Saturday, August 29, 2020

Tumblr Thread: Women Should Rule The World


This fun Tumblr thread shines light on the inner workings of Shakespeare's comedies. The deeper point of the thread would seem to suggest that when equality is achieved, the rest of the show flourishes. Check out some more gold from Tumblr with this thread about how the infamous Violet Beauregarde got robbed.

1.

Text - e penfairy Women have more power and agency in Shakespeare's comedies than in his tragedies, and usually there are more of them with more speaking time, so l'm pretty sure what Shakespeare's saying is "men ruin everything" because everyone fucking dies when men are in charge but when women are in charge you get married and live happily ever after zetsubouloli I think you're reading too far into things, kiddo. Take a break from your women's studies major and get some fresh air. penfairy Ri

2.

Text - was promoting this new way of life which had never been promoted before. The dogma, thanks to the church, had always been "durr hburr women are evil sex is bad celibacy is your ticket to salvation." All that changed in Shakespeare's time, and thanks to him we get a view of the world where marriage, women, and sexuality are in fact the key to salvation. The difference between the structure of a comedy and a tragedy is that the former is cyclical, and the latter a downward curve. Comedies w

3.

Text - or if they are morally sound, they are disenfranchised and ignored, and refused the chance to contribute to the society in which they live. Let's look at some examples. In Romeo and Juliet, the play ends in tragedy because no-one listens to Juliet. Her father and Paris both insist they know what's right for her, and they refuse to listen to her pleas for clemency. Juliet begs them - screams, cries, manipulates, tells them outright / cannot marry, just wait a week before you make me marry

4.

Text - disempowered character, but if Hamlet had listened to her, and not mistreated her, and if her father hadn't controlled every aspect of her life, then perhaps she wouldn't have committed suicide. The final scene of carnage is prompted by Laertes and Hamlet furiously grappling over her corpse. When Ophelia dies, any chance of reconciliation dies with her. The world collapses in on itself. This society is unsustainable. King Lear - we all know that this is prompted by Cordelia's silence, her

5.

Text - society cannot renew itself. Now we come to the comedies, where women do have the most control over the plot. The most powerful example is Rosalind in As You Like It. She pulls the strings in every avenue of the plot, and it is thanks to her control that reconciliation is achieved at the end, and all end up happily married. Much Ado About Nothing pivots around a woman's anger over the abuse of her innocent cousin. If the men were left in charge in this play, no-one would be married at the

6.

Text - wives, Flastaff learning his lesson for trying to seduce married women, and a daughter tricking everyone so she can marry the man she truly loves. A Midsummer Night's Dream? The turmoil begins because three men are trying to force Hermia to marry someone she does not love, and Helena has been cruelly mistreated. At the end, happiness and harmony comes when the women are allowed to marry the men of their choosing, and it is these marriages that are blessed by the fairies. What of the roman

7.

Text - end. In all of these plays, without the influence of the women there is no happy ending. The message is clear. Without a woman's consent and co-operation in living together and bringing up a family, there is turmoil. Equality between the sexes and trust between husbands and wives alone will bring happiness and harmony, not only to the family unit, but to society as a whole. The Taming of the Shrew rears its ugly head as a counter- example, for here a happy ending is depen- dent on a woman

8.

Text - To teach both sexes due equality And as they stand bound, to love mutually. The Taming of the Shrew and The Tamer Tamed were staged back to back in 1633, and it was recorded that although Shakespeare's Shrew was "liked", Fletcher's Tamer Tamed was "very well liked." You heard it here folks; as early as 1633 audiences found Shakespeare's message of total female submission uncomfortable, and they preferred John Fletcher's interpretation and his message of equality between the sexes. So yes.

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