Although the male characters generally fail to notice or refuse to acknowledge women's authority and influence openly, they are affected by it. The contemporary reader can't help but be aware of them and in many cases, to view many of the characters present in several plays by Shakespeare as some of the main motivators of action as well as some of the most complex characters overall. Some of the most interesting female characters in Shakespeare's writing are Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Viola and Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and Hamle...

• Word Count: 2208
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

Unsurprisingly, perhaps due to the complex interplay of sexual tension and gender miscommunication, the conflict between men and women is frequently at the center of successful dramas; audiences can relate to such conflicts, and find them uniquely believable. ... This moment of conflict is fueled by contradictory emotions and motivations in both characters, primarily a mutual love and a mutual need for autonomy and control. ... First, until recently the vast majority of writers were men; capturing female characters accurately without denigrating or elevating their status is difficult in a pr...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The characters must navigate through black magic, incest, rape, and the supernatural as they fall from grace and are faced with their consequences of their actions. ... Antonia's virtue prevents her from having the knowledge to properly protect herself and causes her to be one of the novels weakest characters. ... Beatrice de las Cisternas is a nun who leaves the convent to fulfill her desires and is described by the narrator as, "a character so depraved, she did not long to confine her characters to one being" (134). ... It is clear that "The Monk" portrays female sexuality in ...

• Word Count: 1567
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

On the contrary " they are quite complex, and, in some aspects, different from the typical characters of the epoch. ... Phillip Wakem, a character who becomes increasingly important as the novel comes to an end, stands in stark contrast to the character of Tom Tulliver. ... The characters' actions are in some kind of a discrepancy with actions of characters in other Victorian novels. The characters are responsible for what they are doing. ... She shows through each character that living life inside a social construction is not rewarding, and, in fact, mostly causes pain for the cha...

• Word Count: 1400
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Through her deployment of the stream of consciousness style, Woolf dives into the inner world of her characters and expresses these themes through their thoughts and feelings. ... Ramsay is too complex a character to simply be seen under the light of traditional Victorian women. ... Through the character of Lily Briscoe, Woolf challenges the conventional female gender role in society and expresses her feminist perspective in regard to female gender role. ... They know that they want their lives to be different and more complex instead of just complying with the conventional female gender role...

• Word Count: 1474
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In contrast to male characters of the play, female characters lack the vivid, multi-layered human quality that male characters seem to possess. ... Given the complex and compelling traits of the male characters in Death of a Salesman, it is surprising that Miller chose to give so little attention to the female characters. ... Then we have the generic mistress character. ... In the same manner as the other female characters in the play, Miller depicts Miss. Forsythe as gullible and vain barfly characters that lack utter common sense. ...

• Word Count: 1860
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Aeschylus makes her character so dominant, by skillfully reversing the roles between the male characters and Clytemnestra. ... Clytemnestra's character demands complex and clever handling especially if we keep the Greek society in mind and Aeschylus does that with skill. ... Her tragic character experiences pain, which the audience could relate to. ... Throughout the play it is seen that Clytemnestra's character is not afraid to express what she feels. ... The Majority of the characters in Agamemnon have a hate towards Clytemnestra. ...

• Word Count: 1325
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Desdemona, of the Shakespearean play Othello, is a very complex character who takes on both roles. ... The majority of the characters in Othello are marked by their power and influence in their society. ... Iago is a character plagued with hate, every move that we see Iago make can be derived from a hatred of one person or another. ... The greatest difference amongst characters can be seen between Othello and Desdemona. ... The other characters in the play act on their emotions, which ultimately leads to trouble. ...

• Word Count: 1594
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In the character of Claudia, Day has subverted the chauvinistic male stereotype in the detective genre, and changed the way people perceive women. ... The character Claudia is initially portrayed as a typical forties, hard-boiled detective. ... Day is creating a complex character and an interesting voice to express the flexibility and multifariousness of women in today's society. Day has created the character of personified Sydney as being guiltless, yet it is secretly corrupt. ... In created this character, Day has tried to show that in society there is always something to bring us down...

• Word Count: 1571
• Approx Pages: 6

Two characters in Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog- fell in love. ... He did not know that women are complex individuals who need to be treated as equals. ... His character in Lermontov's "Princess Mary- was able to seduce any woman at will. ... In Gogol's "Nevsky Project-, the romantic character Piskaryov is brought into play. ... Because of that, they are the only genuinely happy characters discussed here. ...

• Word Count: 1555
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

However, in the tragedies of the fifth century, women were dominant major characters that were seen as heroines. ... The character of Clytemnestra in Aeschylus" Agamemnon is very masculine and is shown posses some male traits. ... Euripides Medea is one of the tragedies that shows a woman dominating the rest of the characters in the play. This female character throughout the play criticises the conditions of women and they way they were treated. ... These female characters are just some of the complex, intelligent strong women that appear in Greek tragedy, who seem t...

• Word Count: 1759
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

He presents gender as a changeable trait, not necessarily corresponding to the sex of the character. ... Initially in the play, Shakespeare establishes the conventional definition of a man and a woman in the characters of Orsino and Olivia. ... Shakespeare displays more contradictions in the characters of Viola and Maria, who both have considerable wit and intelligence. ... Therefore, although appearance can amplify and confuse the issue, Shakespeare is presenting gender and identity as much more complex issues, dependent on many factors other than appearance. The language of a character...

• Word Count: 2131
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Compare and Contrast the representation of female characters in Snow White and Mulan. ... Other traditional Disney heroines are characters like Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Cinderella. ... Mulan is far more complex than most Disney heroines; she has personal flaws, which make her easier to relate to than other characters. ... Many stereotypes can be recognised when comparing and contrasting the two female characters. ... It could be argued that there has been some progression in the portrayals of female characters in Disney over time. ...

• Word Count: 2236
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Wilson represents Hemingway's ideal male, Margot is attracted to him as he is the only character in-story to have more power than her. ... Margot is a complex character that continues to be admired even today....

• Word Count: 1269
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Gloria Naylor has created a character in Kiswana Browne who is representative of the young population of black women in America. ... The third generation belonged to the African American inhabitants like many of the Characters, the central character, Mattie came from the South. ... The Character from The Two Lorraine is from Detroit. Theresa another character from the Two is from Georgia. ... Character sketch Make your own conclusion The Women of Brewster Place focuses well on a wide range of complex i...

• Word Count: 1933
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories, which are told by different characters to serve as entertainment on their journey to Canterbury. The characters that arise during the different tale, and those who tell the tales, play an important role in understanding the story, and the structure of the English people living in the 15th century. The Knight, who seems to be one of Chaucer's favorite characters, is a noble, honest, and trustworthy man. ... The Pardoner is clearly a complex man as revealed in the prologue to his tale. ...

• Word Count: 1605
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

This sort of authority was responsible for the horrible distortion of woman's character and place in society and thus Chaucer felt his satirical and sarcastic attack about love in marriage was necessary. ... In conclusion, The Wife of Bath definitely has some strong positive messages for contemporary women, but her hypocrisy makes her one of the most complex and well-developed women characters in English literature at the time....

• Word Count: 1579
• Approx Pages: 6

There are many different and complex issues surrounding the Sex Discrimination Act, and in some aspects there is no sufficient clarity to what amounts to discrimination within the law. ... In cases of rape, the evidence is primarily the word of the man against the word of the woman, however it becomes more complex; inevitably it is the woman who becomes 'put on trial' even though she is the victim. ...

• Word Count: 2476
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Often times when one reads a collection of philosophical writings on a subject, one will find authors who are usually associated with another field. Among these are Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung, who are all considered psychologists rather than philosophers. However, they prese...

• Word Count: 1940
• Approx Pages: 8