To what extent are Mother Courage and Paulina strong female characters?

World Literature Assignment - To what extent are Mother Courage and Paulina strong female characters? To define the words 'strong' and 'character', the dictionary offers these definitions; Strong - 1- having great power, energy, effect, flavour etc. 2 - not easy to break, damage or defect. The word strong can be used in many contexts. It relates to Mother Courage and Paulina as I am exploring to what extent they are both strong in terms of how they both cope and achieve from their backgrounds. Character - 1 - all the qualities that make a person of thing what he, she or it is. 2 - a person in a play, book, film etc. Both definitions of the word character are relevant to Mother Courage and Paulina. First, they are both in plays, and secondly I am exploring what their main qualities are. "Death and the Maiden" was written in 1991 by Ariel Dorfmann. Paulina, the main female character, thinks she has found the man who subjected her to rape and torture in which seems to be the country of Chile, while it was under the rule of the dictator General Augusto Pinochet. The events that follow help Paulina to try and make the doctor, Roberto, confess to being the one who treated her in this fashion while she was being held hostage. "Mother Courage and her Children" was written in 1938-9 by Bertolt Brecht. The play follows Courage through twelve years of the thirty years war, these

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explore the role of women in 'The Winters Tale'

Explore the role of women in 'The Winters Tale' "Intelligence without power" Women play a very important part in the play, without being obvious they have control over the men. Women then, didn't have any power and so achieved their goals by being cunning. They were able to be superior by using their intelligence to outwit the men. Hermione is established as a confident and friendly character early in the play. When Polixenes says he must return to Bohemia, Leontes tries in vain to make him stay. He asks for Hermione's opinion. "Tongue-tied, our queen? Speak you?" He instinctively relies on her and trusts in her influence as a hostess. He values her opinion highly. Hermione feels happy and secure in her position and is able to speak her mind. She tells Leontes she was going to keep quiet until he "had drawn oaths from him not to stay". She speaks in a tone of warmth and friendliness and tells Polixenes he will stay whether it is as her 'prisoner' or 'guest'. "Your guest, then, madam" Hermione continues to joke with Polixenes about sexual "sin" "Th' offences we have made you do we'll answer, If you first sinned with us, and that with us You did continue fault, and that you slipped not With any but us." Hermione's use of "we" in "your queen and I" could be misinterpreted by Leontes as the royal we, and implying that she has sinned with Polixenes. This happens in

  • Word count: 2462
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explore the relationship between Aurora and her grandmother Paulina del Valle in "Portrait of Sepia" by Isabel Allende

Explore the relationship between Aurora and her grandmother Paulina del Valle in "Portrait of Sepia" by Isabel Allende In the novel, " Portrait in Sepia", Allende aims to describe the complicated relationships between people in the society. The main focus however is on the main character, Aurora and her aristocratic grandmother, Paulina. This relationship changes a lot, from being extremely distant and un-natural to a very close and warm grandmother and grandchild bond. When they first meet, Aurora's relationship with Paulina does not start off very well as there aren't any close, intact feelings between them which grandparents are supposed to have with their grandchildren. The appearance of Paulina affects their relationship already when Aurora first steps into her mansion on the hill. The Paulina she first sees appears to be noble and majestic. "Soon I was standing before a chair with gold medallions where Paulina del Valle was sitting, a queen on her throne." The term "queen" suggests the unreachable distance between the grandparent and grandchild. Also, Paulina is described as an outstanding figure, individual from the rest of the world. "Beside her, the rest of the world disappeared. She had a beautiful voice, a great natural elegance, and white, even teeth, the effect of a perfect set of porcelain dentures" This description suggests that a great deal of

  • Word count: 879
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Shakespeare present relationships between men and women in The Winter's Tale and how would these relationships be perceived by both a Shakespearian and a contemporary audience?

English Literature Coursework How does Shakespeare present relationships between men and women in The Winter's Tale and how would these relationships be perceived by both a Shakespearian and a contemporary audience? The Winter's Tale was written in 1611, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The play is one of Shakespeare's romance titles, though it could be more justly referred to as a 'tragi-comedy' due to the instances of accusation, death, repentance and reunion. To successfully study how Shakespeare presents relationships between men and women in The Winter's Tale there are four main relationships to examine - Hermione and Leontes, Paulina and Antigonus, Perdita and Florizel, and Leontes and Paulina. Shakespeare's view of women, and generally the Elizabethan view, suggested that women had less capability for evil - can only assist in a man's corruption or downfall, evidence for this can be found by examining particular types of literature from this period, such as T.E. (?)'s didactic 'The Law's Resolution of Women's Rights'. Likewise in The Winter's Tale, only to a lesser extent, women can be seen as temptresses. Hermione was the supposed adulteress in The Winter's Tale. Many would argue that Shakespeare depicted the condition of women within a patriarchal system and created female characters, which in their richness transcend the limitations of his time.

  • Word count: 3323
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How are women represented in "The Winter's Tale"? How might a modern audience react to this representation?

How are women represented in "The Winter's Tale"? How might a modern audience react to this representation? The Winter's Tale is a sixteenth-century comedy of William Shakespeare's containing many possibilities of a tragedy occurring throughout the play, such as when Hermione 'dies' and Perdita is left in an unpopulated area. The various female characters' representations are significant for the plot. More importantly, with the exception of Paulina, they are portrayed as being passive, obedient characters who are inferior to their male counterparts. A modern-day audience would perhaps disagree with the oppression of women evident within this play, but in the cultural context of Shakespeare's society, women were inferior to men and subsequently expected to obey them without question. The character of Paulina, however, is welcomed by the modern audience as being a more modern character who defends the rights of women, for example Hermione and the abandoning of Perdita. At the time Shakespeare wrote the play, women, more specifically Mary and Elizabeth I, had held the position of monarch in England and it is possible to suggest Paulina is the personification of a new contemporary idea of a female. Paulina, is portrayed as being very strong emotionally, as she is willing to stand up to Leontes and make him see his own faults, but she could also be considered extremely cruel for

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Consider how play writes make characters speak in play's you have studied and say how the language and tone of these dialogs, conversations, or monologues, contribute to the play as a whole.

Cristina Telles Mr Maclure Consider how play writes make characters speak in play's you have studied and say how the language and tone of these dialogs, conversations, or monologues, contribute to the play as a whole. Arthur Miller and Ariel Dorfman, create each character in their plays as a representative human in real life. For instance one of the ideas that Death and the Maiden tried to convey is that there are many Paulina's, Gerardo's and Roberto's in daily daytime. Each of them represents their role in life, by how they interact with other characters. On the other hand Death of a Salesman is not an exception, as all its characters by their words, represent in the best way possible how they feel at the time. Furthermore they show by their phrases how their personality develops. Readers are forced to think about past, present, and future in some point of the play so that they can be able to find the relevance of characters attitudes or words. The quotation of: 'How many times' is a vivid example of this. It is a phase asked by Paulina to Gerardo and vice versa. It reflects that they both have hidden secrets, which create separation between them. This separation is created by a lack of openness and trust in the couple. By analysing this quotation we can find another connotation, this one is about the country. The country as well as Paulina and Gerardo, has lots of

  • Word count: 2093
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Shakespeare present relationships between men and women in The Winter's Tale, and how might a modern audience respond to these realtionships ?

How does Shakespeare present relationships between men and women in The Winter's Tale, and how might a modern audience respond to these realtionships ? Relationships and marriages in one of the most important aspect of The Winter's Tale. The three main relationships in the play are Hermione and Leontes, Paulina and Antigonus, and Perdita and Florizel. They play an important role for the development of the plot, and the themes of renewal and rebirth. The first couple which appears in the play is Hermione and Leontes, but their relationship breaks down. We then see Paulina and Antigonus' relationship and later Perdita's and Florizel's when the previous relationship ends by the death of Antigonus. We can say that the play is a camedy, because Hermione and Leontes finish the play with a successful reunion, Paulina remarries, and Perdita and Florizel are married. However, the play is also a tragedy because Antigonus and Mimilius both die, and also Hermione, temporarily. That is why The Winter's Tale is usually said to be a tragicomedy. Hermione and Leontes' relationship at the start of the play seems at first to be good and reciprocal. Leontes invites Hermione in conversation and to be actively part of court: "Tongue-tied, our queen? Speak you." She understands that Leontes has to be dominating the couple in public: "I had thought, sir, to have held my peace until / You had

  • Word count: 1718
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss The Presentation Of Women In The Winter’s Tale.

Discuss The Presentation Of Women In The Winter's Tale. Women in The Winters Tale are very important to the plot in various ways, but the most important is that, if they weren't there, none of the occurrences in the play would have happened. For instance, Hermione is a catalyst that sparks off Leontes' jealousy, Paulina is the author of a plot to conceal Hermione, and Perdita is the one who fulfils the oracles prophesy - "if that which is lost is not found." To make sure that the women in The Winter's Tale are portrayed as important characters, Shakespeare had to spend time building up their reputation so that they are thought of, not as mere plot devices, but as valued characters which have true importance in the play. Hermione is probably the most important woman in the ply, as she fires up Leontes jealousy by him believing that she was "holding up the bill, the neb to him [Polixenes]." Leontes, in his raving madness, accuses her of being a "traitor," a "hobby-horse," that "women say so, they will say everything," and that "she has been sluiced in my absence." Hermione herself admits that "your queen and I be devils," and that "you first sinned with us [women]." However, Hermione is also illustrated as persuasive ("My prisoner, or my guest? - "At the good queen's entreaty"). She is also shown to be a good mother, "take the boy, he so troubles me 'tis past enduring", or

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"The Winter's Tale" written by William Shakespeare.

Angela Lau Professor Emily Sherwood Eng 354: Shakespeare May 12, 2006 The book "The Winter's Tale" written by William Shakespeare in the years between 1608 and 1612 is a tragicomedy. It is an imaginary world where Bohemia has a seacoast and where Greek oracles and Renaissance sculptures coexist. It offers three acts of tragedy, followed by two acts of acts of comedy. In between, sixteen years pass hastily which serves to highlight the disparity of theme, setting and action between the two halves of the play. The first halve is set in winter, reflecting the destructive power that mistaken jealousy exercises over the family of Leontes, King of Sicilia. In the second half, flower- strewn spring intervenes, and all the damage that the king's folly accomplished is undone through a miracle, as a statue of his dead wife comes alive and embraces him. Scene one is about how Polixenes, King of Bohemia, visits his childhood friend, Leontes, King of Sicilia. Polixenes wants to return to his Kingdom and Leontes cannot convince him to stay. On Leontes´s behalf, Hermione, Leontes´s wife, finally convinces him to stay longer. Leontes becomes jealous. "My heart dances, but not for joy, not joy" [p, 58; ll. 110- 111] and suspects a romantic relationship between his best friend and his wife. Being sure that they have deceived him, Leontes orders me one of his Lords, an honest man named

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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review for "the winters tale "

Review about "The Winter's Tale" by William Shakespeare On Friday 21st of September I attended one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Big Adventures Theatre Company performed "The Winters Tale" at The Robert Ludlam Theatre. "The Winter's Tale" is set in Sicilia in the home of king Leontes. King Leontes has invited his old school friend, the King of Bohemia; Polixenes round and are enjoying catching up. However, Leontes suspects that his pregnant wife has been having an affair with Polixenes and impulsively orders his servant Camillo to poison Polixenes. Although warns Polixene and they both flee to Bohemia. Leontes arrests Hermione and charges her of adultery and Conspiracy against his life. She gives birth to a daughter in prison, Leontes friends try to convince him that the daughter is his but he does not believe them and sends orders to dispose of the infant. At Hermione's trials she is pronounced innocent by a spiritualist but Leontes does not believe her. During the trial shocking news arrives that his son has died, after hearing this Hermione faints and is reported to have died. Leontes finally realises how he has been acting and promises to grieve for his dead wife and son everyday. Leontes then demands Antigonus to abandon Hermione's newborn daughter on the seacoast of Bohemia. Sixteen years pass and Leontes is left mourning his wife and children. But eventually gets

  • Word count: 1466
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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