Life expectancy in Shakespeare’s time (“under thirty years old”) seemed to be a point holding it’s own breed of tragic humor. As humorous as some may find death to be, the element of comedy shows it’s face when the populace is suddenly graced with the alleviating presence of the state and organized religion. It appears to be the driving force to the themes in his society regarding social standings and women's rights. Perhaps this climate of fear and piles of English dead showed it’s face in Shakespeare’s writings through themes of morality and universal absolutes, at least as far as Shakespeare is concerned. These same themes could just as well be expressed in his writing through sharp criticisms of his society and it’s mechanics.
The treatment of women in the times of Shakespeare, as sad as it is, does not surprise me the slightest. Yet another marvelous element of the divine science is the persecution of women as inferior beings, having introduced sin to man is a heavy burden to carry in the world guarded by “holy” commandments. The public shaming of the citizens that engaged in sexual behavior suited less than proper was most likely expressed in Shakespeare’s writing through vivid sexual encounters. He was an artist and history has proven art to be an untamable force in the expression of human nature.
The social ladder in the times of Shakespeare seems to be the theme that we can relate to the most today. The division of the populace into groups such as the “gentleman, citizen, yeomen, artificers and laborers” must have been reflected in his writing seeing as how it was the world he knew. Perhaps he held some sort of resentment for his own position in the social construct and reflected those sentiments onto his writing.
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4 comments:
Very good entry! As you keep writing these, see if you can add specific examples from any of his writings that come to mind.
Oo0o0o0oh I liked this. Well I agree from the whole Freudean point of view. Subconsciouly maybe even literally, Shakespeare took from his surroundings to give his plays/poems ect. more life. Life isn't always pretty and neither where all his works. Life imitates art...or vice versa?
good blog responce i definatly agree on how sad the treatment of women was during these times it just shows how barbaric the time were and shakespeare touched on this very well
I definitely agree with the freedom that women have back in those days does not surprise me the least. Since back in those days everything was more strict, there was more of an absolute power, instead of the people having the power to express themselves religiously or politically. The way Shakespeare could only express himself about the life that he was going through was through his writing as tragic as it is, its still fascinating.
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