One stereotype that was very evident to me during act four of the play (when Hero is accused of messing around with Borachio) was that women are expected to remain maids until they are married. Claudio accused his bethrothed of cheating on him and says, "Not to knit my soul to such an approved wanton" (IV.1.42). I feel that the statement Shakespeare is trying to make about this stereotype of women during this era was that often men are far too overly suspicious of them, and their suspicions are sometimes even proven to be wrong. Through Shakespeare's writing, the audience is able to see that most men wanted to marry the stereotypical virgin during this era, yet they were often so concerned about this that some women were wrongfully accused of sleeping around.
Another stereotype in the play came in act three, scene five when Dogberry and Verges are questioning Borachio and Conrade about the deceiful plot they had devised. He portrays these commoners as foolish since they are in a lower social class than the Prince and Leonato. Dogberry tries to tell Leonato about Don John's plot and says, "Our watch, sir, as you know, has /comprehended two auspicious persons. We'd like for you to examine them this morning"(III.5.39-40). Seeing as how Dogberry struggles with vocabulary and mistakes the word "comprehend" (III.5.40) for "apprehend",Leonato does not take into serious consideration what he has to say. Yet by ignoring Dogberry, Leonato is losing his chance to find out about the plot. Shakespeare shows the audience that the stereotype of poorer people being foolish doesn't always apply.
Through Shakespeare's use of stereotype, the audience is shown that by not judging people with stereotypes, a whole lot of trouble can be avoided in a person's life.
3 comments:
I can also see the stereotypes of women throughout the play--especially with Hero. A woman's virginity was obviously highly valued at marriaged considering Claudio's reaction when he discovered Borachio wooing "Hero."
I thought your second analysis about Leonato and Dogberry to be really interesting. I never considered the fact that Shakespeare was trying to defend lower class people in that scene by making it seem to be Leonato's fault that the truth wasn't discovered...
~hailey
Cute title by the way =]
kenzilicious...nice. Anyway, It is interesting what you said about how during the time of shakespeare it was valued so highly for women to be virgins before they we married. It is interesting how times have changed and society doesn't feel that it is as big of a deal for something like this. I guess it's just the world we live in. I also agree with what you said about not judging people by their stereo types. Shakespeare is sending a message through the commedy of Dogberry. Even though hes a funny character, if we don't analyze him then we may miss something very important. Nice job!
I totally agree that there is a stereotype of women. They are mistreated throughout the play and like you said the thing about a women's virginity. And i also agree about the lower class people being defended. Good Job
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