Examining the patriarchal dynamic of William Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Othello', and 'Cymbeline'.

摘要

The relationships dramatized between the fathers, daughters, and husbands of Shakespeare's plays are ones of discord. In each different genre--comedy, tragedy, and romance--Shakespeare exposes the possessiveness both the father and the husband inflict on the women in their lives and how it is detrimental to their relationships. By examining one play from each different genre, respectively The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Cymbeline, one understands how Shakespeare analyzes, even challenges, the Renaissance patriarchal mores of his time. Each play continually exposes the folly and the tragedy of ownership over women.;Through a close reading of the texts and research into societal, cultural and religious aspects of Renaissance England, and by examining the psychological motivations of the patriarchal mindset, this project examines the dynamics behind the troubled relationships between the fathers, daughters, and husbands.