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Shakespeare’s Women

Shakespeare’s Women introduces us to a number of characters from the Bard’s

plays. We meet Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth, Helena and Titania from the

play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cleopatra from Antony and Cleopatra, Juliet and

her Nurse from Romeo and Juliet, Viola and Olivia from Twelfth Night, Gertrude and

Ophelia from Hamlet, Portia from The Merchant of Venice and finally Puck also from

a Midsummer Night’s Dream; Puck can be either male or female and is often acted

with a young woman in the role.

Discussion point 1:

Shakespeare is famous for the diversity of his female characters. He not only

explores strength, intelligence, humour and sophistication; but also vulnerability and

frailty: aspects of femininity from a complex range of perspectives. Write or discuss a

short description about each of the characters you met in the presentation including:

Your thoughts and feelings on the women you met? (Did you like them? Did

they make you laugh, cry, feel afraid, feel impressed etc...?)

How well written were they? (Did you believe in them? Do you believe that

they are as important to the story being told as the male characters?)

Discussion point 2:

How well do you think that Shakespeare, a male writer, understands and presents

female characters?

Character Studies. In depth studies of the women in the presentation.

Lady Macbeth

In 30 words or less describe who Lady Macbeth is and what she wants. Start

with the following words: “Lady Macbeth is...

Lady M, although ruthless, fears she does not have the strength to proceed

with her plan to murder Duncan. How does she get the strength to proceed

with her plan? Refer to the famous Raven speech below:

“The raven himself is hoarse

That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan

Under my battlements. Come, you spirits

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full

Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;

Stop up the access and passage to remorse,

That no compunctious visitings of nature

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between

The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,

And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,

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Wherever in your sightless substances

You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,

To cry 'Hold, hold!”

Lady M now has the strength she needs, but her husband doesn’t. Macbeth

no longer wants to kill Duncan. How does Lady M give Macbeth the strength

to murder Duncan and steal the THRONE? (Refer to the sources below).

Read the following modern comic version and then read Act 1 Scene 7 on page 3:

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TThis column is Shakespeare

Enter LADY MACBETH

This column is modern English

LADY MACBETH enters.

How now! What news? What news do you have?

LADY MACBETH

He has almost supped. Why

have you left the chamber?

LADY MACBETH

He has almost finished dinner.

Why did you leave the dining

room?

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MACBETH

Hath he asked for me?

MACBETH

Has he asked for me?

LADY MACBETH

Know you not he has?

LADY MACBETH

Don’t you know he has?

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MACBETH

We will proceed no further in

this business.

He hath honored me of late,

and I have bought

Golden opinions from all

sorts of people,

Which would be worn now in

their newest gloss,

Not cast aside so soon.

MACBETH

We can’t go on with this plan. The

king has just honored me, and I

have earned the good opinion of all

sorts of people. I want to enjoy

these honors while the feeling is

fresh and not throw them away so

soon.

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45

LADY MACBETH

Was the hope drunk

Wherein you dressed

yourself? Hath it slept since?

And wakes it now, to look so

green and pale

At what it did so freely? From

this time

Such I account thy love. Art

thou afeard To be the same

in thine own act and valor

As thou art in desire?

Wouldst thou have that

LADY MACBETH

Were you drunk when you seemed

so hopeful before? Have you gone

to sleep and woken up green and

pale in fear of this idea? From now

on this is what I’ll think of your love.

Are you afraid to act the way you

desire? Will you take the crown

you want so badly, or will you live

as a coward, always saying “I

can’t” after you say “I want to”?

You’re like the poor cat in the old

story.

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Which thou esteem’st the

ornament of life,

And live a coward in thine

own esteem, Letting “I dare

not” wait upon “I would, ”

Like the poor cat i' th' adage?

MACBETH

Prithee, peace:

I dare do all that may

become a man;

Who dares do more is none.

MACBETH

Please, stop! I dare to do only what

is proper for a man to do. He who

dares to do more is not a man at

all.

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LADY MACBETH

What beast was ’t, then,

That made you break this

enterprise to me?

When you durst do it, then

you were a man;

And to be more than what

you were, you would

Be so much more the man.

Nor time nor place

Did then adhere, and yet you

would make both.

They have made themselves,

and that their fitness now

Does unmake you. I have

given suck, and know

How tender ’tis to love the

babe that milks me.

I would, while it was smiling

in my face,

Have plucked my nipple from

his boneless gums

And dashed the brains out,

had I so sworn as you

Have done to this.

LADY MACBETH

If you weren’t a man, then what

kind of animal were you when you

first told me you wanted to do this?

When you dared to do it, that’s

when you were a man. And if you

go one step further by doing what

you dared to do before, you’ll be

that much more the man. The time

and place weren’t right before, but

you would have gone ahead with

the murder anyhow. Now the time

and place are just right, but they’re

almost too good for you. I have

suckled a baby, and I know how

sweet it is to love the baby at my

breast. But even as the baby was

smiling up at me, I would have

plucked my nipple out of its mouth

and smashed its brains out against

a wall if I had sworn to do that the

same way you have sworn to do

this.

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MACBETH

If we should fail?

MACBETH

But if we fail—

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65

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LADY MACBETH

We fail?

But screw your courage to the

sticking-place,

And we’ll not fail. When Duncan

is asleep—Whereto the rather

shall his day’s hard journey

Soundly invite him—his two

chamberlains Will I with wine and

wassail so convince

That memory, the warder of the

brain, Shall be a fume, and the

receipt of reason A limbeck only:

when in swinish sleep Their

drenchèd natures lie as in a

death, What cannot you and I

perform upon The unguarded

Duncan? What not put upon

His spongy officers, who shall

bear the guilt Of our great quell?

LADY MACBETH

We, fail? If you get your

courage up, we can’t fail. When

Duncan is asleep—the day’s

hard journey has definitely

made him tired—I’ll get his two

servants so drunk that their

memory will go up in smoke

through the chimneys of their

brains. When they lie asleep

like pigs, so drunk they’ll be

dead to the world, what won’t

you and I be able to do to the

unguarded Duncan? And

whatever we do, we can lay all

the blame on the drunken

servants.

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MACBETH

Bring forth men-children only,

For thy undaunted mettle should

compose

Nothing but males. Will it not be

received,

When we have marked with

blood those sleepy two

Of his own chamber and used

their very daggers,

That they have done ’t?

MACBETH

May you only give birth to male

children, because your fearless

spirit should create nothing that

isn’t masculine. Once we have

covered the two servants with

blood, and used their daggers

to kill, won’t people believe that

they were the culprits?

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_44.html

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Lady Macbeth pays a terrible price for Duncan’s murder; she slowly goes mad

with guilt and then she commits suicide. In this famous painting of Lady

Macbeth by French symbolist Gustave Moreau we can see the nightmare of

her madness surrounding her. How has the artist used elements such as

colour, light and emotion (look into her eyes) to explore Lady Macbeth’s

horrifying inner turmoil?

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The last time we see Lady Macbeth she enters in a nightdress. Lit by

candlelight she desperately tries to rub an imaginary spot of blood from her

hands. It is blood that only she can see. It is the blood of all the people they

have murdered: it is King Duncan’s blood; it is also the blood of the wife and

child of the Thane of Fife whose throats were slit; it is even the blood of

Macbeth’s best friend Banquo whom Macbeth pays assassins to stab to

death. The Macbeths have murdered many people for the throne.

In the famous Candle speech below, Lady Macbeth rubs and rubs and rubs

her hands but the blood never rubs off. Read through the speech and then...

Discuss:

Why the blood will not rub off?

Why the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten her hand?

What is happening to Lady M?

“Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,

then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my

lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we

fear who knows it, when none can call our power to

account?--Yet who would have thought the old man

to have had so much blood in him.

The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--

What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'

that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with

this starting.

Here's the smell of the blood still: all the

perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little

hand. Oh, oh, oh!

Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so

pale.--I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he

cannot come out on's grave.

To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:

come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's

done cannot be undone.--To bed, to bed, to bed!”

HELENA – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Four of Shakespeare’s funniest yet deeply sincere characters are found in A

Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s magical play on the frustrations of love.

They are of course the love-stricken Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious.

Helena is desperately in love with Demetrious who is desperately in love with Hermia

who is desperately in love with Lysander who desperately loves her back (Hermia

that is). But Hermia’s dad wants her to marry Demetrious whom she hates. Hermia

does what any high-spirited lass would do; she runs away with her love into the

woods. Demetrious hears about her plan to run away with Lysander and does what

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any jealous boy would do; he follows them into the wood. Helena, desperate for

Demetrious’ love, does what any love-sick girl would do and chases after

Demetrious. Eventually the lovers all get tired and fall asleep in the woods. Puck, an

impish spirit of the forest with a wicked sense of humour, stumbles across the

sleeping lovers and does what any fairy Imp of the forest would do: he pours a

fantastical love potion into their eyes.

When the lovers wake they all magically fall in love with the wrong person.

To watch a cartoon video that explains the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

please cut and pastes this link into your browser: https://vimeo.com/95722577

In the performance you see Helena just as she has catches up to Demetrious

in the woods. Write a short paragraph explaining how she tries to make

Demetrious fall in love with her. (What does she say to him? What does she

do to him?)

How do you feel about her? (Can you relate to her situation? Should she just

get over him? Should she fight harder for his love?)

What do you think about Demetrious? (Is he right to reject Helena even

though she loves him so much? Is he right to be chasing after Hermia even

though she loves somebody else?)

Helena has many flaws, she is spiteful and selfish and self obsessed. Yet she

is also funny, lovable and her emotions and actions are understandable. Do

real everyday people have these types of contradictions in their personalities?

In Shakespeare’s day arranged marriages were most common: Elizabethan

women had very little choice. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena’s friend

Hermia has refused her father’s command to marry Demetrious. Egeus is

furious and implores the Duke of Venice for justice against his disobedient

daughter. (Read Egeus’ speech to the Duke on the next page):

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 1 Scene 1

“Full of vexation come I, with complaint

Against my child, my daughter Hermia.

Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,

This man hath my consent to marry her.

Stand forth, Lysander: and my gracious duke,

This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child;

Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,

And interchanged love-tokens with my child:

Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung,

With feigning voice verses of feigning love,

And stolen the impression of her fantasy

With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gawds, conceits,

Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats, messengers

Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth:

With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughter's heart,

Turn'd her obedience, which is due to me,

To stubborn harshness: and, my gracious duke,

Be it so she; will not here before your grace

Consent to marry with Demetrius,

I beg the ancient privilege of Athens,

As she is mine, I may dispose of her:

Which shall be either to this gentleman

Or to her death, according to our law

Immediately provided in that case.”

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What are the accusations Egeus makes against Hermia and Lysander?

How did Lysander steal Hermia’s love?

What will Egeus do if Hermia continues to disobey him?

Are his threats legal under Athenian law?

Do you think that Egeus should make these threats against his daughter?

What would you advise her to do if she was your friend?

Do parents always know what is best for their children?

Arranged marriages still occur today in many countries. What is your opinion

about arranged marriages? (Is it possible for people to meet, marry and THEN

fall in love?)

What happens to Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious in the end?

What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say about love in A Midsummer

Night’s Dream? (Is love like a dream?)

TITANIA

A Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream: Titania and Bottom (1848) by Edwin Landseer.

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Oberon and Titania: the King and Queen of the fairies; are fighting.

Oberon wants a magical changeling boy to be his servant: (a changeling is a fairy

child that has been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies.) Titania has

adopted the child and will NOT GIVE HIM UP! To get revenge on his Queen, Oberon

orders Puck to pour a drop of a magical love potion into Titania’s eyes as she lies

sleeping: when she wakes she will fall madly in love with the first living creature she

sees:

OBERON: “Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull, on meddling monkey, or on busy

ape, She shall pursue it with the soul of love”.

Meanwhile a group of amateur actors are rehearsing a play in the forest. The biggest

loud-mouth of the lot BOTTOM, a weaver by trade, is making such a racket that

Puck, the mischievous Imp of the forest, decides to play a joke on him. He waits

behind a bush and when Bottom is near, he magically turns him into a donkey.

All the other actors, scared out of their wits, run away from Bottom leaving him alone

in the woods. Bottom doesn’t know what has happened to him and finding himself

deserted gets really scared. To calm down he starts walking up and down singing a

jaunty song, REALLY OUT OF TUNE...:

BOTTOM: “...La la the ousel cock so black of hue with orange tawny bill la la la la...”

Titania asleep in her fairy bower is woken by this very strange sound and straightway

on seeing BOTTOM falls in love with – YOU GUESSED IT – an ASS.

Shakespeare’s forest is the world of dreams, a world of the imagination: a fairy

kingdom where anything is possible. This is the world that artists and lovers and

dreamers inhabit, far away from the harsh realities of daily existence.

Discussion or essay question on A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

In a world that seems to emphasise the need to study for a practical job, make lots of

money, to buy a house and to take life seriously; what place is there for the world of

dreams and the imagination?

Nature is out of joint:

Because of the fight between Oberon and Titania all of nature is in upheaval. Read

the following speech of Titania’s as she fights with Oberon:

Titania fighting with Oberon Act 2 Scene 1:

“...never, since the middle summer's spring,

Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,

By paved fountain or by rushy brook,

Or in the beached margent of the sea,

To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,

But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.

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Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,

As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea

Contagious fogs; which falling in the land

Have every pelting river made so proud

That they have overborne their continents:

The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain,

The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn

Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard;

The fold stands empty in the drowned field,

And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;...

...the moon, the governess of floods,

Pale in her anger, washes all the air,

That rheumatic diseases do abound:

And thorough this distemperature we see

The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts

Far in the fresh lap of the crimson rose,

And on old Hiems' thin and icy crown

An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds

Is, as in mockery, set: the spring, the summer,

The childing autumn, angry winter, change

Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world,

By their increase, now knows not which is which:

And this same progeny of evils comes

From our debate, from our dissension;

We are their parents and original.

Make a list of everything mentioned in the speech above that is happening in

the Athenian world because of the fight between Oberon and Titania.

Use your imagination to make up an answer to the following question: Why do

you think that the nature and the world are in upheaval just because the king

and queen of the fairies are fighting?

What happens in your world when you are fighting with a friend or family

member? (How do you feel? How do they feel? What does it do to your

world? I.e. To other people, to classmates, to neighbours, to brothers, sisters,

pets in the house etc..?)

Bottom the donkey

Oberon gets revenge on Titania by making her fall in love (for a little while)

with a donkey, who turns out to be BOTTOM the weaver. What do you think

about Oberon’s joke on his wife?

BOTTOM is one of the most loved characters in Shakespeare. What is your

opinion of him? Do you think he deserves to be one of the most loved of

Shakespeare’s characters?

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CLEOPATRA

o Describe the scene with Cleopatra and the messenger in thirty words or less

starting with the words; ‘A messenger tells Cleopatra that...

o A common expression in life is – ‘Don’t shoot the messenger.’ What does this

expression mean?

o What relevance does this expression have to the scene you saw in the

performance featuring Cleopatra and the messenger?

o Why does Cleopatra behave the way she did?

o The scene is known as tragicomical. Which means it combines both tragedy

and comedy. How did the scene do this? (Explain what was funny and what

was sad in the scene).

o How do you feel when you receive bad news?

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o Do you want to attack the person who brings the news like Cleo did?

o Describe Cleo’s personality or character.

o How do you feel when you have to tell someone some news that you know

will upset them?

o Does it take courage to deliver bad news?

Jealousy

o In Othello Shakespeare gives a man called IAGO the following lines: “beware,

my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it

feeds on.” What does this mean?

Think about when you have been jealous’

o What was the result of these feelings?

o Did these feelings help or hurt your relationship with the people

you were jealous of?

o Were they positive or negative emotions?

Why does Shakespeare call jealousy a ‘Green-eyed monster’?

o Does jealousy hurt the person who feels it more than anyone

else?

o Is there a positive side to feeling jealous?

Jealousy is a natural feeling which we all have from time to time, so

given that it is normal how can we use this quote to improve our lives?

Love appears to be at the heart of many of Shakespeare’s plays. The

murderous Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were deeply in love and when she dies

Macbeth is heartbroken and seems to give up on life, he says:

MACBETH

“Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.”

Romeo and Juliet both die for their love. When Juliet awakens to find her Romeo

dead at her side she says:

JULIET

“What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand?

Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:

O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop

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To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;

Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,

To make die with a restorative.

(She kisses him)

Thy lips are warm.

Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!

(Snatching ROMEO's dagger)

This is thy sheath;

(Stabs herself)

there rust, and let me die.”

.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena says:

HELENA

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

Helena means that love is more than a simple attraction of beauty with the eyes: it is

a deep attraction of the heart, mind and soul.

In Antony and Cleopatra: Antony dies first and Cleopatra will not live without him.

Accompanied by her crying handmaidens, Cleopatra follows her love into death; she

allows an Asp (a venomous snake) to strike her breast:

The Death of Cleopatra by Reginald Arthur, 1892.

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CLEOPATRA

“...is it sin To rush into the secret house of death,

Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women?

What, what! good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian!

My noble girls! Ah, women, women, look,

Our lamp is spent, it's out! Take heart:

We'll bury him; and then, what's brave,

what's noble,

Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,

And make death proud to take us. Come, away:

This case of that huge spirit now is cold:

Ah, women, women! come; we have no friend

But resolution, and the briefest end.”

Discussion or essay question:

Why is love such an important part of Shakespeare’s plays? (In

your answer or discussion please refer to examples from a couple

of plays).

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Juliet and her Nurse

o Write a short description of what happens in Romeo and Juliet ending with the

words ...and then Juliet dies.

o On what mission has Juliet sent her nurse?

o Does the nurse give Juliet her good news straight away? (Refer to the comic

above to refresh your memory).

o Why does the nurse tease Juliet like this?

o The nurse tells Juliet that in choosing Romeo she has “made a simple

choice”; in modern English this means he is a poor choice of a man. Does the

nurse really mean this? Read through her speech below and explain what the

nurse really means:

“Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not

how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his

face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels

all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body,

though they be not to be talked on, yet they are

past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy,

but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy

ways, wench; serve God.”

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True Love

“The course of true love never did run smooth”

o In 2016 Alan Rickman died of cancer: he played Severus Snape in the Harry

Potter films. Alan had been together with his childhood sweetheart Rima

Horton for fifty years but they only just married three years before he died.

Rima had all the legal rights of a spouse; so why would they marry

after forty seven years together?

After the wedding Alan told a newspaper: "We are married, just

recently. It was great, because no one was there.” What do you think

he meant by that?

Alan said: “I think every relationship should be allowed to have its own

rules. She's tolerant. Unbelievably tolerant. Possibly a candidate for

sainthood." What does this suggest about the nature of relationships?

What are the important things to build and develop when you are in a

relationship?

What are important personal traits that you should work on to help your

relationships with people grow stronger?

What personal traits should you try to change to sustain relationships?

LYSANDER: “The course of true love never did run smooth.” – What

does Lysander mean in this quote from A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

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The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is a love story between Kate and Petruchio. It is often

criticised as being sexist and misogynistic. But is it? Yes, it does dramatise a battle

between a man and a woman and yes it does dramatise humiliation and ‘taming’; but

why?

Is it perhaps that two people cannot find true love until each sees the world through

the other’s eyes, until each gives everything to the other?

If you have a spare hour, please watch this wonderful documentary – Kiss me

Petruchio – about the 1974 Shakespeare in the Park, New York production starring

Meryl Streep and Raul Julia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJjyD0L9Sh0 – Part 1. 28 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI9ogFdHWQQ – Part 2. 31 minutes.

Class discussion: What is the play’s message about the nature of love?

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Ophelia

In the play Hamlet OPHELIA dies in a watery grave.

‘When down her weedy trophies and herself. Fell in

the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide; And,

mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up.’

In her last scene in the play she appears on stage

clutching a posy of mixed herbs. Her father is dead at

the hands of the man she loves: Hamlet – who has also

recently rejected her. Ophelia sings a strange song as

she passes the herbs amongst the court. She appears

mad. Read OPHELIA’s song below and discuss what

has caused this apparent madness:

OPHELIA How should I your true-love know

From another one?

By his cockle bat and' staff

And his sandal shoon.

GERTRUDE: Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?

OPHELIA: Say you? Nay, pray You mark.

(Sings) He is dead and gone, lady,

He is dead and gone;

At his head a grass-green turf,

At his heels a stone.

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,

All in the morning bedtime,

And I a maid at your window,

To be your Valentine.

Then up he rose and donn'd his clo'es

And dupp'd the chamber door,

Let in the maid, that out a maid

Never departed more.

[Sings] By Gis and by Saint Charity,

Alack, and fie for shame!

Young men will do't if they come to't

By Cock, they are to blame.

Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me,

You promis'd me to wed.'

He answers:

'So would I 'a' done, by yonder sun,

An thou hadst not come to my bed.'

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PUCK

a midsummer night’s dream

‘If we shadows have offended,

Think but this and all is mended,

That you have but slumber'd here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream...’

On this page which is

the best picture of PUCK

and why?

Why can PUCK be played

by a woman or a man or a

child?