Shakespeare’s Women
Shakespeare’s Women introduces us to a number of characters from the Bard’s
plays. We meet Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth, Helena and Titania from the
play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cleopatra from Antony and Cleopatra, Juliet and
her Nurse from Romeo and Juliet, Viola and Olivia from Twelfth Night, Gertrude and
Ophelia from Hamlet, Portia from The Merchant of Venice and finally Puck also from
a Midsummer Night’s Dream; Puck can be either male or female and is often acted
with a young woman in the role.
Discussion point 1:
Shakespeare is famous for the diversity of his female characters. He not only
explores strength, intelligence, humour and sophistication; but also vulnerability and
frailty: aspects of femininity from a complex range of perspectives. Write or discuss a
short description about each of the characters you met in the presentation including:

Your thoughts and feelings on the women you met? (Did you like them? Did
they make you laugh, cry, feel afraid, feel impressed etc...?)

How well written were they? (Did you believe in them? Do you believe that
they are as important to the story being told as the male characters?)
Discussion point 2:
How well do you think that Shakespeare, a male writer, understands and presents
female characters?
Character Studies. In depth studies of the women in the presentation.
Lady Macbeth

In 30 words or less describe who Lady Macbeth is and what she wants. Start
with the following words: “Lady Macbeth is...

Lady M, although ruthless, fears she does not have the strength to proceed
with her plan to murder Duncan. How does she get the strength to proceed
with her plan? Refer to the famous Raven speech below:
“The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
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And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!”

Lady M now has the strength she needs, but her husband doesn’t. Macbeth
no longer wants to kill Duncan. How does Lady M give Macbeth the strength
to murder Duncan and steal the THRONE? (Refer to the sources below).
Read the following modern comic version and then read Act 1 Scene 7 on page 3:
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TThis column is Shakespeare
This column is modern English
Enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH enters.
How now! What news?
What news do you have?
LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
He has almost supped. Why
He has almost finished dinner.
have you left the chamber?
Why did you leave the dining
room?
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MACBETH
MACBETH
Hath he asked for me?
Has he asked for me?
LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
Know you not he has?
Don’t you know he has?
MACBETH
MACBETH
We will proceed no further in
We can’t go on with this plan. The
this business.
king has just honored me, and I
He hath honored me of late,
have earned the good opinion of all
and I have bought
sorts of people. I want to enjoy
Golden opinions from all
these honors while the feeling is
sorts of people,
fresh and not throw them away so
Which would be worn now in
soon.
their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
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LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
Was the hope drunk
Were you drunk when you seemed
Wherein you dressed
so hopeful before? Have you gone
yourself? Hath it slept since?
to sleep and woken up green and
And wakes it now, to look so
pale in fear of this idea? From now
green and pale
on this is what I’ll think of your love.
At what it did so freely? From
Are you afraid to act the way you
this time
desire? Will you take the crown
Such I account thy love. Art
you want so badly, or will you live
thou afeard To be the same
as a coward, always saying “I
in thine own act and valor
can’t” after you say “I want to”?
As thou art in desire?
You’re like the poor cat in the old
Wouldst thou have that
story.
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Which thou esteem’st the
ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine
own esteem, Letting “I dare
not” wait upon “I would, ”
Like the poor cat i' th' adage?
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MACBETH
MACBETH
Prithee, peace:
Please, stop! I dare to do only what
I dare do all that may
is proper for a man to do. He who
become a man;
dares to do more is not a man at
Who dares do more is none.
all.
LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
What beast was ’t, then,
If you weren’t a man, then what
That made you break this
kind of animal were you when you
enterprise to me?
first told me you wanted to do this?
When you durst do it, then
When you dared to do it, that’s
you were a man;
when you were a man. And if you
And to be more than what
go one step further by doing what
you were, you would
you dared to do before, you’ll be
Be so much more the man.
that much more the man. The time
Nor time nor place
and place weren’t right before, but
Did then adhere, and yet you
you would have gone ahead with
would make both.
the murder anyhow. Now the time
They have made themselves,
and place are just right, but they’re
and that their fitness now
almost too good for you. I have
Does unmake you. I have
suckled a baby, and I know how
given suck, and know
sweet it is to love the baby at my
How tender ’tis to love the
breast. But even as the baby was
babe that milks me.
smiling up at me, I would have
I would, while it was smiling
plucked my nipple out of its mouth
in my face,
and smashed its brains out against
Have plucked my nipple from
a wall if I had sworn to do that the
his boneless gums
same way you have sworn to do
And dashed the brains out,
this.
had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
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T
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MACBETH
MACBETH
If we should fail?
But if we fail—
LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
We fail?
We, fail? If you get your
But screw your courage to the
courage up, we can’t fail. When
sticking-place,
Duncan is asleep—the day’s
And we’ll not fail. When Duncan
hard journey has definitely
is asleep—Whereto the rather
made him tired—I’ll get his two
shall his day’s hard journey
servants so drunk that their
Soundly invite him—his two
memory will go up in smoke
chamberlains Will I with wine and
through the chimneys of their
wassail so convince
brains. When they lie asleep
That memory, the warder of the
like pigs, so drunk they’ll be
brain, Shall be a fume, and the
dead to the world, what won’t
receipt of reason A limbeck only:
you and I be able to do to the
when in swinish sleep Their
unguarded Duncan? And
drenchèd natures lie as in a
whatever we do, we can lay all
death, What cannot you and I
the blame on the drunken
perform upon The unguarded
servants.
Duncan? What not put upon
His spongy officers, who shall
bear the guilt Of our great quell?
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MACBETH
MACBETH
Bring forth men-children only,
May you only give birth to male
For thy undaunted mettle should
children, because your fearless
compose
spirit should create nothing that
Nothing but males. Will it not be
isn’t masculine. Once we have
received,
covered the two servants with
When we have marked with
blood, and used their daggers
blood those sleepy two
to kill, won’t people believe that
Of his own chamber and used
they were the culprits?
their very daggers,
That they have done ’t?
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_44.html
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
Lady Macbeth pays a terrible price for Duncan’s murder; she slowly goes mad
with guilt and then she commits suicide. In this famous painting of Lady
Macbeth by French symbolist Gustave Moreau we can see the nightmare of
her madness surrounding her. How has the artist used elements such as
colour, light and emotion (look into her eyes) to explore Lady Macbeth’s
horrifying inner turmoil?
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The last time we see Lady Macbeth she enters in a nightdress. Lit by
candlelight she desperately tries to rub an imaginary spot of blood from her
hands. It is blood that only she can see. It is the blood of all the people they
have murdered: it is King Duncan’s blood; it is also the blood of the wife and
child of the Thane of Fife whose throats were slit; it is even the blood of
Macbeth’s best friend Banquo whom Macbeth pays assassins to stab to
death. The Macbeths have murdered many people for the throne.
In the famous Candle speech below, Lady Macbeth rubs and rubs and rubs
her hands but the blood never rubs off. Read through the speech and then...
Discuss:
 Why the blood will not rub off?
 Why the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten her hand?
 What is happening to Lady M?
“Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.
The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?-What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'
that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
this starting.
Here's the smell of the blood still: all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand. Oh, oh, oh!
Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so
pale.--I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he
cannot come out on's grave.
To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:
come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's
done cannot be undone.--To bed, to bed, to bed!”
HELENA
– A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Four of Shakespeare’s funniest yet deeply sincere characters are found in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s magical play on the frustrations of love.
They are of course the love-stricken Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious.
Helena is desperately in love with Demetrious who is desperately in love with Hermia
who is desperately in love with Lysander who desperately loves her back (Hermia
that is). But Hermia’s dad wants her to marry Demetrious whom she hates. Hermia
does what any high-spirited lass would do; she runs away with her love into the
woods. Demetrious hears about her plan to run away with Lysander and does what
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any jealous boy would do; he follows them into the wood. Helena, desperate for
Demetrious’ love, does what any love-sick girl would do and chases after
Demetrious. Eventually the lovers all get tired and fall asleep in the woods. Puck, an
impish spirit of the forest with a wicked sense of humour, stumbles across the
sleeping lovers and does what any fairy Imp of the forest would do: he pours a
fantastical love potion into their eyes.
When the lovers wake they all magically fall in love with the wrong person.
To watch a cartoon video that explains the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
please cut and pastes this link into your browser: https://vimeo.com/95722577

In the performance you see Helena just as she has catches up to Demetrious
in the woods. Write a short paragraph explaining how she tries to make
Demetrious fall in love with her. (What does she say to him? What does she
do to him?)

How do you feel about her? (Can you relate to her situation? Should she just
get over him? Should she fight harder for his love?)

What do you think about Demetrious? (Is he right to reject Helena even
though she loves him so much? Is he right to be chasing after Hermia even
though she loves somebody else?)

Helena has many flaws, she is spiteful and selfish and self obsessed. Yet she
is also funny, lovable and her emotions and actions are understandable. Do
real everyday people have these types of contradictions in their personalities?

In Shakespeare’s day arranged marriages were most common: Elizabethan
women had very little choice. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena’s friend
Hermia has refused her father’s command to marry Demetrious. Egeus is
furious and implores the Duke of Venice for justice against his disobedient
daughter. (Read Egeus’ speech to the Duke on the next page):
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 1 Scene 1
“Full of vexation come I, with complaint
Against my child, my daughter Hermia.
Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,
This man hath my consent to marry her.
Stand forth, Lysander: and my gracious duke,
This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child;
Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,
And interchanged love-tokens with my child:
Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung,
With feigning voice verses of feigning love,
And stolen the impression of her fantasy
With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gawds, conceits,
Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats, messengers
Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth:
With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughter's heart,
Turn'd her obedience, which is due to me,
To stubborn harshness: and, my gracious duke,
Be it so she; will not here before your grace
Consent to marry with Demetrius,
I beg the ancient privilege of Athens,
As she is mine, I may dispose of her:
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death, according to our law
Immediately provided in that case.”
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







What are the accusations Egeus makes against Hermia and Lysander?
How did Lysander steal Hermia’s love?
What will Egeus do if Hermia continues to disobey him?
Are his threats legal under Athenian law?
Do you think that Egeus should make these threats against his daughter?
What would you advise her to do if she was your friend?
Do parents always know what is best for their children?
Arranged marriages still occur today in many countries. What is your opinion
about arranged marriages? (Is it possible for people to meet, marry and THEN
fall in love?)

What happens to Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious in the end?

What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say about love in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream? (Is love like a dream?)
TITANIA
A Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream: Titania and Bottom (1848) by Edwin Landseer.
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Oberon and Titania: the King and Queen of the fairies; are fighting.
Oberon wants a magical changeling boy to be his servant: (a changeling is a fairy
child that has been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies.) Titania has
adopted the child and will NOT GIVE HIM UP! To get revenge on his Queen, Oberon
orders Puck to pour a drop of a magical love potion into Titania’s eyes as she lies
sleeping: when she wakes she will fall madly in love with the first living creature she
sees:
OBERON: “Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull, on meddling monkey, or on busy
ape, She shall pursue it with the soul of love”.
Meanwhile a group of amateur actors are rehearsing a play in the forest. The biggest
loud-mouth of the lot BOTTOM, a weaver by trade, is making such a racket that
Puck, the mischievous Imp of the forest, decides to play a joke on him. He waits
behind a bush and when Bottom is near, he magically turns him into a donkey.
Making a real ASS of him!
All the other actors, scared out of their wits, run away from Bottom leaving him alone
in the woods. Bottom doesn’t know what has happened to him and finding himself
deserted gets really scared. To calm down he starts walking up and down singing a
jaunty song, REALLY OUT OF TUNE...:
BOTTOM: “...La la the ousel cock so black of hue with orange tawny bill la la la la...”
Titania asleep in her fairy bower is woken by this very strange sound and straightway
on seeing BOTTOM falls in love with – YOU GUESSED IT – an ASS.
Shakespeare’s forest is the world of dreams, a world of the imagination: a fairy
kingdom where anything is possible. This is the world that artists and lovers and
dreamers inhabit, far away from the harsh realities of daily existence.
Discussion or essay question on A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
In a world that seems to emphasise the need to study for a practical job, make lots of
money, to buy a house and to take life seriously; what place is there for the world of
dreams and the imagination?
Nature is out of joint:
Because of the fight between Oberon and Titania all of nature is in upheaval. Read
the following speech of Titania’s as she fights with Oberon:
Titania fighting with Oberon Act 2 Scene 1:
“...never, since the middle summer's spring,
Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,
By paved fountain or by rushy brook,
Or in the beached margent of the sea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.
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Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea
Contagious fogs; which falling in the land
Have every pelting river made so proud
That they have overborne their continents:
The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain,
The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn
Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard;
The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;...
...the moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
That rheumatic diseases do abound:
And thorough this distemperature we see
The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts
Far in the fresh lap of the crimson rose,
And on old Hiems' thin and icy crown
An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds
Is, as in mockery, set: the spring, the summer,
The childing autumn, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world,
By their increase, now knows not which is which:
And this same progeny of evils comes
From our debate, from our dissension;
We are their parents and original.



Make a list of everything mentioned in the speech above that is happening in
the Athenian world because of the fight between Oberon and Titania.
Use your imagination to make up an answer to the following question: Why do
you think that the nature and the world are in upheaval just because the king
and queen of the fairies are fighting?
What happens in your world when you are fighting with a friend or family
member? (How do you feel? How do they feel? What does it do to your
world? I.e. To other people, to classmates, to neighbours, to brothers, sisters,
pets in the house etc..?)
Bottom the donkey

Oberon gets revenge on Titania by making her fall in love (for a little while)
with a donkey, who turns out to be BOTTOM the weaver. What do you think
about Oberon’s joke on his wife?

BOTTOM is one of the most loved characters in Shakespeare. What is your
opinion of him? Do you think he deserves to be one of the most loved of
Shakespeare’s characters?
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CLEOPATRA
o Describe the scene with Cleopatra and the messenger in thirty words or less
starting with the words; ‘A messenger tells Cleopatra that...
o A common expression in life is – ‘Don’t shoot the messenger.’ What does this
expression mean?
o What relevance does this expression have to the scene you saw in the
performance featuring Cleopatra and the messenger?
o Why does Cleopatra behave the way she did?
o The scene is known as tragicomical. Which means it combines both tragedy
and comedy. How did the scene do this? (Explain what was funny and what
was sad in the scene).
o How do you feel when you receive bad news?
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o Do you want to attack the person who brings the news like Cleo did?
o Describe Cleo’s personality or character.
o How do you feel when you have to tell someone some news that you know
will upset them?
o Does it take courage to deliver bad news?
Jealousy
o In Othello Shakespeare gives a man called IAGO the
following lines: “beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed
monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” What does this mean?
 Think about when you have been jealous’
o What was the result of these feelings?
o Did these feelings help or hurt your relationship with the people
you were jealous of?
o Were they positive or negative emotions?
 Why does Shakespeare call jealousy a ‘Green-eyed monster’?
o Does jealousy hurt the person who feels it more than anyone
else?
o Is there a positive side to feeling jealous?
 Jealousy is a natural feeling which we all have from time to time, so
given that it is normal how can we use this quote to improve our lives?
Love appears to be at the heart of many of Shakespeare’s plays. The
murderous Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were deeply in love and when she dies
Macbeth is heartbroken and seems to give up on life, he says:
MACBETH
“Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
Romeo and Juliet both die for their love. When Juliet awakens to find her Romeo
dead at her side she says:
JULIET
“What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
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To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make die with a restorative.
(She kisses him)
Thy lips are warm.
Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!
(Snatching ROMEO's dagger)
This is thy sheath;
(Stabs herself)
there rust, and let me die.”
.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena says:
HELENA
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
Helena means that love is more than a simple attraction of beauty with the eyes: it is
a deep attraction of the heart, mind and soul.
In Antony and Cleopatra: Antony dies first and Cleopatra will not live without him.
Accompanied by her crying handmaidens, Cleopatra follows her love into death; she
allows an Asp (a venomous snake) to strike her breast:
The Death of Cleopatra by Reginald Arthur, 1892.
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CLEOPATRA
“...is it sin To rush into the secret house of death,
Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women?
What, what! good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian!
My noble girls! Ah, women, women, look,
Our lamp is spent, it's out! Take heart:
We'll bury him; and then, what's brave,
what's noble,
Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make death proud to take us. Come, away:
This case of that huge spirit now is cold:
Ah, women, women! come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.”
Discussion or essay question:
 Why is love such an important part of Shakespeare’s plays? (In
your answer or discussion please refer to examples from a couple
of plays).
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Juliet and her Nurse
o Write a short description of what happens in Romeo and Juliet ending with the
words ...and then Juliet dies.
o On what mission has Juliet sent her nurse?
o Does the nurse give Juliet her good news straight away? (Refer to the comic
above to refresh your memory).
o Why does the nurse tease Juliet like this?
o The nurse tells Juliet that in choosing Romeo she has “made a simple
choice”; in modern English this means he is a poor choice of a man. Does the
nurse really mean this? Read through her speech below and explain what the
nurse really means:
“Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not
how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his
face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels
all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body,
though they be not to be talked on, yet they are
past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy,
but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy
ways, wench; serve God.”
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True Love
“The course of true love never did run smooth”
o
In 2016 Alan Rickman died of cancer: he played Severus Snape in the Harry
Potter films. Alan had been together with his childhood sweetheart Rima
Horton for fifty years but they only just married three years before he died.







Rima had all the legal rights of a spouse; so why would they marry
after forty seven years together?
After the wedding Alan told a newspaper: "We are married, just
recently. It was great, because no one was there.” What do you think
he meant by that?
Alan said: “I think every relationship should be allowed to have its own
rules. She's tolerant. Unbelievably tolerant. Possibly a candidate for
sainthood." What does this suggest about the nature of relationships?
What are the important things to build and develop when you are in a
relationship?
What are important personal traits that you should work on to help your
relationships with people grow stronger?
What personal traits should you try to change to sustain relationships?
LYSANDER: “The course of true love never did run smooth.” – What
does Lysander mean in this quote from A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
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In history
What is
the
Twelfth
Night?
In Shakespeare’s day women were not
allowed on the stage and were acted by
men. Watch the movie Shakespeare in
Love and write a short paragraph
describing what happens.
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Ophelia
In the play Hamlet OPHELIA dies in a watery grave.
‘When down her weedy trophies and herself. Fell
in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up.’
In her last scene in the play she appears on stage
clutching a posy of mixed herbs. Ophelia sings a
strange song as she passes the herbs amongst the
court. She has lost her mind. Read OPHELIA’s song
below and discuss what has caused her to go mad:
OPHELIA How should I your true-love know
From another one?
By his cockle bat and' staff
And his sandal shoon.
GERTRUDE: Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?
OPHELIA: Say you? Nay, pray You mark.
(Sings) He is dead and gone, lady,
He is dead and gone;
At his head a grass-green turf,
At his heels a stone.
To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning bedtime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose and donn'd his clo'es
And dupp'd the chamber door,
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.
[Sings] By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!
Young men will do't if they come to't
By Cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me,
You promis'd me to wed.'
He answers:
'So would I 'a' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.'
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PUCK
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
‘If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream...’
On this page which is
the best picture of PUCK
and why?
Why can PUCK be played
by a woman or a man or a
child?
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