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Essay / Roles and Responsibilities of Women in Shakespeare's Love Lost and Titus Andronicus
The women in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Love Lost play very different roles in their respective stories. The women in the two plays have different roles, responsibilities, and opportunities. The women of Titus Andronicus are rarely recognized by men; they are often complicit in Aaron's crimes. Love's Labour's Lost offers women more freedom; they are more intelligent and play a major role in the development of the plot. Although there are some similarities, Shakespeare portrays and uses women very differently in Titus Andronicus and Love's Labour's Lost. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThe women of Titus Andronicus receive little respect. Lavinia plays a tiny role in Titus Andronicus. It is used as an object in the room; she's simply there to advance the plot of the main characters, who are all men except for Tamora. Like Lavinia, Tamora receives little respect or recognition for her actions in Titus Andronicus. Men dominate Titus Andronicus. Tamora is not an entirely one-dimensional character; she seeks revenge on Titus for killing her son. She marries Saturninus to gain power and possibly avenge her son's death. In the end, it is Aaron who terrorizes Titus and his family the most. Tamora has some interesting actions, but the male villain, Aaron, comes across as the more active and meaner of the vengeful couple. Aaron also receives most of the credit for the play's tragedies; Marcus says: “An irreligious Moor, chief architect and conspirator of these misfortunes. The wicked one lives in the house of Titus” (Tit. V. iii 121-123). While Tamora is an obviously evil character, Marcus prefers to place the blame on another man and, in a sense, refuses to believe that a woman could act in such a heinous manner. Lavinia, on the other hand, is objectified throughout Titus Andronicus. Titus's daughter makes no major decisions and only plays an important role when she is used by the men in the play. From the beginning of her introduction as a character, Lavinia is an object that men lust after. Her beauty is remarkable, but the audience learns little about Lavinia beyond her exceptional physical characteristics. This one-dimensional view of Lavinia is seen when Bassianus says: “And she to whom all my thoughts humble themselves, Gracious Lavinia, the rich ornament of Rome” (Tit. I. i 51-52). His intelligence and skills go unnoticed and remain invisible throughout the play. She is further objectified when Demetrius says: “She is a woman, therefore she can be courted, She is a woman, therefore she can be won” (Tit. I. i 82-83). Demetrius implies that there is nothing to Lavinia except her femininity, and that she is only there to be won by a suitor. Lavinia's only significant moments occur when she is raped and mutilated and when she later exposes the rapists. Lavinia serves little more than a prop in Titus Andronicus. Lavinia suffers a fate worse than death (although that eventually happens too) in the play. Demetrius and Chiron rape Lavinia and she thus becomes a social outcast. She would have preferred to be killed rather than raped. Her society would have ostracized her once it was discovered she had been raped. While Demetrius and Chiron would have been legally punished for their crime, Lavinia would also have to face repercussions. Roman society dictates that a raped woman must commit suicide or, in Lavinia's case, may be killedby his father. Roman society justified the murder of a rape victim, despite the fact that Lavinia was innocent and forcibly abused. Roman society, not Shakespeare, encouraged the deaths of rape victims. Shakespeare was not arguing for her murder in Titus Andronicus, but it is intriguing that he uses rape to further a plot. Lavinia leads a miserable life in this macabre play, a role that could have been played differently, without rape or death. The audience sees Lavinia only as a woman who is raped and has her hands and tongue cut off. Shakespeare maintains the Roman cultural constructs of Titus Andronicus, but he chooses to show some of the worst and most sexist parts of Roman society. The women of Titus Andronicus have many similarities and differences from the female characters in another Shakespeare play, Love's Labour's Lost. . Lavinia plays almost no role and Tamora receives little recognition from her fellow male characters in Titus Andronicus, but the women of Love's Labour's Lost are essential to the play's plot. The women of Love's Labour's Lost have more power and freedom than the women of Titus Andronicus, although they are still not considered equal to their male counterparts. The women of Love's Labour's Lost are treated with respect while very little consideration is given to those of Titus Andronicus. The women of Love's Labour's Lost, although still considered inferior to men, have far more importance and power than the women of Titus Andronicus. The main female characters in Love's Labour's Lost (the Princess, Rosaline, Maria, and Katherine), while being beautiful women, demonstrate intelligence and wit throughout the play. Women successfully attempt to lure men away from their scientific quest; they use their stunning beauty to gain power over the King of Navarre and his men. Their spirit is also visible when the women later deceive their suitors by exchanging the gifts received from the men. The women in Love's Labour's Lost display much more character and intelligence than the female characters in Titus Andronicus. While the women of Titus Andronicus couldn't do much without the men, the women of Love's Labour's Lost act entirely on their own and don't do much. count on men to act in their place and dominate the game. The princess recognizes the intelligence of women by saying: "We are wise girls to make fun of our lovers like this" (LLL V. ii 58) and Rosaline displays her power over Berowne by saying: “I will torture this same Berowne before leaving. Oh, I knew he was but within a week! How I would flatter, and beg, and seek, and wait for the season, and observe the times, and spend his prodigal mind in useless rhymes, and fashion his service entirely according to my design, and make myself proud to make myself proud to joke ! (LLL V. ii 60-66). The Princess, Rosaline, Maria and Katherine enjoy much more independence and power than Tamora and Lavinia. The differences between the sets of female characters are significant, but there are also several notable similarities between the female characters in Titus Andronicus and Love's Labour's Lost. The women of Love's Labour's Lost, although given more prominence and better character development, are also objectified like the women of Titus Andronicus. The princess and her friends are considered objects coveted by men. The king and his men immediately fall in love with women simply because of their appearance. They seem to care,.