Mens Control in William Shakespeares The Merchant of...

Mens Control in William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the scene opens to reveal a society controlled by men. Men, who live in the foreground of Venetian society, wield their power in business, government, and family life. In the background, women conduct their lives quietly. They are subservient to their husbands and fathers and are regarded as helpless and in need of male guidance in areas of decision making. Though in Shakespeare’s time such a societal structure was largely acceptable, the modern reader views the subjugation of women with aversion, and the ways in which Shakespeare presents the female characters in this play perhaps show that he too was not entirely comfortable†¦show more content†¦Her father, in imposing the system by which she gains a husband, and Bassanio, by having the ability to approach her as a suitor and choose her as his wife, hold a great degree of power over her. Portia laments her inability to act according to her own volition, saying, â€Å"O me, the word choose! I may neither / Choose who I would nor refuse who I dislike, so is / The will of a living daughter curbed by the will of / A dead father† (1.2.22). The extent of male dominance in Venetian society is evidenced by the high degree of authority that Portia’s father continues to hold over her life even after he is dead. Choosing a spouse is one of the most life-altering decisions a person can make, but Portia has no say in the matter. Instead, she must entrust her destiny to a system of boxes and riddles, and for the most part, she is a willing societal minion, but only when dressed as a woman. Once Portia slips into male garb, her behavior is shockingly different. The audience sees not a restricted, powerless Portia, agonizing over the possible misfortunes of being wed to ill-complexioned braggarts, but a confident, even cunning Portia. Disguised as a male lawyer, Portia becomes an entirely new character, intelligent and well versed in the law, about which the reader is previously unaware that she knows anything. In the courtroom, the tables are turned and gender roles are reversed. No longer is Portia under the thumb of the men whoShow MoreRelatedShakespeare s Theatrical Device : The Benefits Of Mistaken Identity Essay1683 Words   |  7 Pages Shakespeare’s Theatrical Device: The Benefits of Mistaken Identity Can someone pretend to be another person and come back being the same person as before? In many of William Shakespeare’s plays, the change of identity has been a success for many primary characters. Most notably, in comical plays, female characters have had the intention of changing not only their identity but their gender for a temporary period. The ploy of mistaken identity is a useful plot device that Shakespeare uses becauseRead MoreThe Change Of Identity Has Been A Success For Many Primary Characters Essay1687 Words   |  7 Pages Can someone pretend to be another person and come back being the same person as before? In many of William Shakespeare’s plays, the change of identity has been a success for many primary characters. Most notably, in comical plays, female characters have had the intention of changing not only their identity but their gender for a temporary period. The ploy of mistaken identity is a useful plot device that Shakespeare has used because it is a good way to get the audience humoured and have them thinkingRead More Portias Power in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice Essay2452 Words   |  10 PagesPortias Power in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice exemplifies a principle that is as unfortunately true in our time as it was in his - he who has money also has love, sex, and above all, power. In this case, the use of he is deliberate; she, in the Elizabethan era, rarely had either financial independence or much control over the course of her life. Portia, the deceitful heroine of the play, is a major exception. To put it bluntly, Portia is enormouslyRead MoreEssay about Comparing Shakespeare’s Women in Disguise2920 Words   |  12 PagesEngland at this time, cross-dressing was looked at as a dramaturgical motif, a theatrical practice, and a social phenomenon. â€Å"In Shakespeare’s day, a cross-dressed heroine, like any female character also involved a gender switch in the world of the playhouse, for women’s roles were normally assigned to young male apprentices called play-boys† (Shapiro, 1). In each of Shakespeare’s five plays involving a cross-dressing her oine, he tried something different. He cleverly varied each motif in which each play