Triadic Unity Of Females In Shakespeare's Tragedies

As one of rare geniuses in Europe, Shakespeare has become a milestone in the history of European literary world. As one of his contemporaries, Ben Jonson once said, he is the "the soul of the age". As a landmark writer, he does not belong to the century but belongs to all centuries. In recent years, criticisms on Shakespeare, both in west or east, are like an ocean, which is the very charm of Shakespeare's. If there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand readers, there are a thousand Shakespeare for a thousand readers. Especially since the middle of 20th century, criticisms on Shakespeare is colorful and of all genres. However, most of the critics focus either on the creation or on male character. As a result female images are usually marginalized.Based on the feminist criticism and womanism, proposed by the contemporary feminist critic Elaine Showalter and other feminist critics, this thesis lays importance on the female images in Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Desdemona and tries to re-evaluate the literary value and practical significance.There are six parts in total. Firstly the thesis gives a brief introduction to Shakespeare, the three tragedies mentioned in this paper and the relevant researches. At the end of the paper, it gives the purposes and the practical significance. Through analyzing Juliet, Desdemona and Lady Macbeth, the thesis tries to find out the reasons and reveals that they play different roles in different phases in a woman's lifetime.Chapter one concentrates on Juliet. As a lover, Juliet is beautiful, pure and naive, like an angel. She loves just for love and passion, and her desire outruns reason. She makes profession initiatively and she is brave enough to overcome the fence and thorns on the way to love. However, she couldn't escape from the patriarchal society, for she puts herself as a subsidiary to a man and entrusts herself to Romeo at the second meeting. A noble and young lady chooses to die for impulse love at the age of fourteen, which is not acceptable. Chapter two concentrates on Desdemona. As a newly-married bride, Desdemona is graceful, virtuous and faithful. Regardless of the objection from her father, Desdemona pursues the freedom of choosing her own marriage and happiness. Though what she does challenges her father's authority in some sense, Desdemona does not think she is independent in subconscious but a part of her husband. She fights against her father before marriage while she is obedient to her husband after marriage. She is still the subject of males and her awaking conscious is not mature and thorough. Finally she is smothered by her husband and dies tragically.Chapter three concentrates on Lady Macbeth. As a life partner and assistant wife, Lady Macbeth is quite different from Juliet and Desdemona. She is compared to vicious monster by a German poet and she is a demonic queen for Prince Malcolm. She loves Macbeth crazily. Lady Macbeth is not a evil woman by nature, and that she is the victim of her own blind love and Macbeth's political ambition.Chapter four concentrates on the triadic unity. Juliet, Desdemona and Lady Macbeth are three respective roles in woman's emotional life, from a lover to a wife. They love only for love, and they are new woman in Middle Ages but they do not escape from the patriarchal civilization and end with tragic ending. And in this chapter, the thesis also tries to explore the reasons both internally and externally.The conclusion is the summary of all the aspects mentioned above. It elaborates the embodiment and reasons of triadic unity. The thesis aims to offer some practical significance to female readers, through analyzing Juliet, Desdemona and Lady Macbeth, and to highlight the female images and their value in literary works.