared in Germany, it taught men about direct revelations from God without the Church, etc Many Churches and Chapels were built, and new devotional exercises became popular

As a result, many of the leaders of religious movements and humanists succeeded in reforming Christian society by relying on education rather than religious faith All their actions for religion aimed at expressing hope for the improvement in the spiritual life of human beings

1.3.3 New inventions and discoveries in science in the Renaissance

Along with changes in political and religious attitudes, Renaissance men inquired and discovered many new things about human beings and the Universe

In the Middle Ages, scholars usually took their scientific knowledge from books During the Renaissance, however, scholars began to experiment and observe the natural world by themselves

In astronomy, the 16th - century Polish astronomer Nicholaus Copernicus studied the scientific writings of antiquity, and observed the Universe He concluded that the Earth revolves around the sun and the sun is the center of the Universe The 17th - century Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo invented the telescope and declared the laws of falling bodies and the motions of projectiles In medicine, a Belgian physician Andreas Vesalius first dissected a human body in a scientific way and he was considered as the father of modern anotomy In navigation, Italian Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus discovered America in

1492 Besides, other important inventions such as gunpowder, the printing press, and the compass were practical results of Renaissance science In the field of philosophy, many scholars set out the new Renaissance attitudes toward science Among them, Francis Bacon stated that it is necessary to be certain of the truth, and the only way of being certain is by observation and testing

The above – mentioned figures were typical scientists in the Renaissance They not only changed ancient thinking about the Universe but also gave new ideas and discoveries about the natural world and human beings Their contributions for science have a great and crucial importance up to now and in the future

2 England in the Renaissance

There was never any doubt that due to the Renaissance, England became the most prosperous and important European country Expecially, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603), English society witnessed dramatic transformations The following were some salient changes:

The Parliament and the Privy Council operated effectively and the county‟s legal institutions developed The population also grew in the country Protestanism was established firmly as England‟s faith instead of Catholism Moreover, by improving the navy under Henry VIII, England successfully defeated the Spanish Armada under Elizabeth I This victory established the glory of the English navy and inspired merchants and explorers toward colonization of a wider world Great explorers such as Sir Walter Raleigh who brought tobacco and potatoes from overseas set up the first English outposts in North America

The continuing development of trade, the thoroughness of education, the growing entertainment demands of people at this time and other above - mentioned changes gave a new impetus to a great flowering of the arts Especially, the outpouring of poetry and drama led by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Christopher Marlowe

II ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN DRAMA

1 What is drama?

Drama is a type of literature usually written to be performed Primitive men would act out the story of a hunt for wild animals in front of other people without a theatre or stage Modern drama began with the classical Greek tragedies about 2,500 years ago Works of drama are written not only to be read but also to be presented in public by a group of performers, each of whom plays one of characters in the story The elements of drama are divided into dialogue, theme, plot, character, setting, stage directions, stage property, little description of the situation The main kinds of drama include comedy, tragedy, and history

Drama was the great art – form of the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages Playwrights read and translated the Roman plays in order to create their own works All actors, who travelled from town to town to perform plays, were male It

is amazing to realize that boys acted the female roles They set up their stages in the open courtyards of inns or in the hall of some noble houses

Since 1576, the theatres had started to be built in London such as the Globe and Blackfriars where most of Shakespeare‟s plays were performed They were usually round or eight – sided Their stages jutted out into the audience who stood round the pit The pit had no roof, and the richer people sat in covered galleries On the other hand, there was little or no scenery when actors acted on the stage, and so the audience mostly had to use their imaginations through the language of the plays In particular, the performance was only in the middle of the day

The theatre brought the large entertainments to citizens of the towns in England However, the political and religious instability at the end of the age prevented the development of drama and the theatres were closed until 1660 Beside the best dramatist, William Shakespeare, other famous playwrights of the age were Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, Ben Jonson, etc

III WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare, of whose personal life little is known, was born in the small town of Stratford - Upon - Avon in England on about 23rd April 1564 He was the third son of eight children of John Shakespeare, a tradesman, and Mary Arden The young Shakespeare probably attended the Stratford grammar school which educated the sons of Stratford citizens After he finished at this school, he did not go to university, and perhaps he worked in his father‟s business In November 1582, he married Anne Hathaway, a daughter of a farmer, and she was eight years older than himself They had three children, a daughter and twins – a boy and a girl The boy did not survive

For a few years after that, Shakespeare left for London in about 1588, and it

is uncertain to know about his life there He seems to have attained sufficient success as an actor and a playwright He was a shareholder in the Globe theatre,

which opened in 1599, and in Blackfriars, which was rebuilt in 1610 These theatres enabled Shakespeare to become a wealthy man

In about 1611, Shakespeare returned to Stratford, his hometown, and spent the last years of his life there He died on his 52nd birthday in 1616

The legacy of Shakespeare‟s work consists of 154 sonnets, which talk of his love for a young man and for a “dark lady”, two long narrative poems, “Venus and Adonis” and “The Rape of Lucrece”, and 37 plays – 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, and 10 histories Although the precise date of many of Shakespeare‟ plays is in doubt, his dramatic career is generally divided into 4 periods: the period up to

1594, the years from 1594 to 1600, the year from 1600 to 1608, the period after

1608

2.1 The first period: c.1591 - c 1594

This first period was considered his apprenticeship As his contemporaries,

he imitated the styles and plays of Roman playwrights He sometimes collaborated with Christopher Marlowe and others in composition His early works were comedies, histories plays, tragedies, and poems as following:

1 Comedy of Terror (c.1592) 1 Henry VI, part 1 (c 1590)

2 Taming of the Shrew (c.1593) 2 Henry VI, part 2 (c 1591)

3 Two Gentlemen of Verona (c 1594) 3 Henry VI, part 3 (c 1592)

4 Love‟s Labour‟s Lost (c 1594) 4 Richard III (c 1592)

1 Titus Andronicus (c 1593) 1 Venus and Adonis

2 The Rape of Lucrece

2.2 The second period : 1594 - 1600

In this period, although Shakespeare wrote all the types of drama, he was really interested in composing romantic comedies They contain joyous poetry and

much optimism They describe friendships, loves, the search for happiness of the young people Many humorous incidents inserted in the plays bring about laughter

of the audience "Romeo and Juliet" which was the only tragedy of the period, started the appearance of a series of more later His works in this time are:

o Comedies:

1 A Mid Summer Night‟s Dream (c 1595)

2 The Merchant of Venice (c 1596)

3 Much Ado about Nothing (c 1598)

3 Henry IV, part 1 (c 1597)

4 Henry IV, part 2 (c 1958)

5 Henry V (c.1958)

o Poems: Sonnets

o Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet (c.1595)

2.3 The third period : 1600 - 1608

Shakespeare‟s plays changed from optimism to pessimism They reflect the problems people had to face in the life such as falsehood, cruelty, love, hate, jealousy, ambition.etc His tragedies showed his disbelief in man‟s values, man‟s capacity and in the meaning of human life, even expressing his hatred for mankind They are considered the most profound of his works Besides, the laughter in his comedies became darker and more bitter than it in two above-mentioned periods

Comedies:

1 Twelfth Night (c 1600)

2 Troilus and Cressida (c 1600)

3 All‟s well that ends well (c 1602)

4 Measure for Measure (c 1604)

2 4 The fourth period : 1608 – 1613

The plays seemed to be mixture between comedies and tragedies, they was also called dramatic romances They expressed calm, sober and quietly lovely situations They tell of happiness which is lost, and then found again The following plays are the famous ones of Shakespeare in this period:

CHAPTER II THE IMAGES OF WOMEN

IN SOME OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

I THE INNOCENT, FAITHFUL WOMEN STRIVING FOR TRUE LOVE AND FIGHTING TO PROTECT THEIR LOVE ANH HAPPINESS

1 Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet"

1.1.A brief summary of "Romeo and Juliet"

In the city of Verona in northern Italy, during the fourteenth century, two wealthy and noble families, the Montagues and the Capulets, have been feuding for many years The feud between two families still continues although the original cause of the quarrel has been forgotten Romeo, a child of the Montague family, first loves Rosaline, a beautiful woman in Verona Romeo is sad because she has refused his love His cousin and friend, Benvolio, advises him to think of other women but he says that he couldn‟t forget Rosaline

The great rich Capulet family organises a party on Sunday evening and all people in Verona, except for the Montagues, have been invited However, Romeo goes to the party in order to see his Rosaline There he meets Juliet, a Capulet, and

suddenly he forgets Rosaline and falls in love with Juliet That night, they exchanges vows of eternal love on the balcony of the Capulets‟ house The next day, they are married secretly by Friar Lawrence

Romeo‟s appearance at the Capulet‟s party makes Tybalt, a nephew of Lady Capulet, feel angry and he thinks he will punish Romeo for this Later that day he meets Mercutio, a friend of Romeo and relative of the Prince of Verona, with Benvolio They quarrel and fight each other Unfortunately, Mercutio is killed by Tybalt so Romeo gets revenge for his friend‟s death by killing Tybalt The Prince sentences Romeo to banishment from Verona The Friar advises Romeo to leaves Verona to live in the nearby city of Mantua and wait for an opportunity to proclaim the marriage publicly Romeo agrees with the Friar He decides to leave Verona after spending Monday night with Juliet When Romeo has gone, Juliet is really very sad but her parents thinks the death of Tybalt is the cause of her sorrow They tell her to marry her suitor, Count Paris She refuses Her father threatens never to see her again if she doesn‟t obey his order

The next day, Juliet seeks Friar Lawrence for advice He suggests to her to pretend to accept the marriage with Paris The Friar also gives her a drug which will make her sleep and look as if she is dead on her wedding morning Then she will be placed in the family vault where he and Romeo will rescue her when she awakes and Romeo will take her to live with him in Mantua Meanwhile, the Friar will send a message to Romeo Juliet carries out the Friar‟s plan However, before the message is delivered to Romeo, he hears news of the death of Juliet He returns

to the Capulet vault There he meets Paris and they fight Paris is killed After that, Romeo takes the poison and dies When Juliet wakes up and sees the dead body of her lover, she stabs herself After their death, Friar Lawrence explains to the Prince, the Capulets and the Montagues what has happened This makes two families understand that their children‟s death is caused by their feud, so they forget their hate and promise to live in peace

1.2 Juliet :

"Romeo and Juliet" is a play about love, William Shakespeare concentrated

on describing two central characters, Romeo and Juliet, and their love Especially, William Shakespeare created the beautiful woman, Juliet, who is considered as a symbol of youth, innocence, and faith She overcomes the long - standing hate between the Capulets and the Montagues to give Romeo her true love That leads

to the tragedy of her life We can find the development of the character Juliet from the beginning to the end of the play She begins the play as an obedient girl who lives a sheltered life, but after she meets Romeo and falls in love with him, she becomes a resolute woman who dares striving for her true love

Juliet is very young because she is a girl of fourteen She is the daughter and the only heiress of the wealthy and powerful Capulet family She first appears indirectly through the talk between Capulet and Paris, a wealthy young man of Verona, who is suitor of Juliet In this talk, Paris asks Capulet to allow him to get married to Juliet Although Capulet accepts, he says that Paris should wait two years more because he thinks his daughter is childish:

“ My child is yet a stranger in the world,

She hath not seen the change of fourteen years

Let two more summers wither in their pride

Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride”

(Act I, scene 2)

Juliet is a modest and obedient girl, who has never loved before She hasn‟t known about the nature and power of love Thus, when her mother suggests that Paris might make a good husband, she simply replies:

“ I‟ll look to like, if looking liking move

But no more deep will I endart mine eyes

Than your consent gives strength to make it fly”

(Act I, scene 3)

However, the meeting with Romeo at her family‟s party is an awakening to her feelings of love She is impressed by Romeo‟s handsome appearance and beautiful behavior, and falls in love with him at first sight It is the first time she knows what true love is She loves Romeo naturally and strongly, even when she discovers that Romeo is a Montague In the balcony scene, she talks aloud of her own love for him, she is also sad because Romeo is a number of the Montagues, but for her, the name Montague or Capulet is not important It can not isolate or prevent the lovers, she says:

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father, and refuse thy name

Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

And I‟ll no longer be a Capulet”

(Act II, scene 2)

We are surprised that Juliet is changed from an obedient girl who has not understood what love is, to a women with strong true love In this scene, she shows her love passion frankly In order to protect her love, she dares to do everything, even to oppose the hate for generations between two families She is willing to refuse her father, especially, her name if that can help her to have Romeo‟s love Her love is greater than everything It is clear that the feud between two families has lasted for a very long time, it is very deep and strong, so the love of children of two families will never be accepted Although the love of Romeo and Juliet has to face a lot of such dangers and difficulties, the power of love encourages Juliet to overcome them and to fight to protect her love and happiness Thus, she deserves

to be called one of the most wonderful heroines of William Shakespeare

The faith of Juliet‟s love for Romeo is proved deeply and clearly through the scene that Romeo kills Tybalt in revenge for his friend, Mercutio, and Romeo

is banished from Verona Because Tybalt is Juliet‟s dear cousin, she could never forgive Romeo‟s action, and would hate Romeo, but she doesn‟t do that, she still

loves Romeo, even more strongly She spends one sweet night with Romeo before

he leaves for Mantua, she decides to belong only to Romeo in spite of his banishment The distance between them can not separate two lovers, their love is stronger than everything, they believe that they will meet again:

“ Art thou gone so, love lord, ay husband, friend?

I must hear from thee everyday in the hour,

For in a minute there are many days

O by this count I shall be much in years,

Ere I again behold my Romeo”

(Act III, scene 5)

After Romeo and Juliet‟s farewell eachother, Juliet is forced to mary Paris, this horrifies her and she tells her mother that she will not agree to do such a thing

We know that Paris is a very good young man of Verona and he also loves Juliet

If Juliet becomes Paris‟ wife, she will have a high position in society and live a wealthy life Furthermore, Paris is accepted by Juliet‟s parents, they like Paris and they think that their child will be happy with Paris On the contrary, Romeo is a Montague who her parents hate absolutely and is in exile far from her However, the power, the wealth and the love of Paris are not strong enough to change Juliet‟s love for Romeo She refuses to mary Paris even though her father, Capulet, threatens to disown her

“ Hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch!

I tell thee what, get thee to church a Thursday,

Or never after look me in the face”

(Act III ,scene 5 )

Juliet disobeys the order of her parents flatly, so they are angry and reject her Even the Nurse suggests that Juliet should indeed marry Paris and forget Romeo as Romeo is unlikely to be able to return Everyone rejects her at her refusal but she still retains her own idea that she would rather die than marry Paris

In this difficulty, Juliet decides to go to see Friar Lawrence for advice All her actions, words and decisions in this scene clearly aim at protecting her love for Romeo That proves her faith and resolution and the power of love helps her to do such things

The only love of Juliet for Romeo is affirmed once more in her decision to take the drug given by Friar Lawrence On the night before the wedding of Paris and her, before drinking the drug, she hesitates doing or not doing because she thinks of a lot of terrible things that will happen to her when she lies in the vault and thinks of the death She wonders whether the Friar has given her poison to take

so that she will die and no one will know of what he has done because he has already married her to Romeo secretly But Juliet puts aside her worry and doubts and believes the real Friar Lawrence:

“What if it be a poison which the friar

Subtly hath ministered to have me dead,

Lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured

Because he married me before to Romeo?

I fear it is , and yet methinks it should not,

For he hath still been tried a holy man”

(Act IV, scene 3)

Juliet overcomes her doubts, she thinks of her love, for Romeo, and decides

to swallow the drug: “Romeo! Romeo! Romeo! I drink to thee” (Act IV, scene 3) She hopes that she will meet Romeo when she awakes, he will rescue her and take her to live with him in Mantua, they will be together forever, but she doesn‟t know that there will be a mistake in the plan of Friar Lawrence that the message will never come to Romeo, and Romeo will die beside her in the vault In fact, Juliet‟s bravery shows us that her love for Romeo is all, it is stronger than everything, even than her fear of death

When William Shakespeare describes the heroine, Juliet, he extols her beauty both in the soul and in looks She is really a very beautiful woman Her face makes Romeo dote on at the first time of their meeting in the feast of Capulet In the scene of the balcony, in the moonlight, Romeo adores her beauty, he says that the moon is not as beautiful as Juliet and he calls her the sun:

“ It is the east, and Juliet is the Sun

Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief

That thou her maid art far more fair than she”

(Act II, scene 2)

As Romeo returns to the vault where Juliet lies, he finds that his lover‟s face, lips, cheeks are still crimson, even when she has died For Romeo, her beauty lasts forever, his love for her will never fade, thus he swallows the poison to die beside her body:

“ Death that hath sucked the honey of thy breath

Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty

Thou art not conquered; beauty‟s ensign yet

Is crimson in thy lips and un thy cheeks”

(Act V, scene 3)

Through the play "Romeo and Juliet", we have learned that Juliet is a beautiful, brave, and faithful woman Although she is very young, only a fourteen-year-old-girl, she dares to struggle alone with circumstances to protect her love and happiness It means that she overcomes the long-standing feud between two families, denies the good suitor Paris, forgets the death of her cousin Tybalt, for which Romeo was responsible, takes the drug of Friar Lawrence and stabs herself

to die with Romeo Because of all the above things, Juliet becomes one of my favourite images of women in William Shakespeare‟s plays and I think her name and her love for Romeo will be remembered forever

2 Desdemona in "Othello"

2.1 A brief summary of "Othello"

Brabantio, the rich senator of Venice, has a beautiful daughter, the gentle Desdemona She falls in love with Otenllo, the General in the army of the Duke of Venice They get married together secretly although her father strongly opposes this match as Othello is a Moor and he has no wealth Their marriage cannot be kept a secret for long When Brabantio hears about it, in a coucil of the Senate, he accuses Othello of having gained the love of Desdemona by magic At the same time, news arrives that a large Turkish ships is preparing to attack the Venetian colony of Cyprus, and Othello is ordered to defend Cyprus against the Turks In the court, Othello describes exactly how he has won the love of Desdemona and Desdemona herself declares that her love for Othello is true So Brabantio‟s complaint is dismissed, and Othello sets out for Cyprus When Othello and Desdemona land in Cyprus safety, they are informed that a great storm has driven away the Turkish ships and so the danger for Cyprus is over

However, a worse enemy than any Turk is beginning to attack their happiness He is the evil Iago, Othello‟s ensign He hates Othello because he has recently passed him over for promotion and raised a handsome and attractive young Venetian named Cassio to the rank of lieutenant, a position of trust nearest

to the General This has given great offence to Iago, for he believes himself a better soldier than Cassio He feels jealous of Cassio and makes a plan to ruin both him and Cassio

In the island, a sort of holiday is organized to congratulate the arrival of the general and his lady in Cyprus, together with the news of the scattering of the enemy‟s ships Othello orders Cassio to Belmont in charge of the guard that night and to keep the soldiers from drinking too much While Cassio is on duty, Iago invites him to drink quite a lot He at first refuses, but eventually swallows glass after glass as Iago offers them A quarrel occurs between Cassio and Roderigo, a

Venetian gentleman in love with Desdemona, by Iago‟s provocation Immediately, Iago raises the alarm and Othello and Desdemona come there Othello, finding Cassio drunk, takes away Cassio‟s place of lieutenant from him

Then Iago advises Cassio to meet Desdemona who can help him now This meeting is arranged by her maid Emilia, the wife of Iago, and she does not know his wicked purpose Cassio begs Desdemona to plead with Othello for him and Desdemona promises Cassio that she will ask her husband to forgive him After her words, Othello is not unsympathetic But Iago suggests to Othello that the reason for Desdemona‟s anxiety about Cassio is that they are secret lovers Unfortunately, Desdemona drops her handkerchief on the ground, Emilia picks it

up and gives it to Iago He puts it in Cassio‟s room, and then tells Othello that he has seen it in Cassio‟s hand Othello asks Desdemona about the handkerchief which he offered her but now Desdemona cannot find it Thus Othello is really jealous of Cassio and his love for Desdemona is turned to mad hatred He agrees with Iago‟s suggestion that the most fitting punishment for Desdemona will be to smother her

One night, when Desdemona is in bed, he enters the room, and quickly holds down a pillow over her face until she dies At the same time, Iago has asked one of his men to murder Cassio, but Cassio is only wounded and so Iago kills that man to prevent discovery However, his wife Emilia denounces him that he has betrayed both Othello and Desdemona, and Iago stabs her to death and escapes from Othello‟s house Othello discovers that his wife has always been faithful to him Because of his great pain and sorrow, he kill himself by the sword, throwing himself on the body of Desdemona Iago is captured and put to a painful death by the law

2.2 Desdemona :

One of the typical women for innocence, faith and beauty in Shakespeare‟s plays is Desdemona Like Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet", she has a wonderful beauty

in both her qualities and her looks which captivate many men in Venice Among the lovers of hers, she really desires a Moor, Othello, and chooses him as her lover

He is a black man, but the noble Moor has everything which might make him deserve the love of the gentle Desdemona He is a brave soldier By his fine deeds

in bloody wars against the Turks, he has risen to the rank of General in the venetian army, and is expected and trusted by the state

He usually tells Desdemona such the stories of his life as the battles in which

he fought; the dangers he met by land and sea; the strange things he saw in the foreign countries, the great desert, the caves, the rocks and mountains whose heads are in the clouds; wild people who are man-eaters, and a race of men in Africa whose heads grow beneath their shoulders, etc Desdemona loves to hear the stories of his adventures that hold her attention a lot She said to him if he had a friend who loved her, he had only to teach him how to tell his story and that would win her Othello understood what she meant:

“She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her, that she did pity them ” (Act I, scene 3)

Othello gains the generous Lady Desdemona‟s true love by his talent of telling stories as well as because of his nobility and bravery

She agrees to marry him but their marriage is organized secretly because of her father‟s opposition Neither the colour of Othello‟s skin nor his fortune can make Brabantio accept him for a son-in-law Furthermore, Brabantio expects that his daughter would choose a man of the rank of Senator as most the noble Venetian ladies did In this, however, he is deceived Desdemona is very different from all other ladies who will not able to overcome the objection of skin‟s colour, she values it far above all the white skins and clear faces of the young Venetian nobles who wish to marry her The power of love encourages the gentle

Desdemona to speak aloud to protect Othello when her father accuses him of having seduced her and stolen her away from him:

“ I am hitherto your daughter But here‟s my husband And so much duty as my mother showed

To you, preferring you before her father,

So much I challenge, that I may profess Due to the Moor, my lord”

Desdemona shows her father that she always respects him and clearly knows the duty of a daughter to the father who brought up and educated her carefully, but now she must give a higher duty to her husband, Othello Due to her protection he avoids the old senator Brabantio‟s accusation Thus, both the difference of race between Desdemona and Othello, and her father‟s objection are not strong enough to obstruct her love for Othello That love is stronger than everything It helps Desdemona overcome every difficult situation, strive for and fight to protect it

Desdemona loves Othello, she wants to live with him for all time A war will happen in the island Cyprus, but she does not fears dangers of that war, and she decides to go with Othello to the island She is accompanied by Iago and his wife, Emilia They arrives in Cyprus before Othello because his ship is threatened by a dreadful storm at sea Desdemona really feels anxious for her husband but she tries

to hide her true feeling by joking with Iago, and she only shows it to the audience:

“I am not mercy, but I do beguile The thing I am by seeming otherwise”

(Act II, scene 1) This proves that Desdemona, a secretive woman, doesn‟t want everyone to know of her anxiety To her joy, her husband lands in Cyprus safely and brings the