Have you ever noticed how often women in Shakespeare’s plays go for men unworthy of them?
In The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julia and Silvia are both better than Valentine and Proteus.
In Love’s Labour’s Lost, all three women are wittier and wiser than the men.
In The Merchant of Venice, Portia is cleverer and more resourceful than Bassanio, and clearly would be the one wearing the pants in the relationship.
In As You Like It, one thinks that Orlando is a nice lad but wonders what Rosalind can possibly see in him.
Similar with Helena and Bertram in All’s Well That Ends Well (though I think both are utterly unpleasant).
In Measure for Measure, I don’t know why Marianna wants Angelo after he has thrown her away.
In Twelfth Night, Viola, intelligent in other ways but foolish in love, willingly a thousand deaths would die for a narcissist such as Orsino.
In Othello, Desdemona is the sweetest innocent, too good for Othello (I have always clashed with A. C. Bradley’s view of him as a noble man).
Same with Hero and Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.
Same with Imogen and Posthumus Leonatus in Cymbeline.
Same with Hermione and Leontes in The Winter’s Tale.
Love is blind indeed.
So which are the equal and balanced couples in Shakespeare?
I guess we can say Romeo and Juliet, and Antony and Cleopatra—though in both cases, their love is destructive. I would also say the Macbeths—they’re a happy, loving couple—she does taunt him but I have always thought that people exaggerate her dominance, her control over him—Macbeth already has black and deep desires before she speaks; Macbeth is the one committing the murder, she can’t; Macbeth is the one killing more people, she can’t stop him.
Probably the only great match with a happy ending is Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.
Why does Shakespeare so often depict women going for men unworthy of them?
How do you see this with Imogen and Posthumus? The whole drama of the play seems to start with the king mistakenly undervaluing Posthumus as a spouse for Imogen. Posthumus makes a rash deal with Iachimo, but only because he wouldn't even slightly suggest that Imogen is less than perfect. And given that Imogen's alternative is Cloten, I'd say we can commend her for admiring Posthumus.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just the deal, which is vile enough, but the fact that Posthumus gets his servant to kill Imogen, without even confronting her about it. Othello at least confronts Desdemona, and even though he still doesn't believe her, she's got a chance to speak for herself.
DeleteAs I'm looking for the reasons Imogen and Posthumus appear equal, I feel guilty for trying to find anything against Imogen! When she speaks with Iachimo (Act I), she really only suspects Posthumus for a second, but drops this entirely.
DeleteIII.4 is where they appear similar to me, when Pisanio reveals Leonatus' letter to Imogen. Imogen repeats over and over "False to his bed? What is it to be false? ... I false?" It sounds so incredible to her, and yet if true, it is plain why Leonatus' world is shattered, if this one true one is proven evil. (And Iachimo carries quite the evidence for it.) In this scene, she again (and more lengthily) suspects Leonatus of falling for some woman. And her practical conclusion: "Do his bidding: strike." She nearly forces Pisanio to take out his sword and kill her! She reaches basically the same conclusion as Leonatus: nothing really matters if he is not true. "No court, no father, nor no more ado with that harsh, noble, simple nothing, that Cloten..." And though Leonatus horribly orders the death of Imogen (not the first person in the play to seek this...), he also then spends the first half of Act V trying to kill himself as well... Which again just makes me think they are both quite similar.
It's only Pisanio knowing both of the couple thoroughly and being at a remove from the emotions that engulf them both that he sees they are both deceived.
And I'm not gonna lie: I shed a tear when reading their embrace at the end, especially after he pushed her away, not knowing who she was. (Which also seems a summary of the whole ordeal: In error about her, he repels her; knowing her again, "Hang there like fruit, my soul, / Till the tree die.")
Want to clarify that I don't justify Posthumus' seeking Imogen's death: Nonetheless, given the setting where it is possible that death was a legal punishment for adultery, it may not be extraordinary in the context.
"Nonetheless, given the setting where it is possible that death was a legal punishment for adultery, it may not be extraordinary in the context."
DeleteThat doesn't change the fact, however, that Posthumus orders Pisanio to kill Imogen without confronting her first, she cannot defend herself.
As for "Do his bidding: strike", I see it mostly as shock - she cannot comprehend that he thinks she's false and wants to have her killed.
She is too good for him. But it's not the first time Shakespeare depicts such imbalance.
Germain Greer mentioned this in a video interview that I cannot for the life of me seem to find anywhere. Not a fan of Germaine Greer these days, but when she talks about Shakespeare, she usually has interesting things to say—especially about the comedies, which I remember is what she based this observation on. Something about the women "dressing" the men up with their imagination. She pointed out how Juliet, Portia, Silva, etc. "teach" their lovers how to love them. She made a notable exception but I can't remember where.
ReplyDeleteHave you read her Shakespeare book? What do you think about it?
DeleteI think that after The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare writes lots of plays in which the woman tames the man, teaches him, "trains" him.
I actually completely forgot she wrote a book on Shakespeare and his wife. No, sorry, I haven't. Now planning to, though.
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