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

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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

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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

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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 Tởng
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.

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Introduction
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, Ngời con gái
Nam Xơng by Nguyễn Dữ, Truyện Kiều by NguyÔn 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:

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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
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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 woman 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

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Chapter I
Background

I. England in the Renaissance:
1.

What is 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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.
2.

Elizabethan and Jacobean drama
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.

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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

1.

His life:
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.
2.

His career and works:
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

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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:
* Comedies
1. Comedy of Terror
(c.1592)
2. Taming of the Shrew
(c.1593)
3. Two Gentlemen of Verona (c. 1594)
4. Love’s Labour’s Lost
(c. 1594)
* Tragedies
1. Titus Andronicus
(c. 1593)

* History plays
1. Henry VI, part 1 (c. 1590)
2. Henry VI, part 2 (c. 1591)
3. Henry VI, part 3 (c. 1592)
4. Richard III
(c. 1592)
* Poems
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)

4. As you Like It

(c. 1598)

5. Merry Wives of Windsor

(c. 1600)

o History plays:
1. Richard II

(c. 1595)

2. King John

(c. 1596)

3. Henry IV, part 1

(c. 1597)
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4. Henry IV, part 2
5. Henry V
o Poems:

(c. 1958)
(c.1958)

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
2. Troilus and Cressida

(c. 1600)

3. All’s well that ends well

(c. 1602)

4. Measure for Measure


(c. 1600)

(c. 1604)

Tragedies:
1. Julius Caesar

(c. 1600)

2. Hamlet

(c. 1601)

3. Othello

(c. 1605)

4. King Lear

(c. 1605)

5. Macbeth

(c. 1606)

6. Timon of Athens

(c. 1607)

7. Anthony and Cleopatra

(c. 1607)

8. Cariolanus

(c. 1608)

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

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situations. They tell of happiness which is lost, and then found again. The following
plays are the famous ones of Shakespeare in this period:
 Comedies:
1. Pericles

(c.1609)

2. Cymbeline

(c. 1610)

3. The Winter’s Tale

(c. 1611)

4. The Tempest

(c. 1612)

 History play:

Henry VIII

(c. 1613)

Chapter II
The images of women

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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
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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

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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

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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

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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”

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(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)

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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 fourteenyear-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

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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

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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

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