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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page paper which compares and contrasts male attitudes towards women in both plays. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGtweldm.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
reflections of their male counterparts. Women were seen on the arms of men as appendages, but were seldom heard. It was probably just as well for they had
no collective voice in a patriarchal society where gender scales were clearly tipped in the males direction. Two popular playwrights of the era, William Shakespeare and John Webster, observed
these engendered conventions and didnt particularly like what they saw. Their respective plays, Twelfth Night and The Duchess of Malfi, explored how female characters sought to escape the restrictions
placed upon them by chauvinistic male attitudes. Though both plays were purposely set in foreign locales so that the playwrights could indirectly address what they perceived to be Elizabethan
shortcomings without fear of repercussions or ostracism. Twelfth Night was, on one level, the quintessential William Shakespeare comedy. It featured missing persons thought to be dead, a classic case
of mistaken identity, and cross-dressing. But upon closer examination, the play was an exploration of how gender boundaries, firmly entrenched and reinforced by male attitudes, perpetuated female stereotypes.
In this comedy, females are viewed by men as primarily objects of lust or romantic affection. Duke Orsino of Illyria is pining away because of his unrequited love for
Olivia, who also has a potential suitor in Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Olivia wants no male attention because she is consumed by grief for her dead brother. Meanwhile, Viola
is struggling with a serious identity problem when circumstances force her to impersonate a man, Cesario, and result in Olivia falling in love with "him" and Viola falling passionately in
love with Orsino. While the male characters in Twelfth Night refuse to see women as any more than one-dimensional, Shakespeare portrays them as multifaceted and often more intelligent and
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