Shakespeare And Jane Austen

Both Shakespeare and Austen present us with the flaws in society from their perspectives. They highlight the key issues seen in everyday life amongst their societies, such as the importance of marriage, men and women's roles in society and the segregation between the upper and lower classes. Not only are we made aware of the faults in the Elizabethan era and regency period, through the use of language, key themes and characters. But also through the use of mockery of certain character traits that both Shakespeare and Austen found amongst their society, such as Mrs Bennet playing the over dramatic and emotional woman who lives to please society and feel socially accepted, and Petruchio who plays the ideal man whom men desired to be like during that time (powerful and in control). Mocking and exaggeration of these characters is used by both Shakespeare and Austen to highlight the main fault seen in society during that time which was the need to conform to social roles set out by society rather than being a individual, This can still be seen today's.

Marriage is presented as being practical in both texts. In 'The Taming of the Shrew', we see Petruchio marrying Katherina for practical reasons such as wealth and to fit into society rather than for love, 'What dowry shall I have with her to wife?' This quote highlights the practicality of their marriage and how love is seen as being of lesser importance in a marriage. Shakespeare presents this as a flaw, therefore suggesting that he may have believed marriage should be for love and not practicality. Not only do we see Petruchio being practical but also Baptista who is seen as being very forward about the marriage and does not take into concern Katherina's happiness. The idea of marriage being seen as a social construction is similarly seen in 'Pride and Prejudice'. In the introduction we see Mrs Bennet say, 'it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' This implies that marriage was seen as necessary for completing a man's life, giving the impression that Austen is also presenting marriage as a flaw to the audience. She suggests that marriage was viewed as a necessity rather than a want or desire during the regency period. Furthermore this can be seen in the relationship between Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins, 'Not all of us can afford to be romantic. I`ve been offered a comfortable home and protection.' Charlotte supports Austen's ideas of marriage being for practicality rather than love. However not only is marriage represented as being practical but also a must, 'I'm twenty seven years old. I've no money and no prospects. I`m already a burden to my parents and I`m frightened' This dialogue spoken by Charlotte when giving her reasons for marriage to Lizzie imply that she had married not only out of practicality but also fear, as during the regency period women could not inherit nor did they work so it was almost compulsory for a woman to marry to gain a stable life. Also the fact that Austen mentions Charlottes age 'I am twenty seven years old' as a reason for marriage suggest that during the regency period in was important for women to marry young, as an unmarried woman was frowned upon. Therefore the relationship between Mr Collins and Charlotte is presented to the audience as a flaw by Austen. We could imply that Austen may have realised that she was living in a patriarchal and judgmental society and marriage is being presented as a flaw to us as it was seen as being practical and a necessity for women to earn a stable life and a good reputation. Another key theme which is presented as a flaw is the importance of social class and status. This can be seen in The Taming of the Shrew, when Petruchio arrives badly dressed and Baptista feels humiliated by his image, 'first we were sad, fearing you would not come, now sadder that you come so unprovided.' The fact that Baptista is more concerned about the corruption of his image suggests that class and social status is seen as having more importance that a person's feelings. This is similarly found in Pride and Prejudice. 'I have no wish to deny that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister', Darcy feels like he has done the right thing by separating Bingley from Jane as Bingley is from a higher social class. This gives us the impression that segregation during the regency period was very strong and the upper class did not allow the middle or lower class to mix with them. Austen highlights this issue and presents this as a flaw to us. However in Taming of the Shrew we also see segregation of the upper and lower class but to a more extreme extent, 'go rascals, go and fetch my supper in' Petuchio shows a lack of respect towards his servants, thus suggesting that Shakespeare also felt that segregation and ill treatment of the lower class was also a flaw amongst the Elizabethan society. We are made to dislike characters such as Petruchio and Mr Darcy in the beginning, as a way of making us aware. On the other hand in Pride and Prejudice we are show the desire of the middle and lower class to feel socially accepted by the upper class, this is portrayed through Mr Collins, 'I could advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest.' This implies that the Regency period revolved mostly around social acceptance, this is highlighted as a flaw by Austen as we the readers are made to dislike Mr Collins and his constant need to feel wanted and accepted by people.

Lastly the role of men and women within the Regency period and Elizabethan era is presented to the audience as being a flaw through the use of exaggeration and stereotypical character traits, both Austen and Shakespeare may have felt that these were common character traits that could be found amongst there society. For example Mrs Bennet is seen as a highly exaggerated character in the novel, 'Have you no consideration for my poor nerves?' This portrays Mrs Bennet as being a very emotional and hysterical character, therefore conforming to the idea of women during that period as being very emotional and weak in comparison to men. This is similarly seen in Taming of the Shrew in Bianca's character, who plays the 'mild maid'. Bianca meaning 'white' in Italian gives us the impression that women were looked at as being very pure and sensitive, however her name contradicts her character as she is putting on a façade and is in fact a rather promiscuous character. This could imply that Shakespeare is saying that women were expected to behave a certain way within society regardless of whether it was a true representation of their personality. This is shown to be a flaw as women were suppressed into having to behave a certain way; this explains Mrs Bennet's overly exaggerated behaviour, as this may be the only manner in which she knows how to behave. On the other hand the protagonists in The Taming of the Shrew and Pride and Prejudice are both women, therefore creating the idea that maybe a change in women's roles amongst society was beginning, however another interpretation may be that both Shakespeare and Austen felt that women needed to be given more importance amongst society. On the other hand although Katherine is seen as our Protagonist in Taming of the Shrew, her character is flawed, 'Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,' she goes from being a strong and independent woman and ends up conforming to the stereotypical image of women playing a domestic role. An Elizabethan female audience may interpret this as a wakeup call amongst there society, and may feel that their places amongst society is flawed. Shakespeare presents us with the stereotypical image that men during the Elizabethan era aspired to be like, this is seen through Petruchio's character, 'For I am born to tame you, Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate conformable as other household Kate's.' This quote implies that men wanted to be seen as powerful, and wanted women to conform to the traditional ideas of how women should be. Shakespeare presents this as a flaw by making us dislike Petruchio's controlling behaviour towards Katherina and his lack of respect for her. Darcy on the other hand undergoes a change in the way he acted, he moves from being a man obsessed with status and pride and the need to be seen as superior to others, 'I have fought against my better judgment, my family`s expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. All these things I am willing to put aside and ask you to end my agony.' This change in Darcy makes us the readers like his character and we begin to empathise for him. Austen may have presented the change in Darcy's personality as way of showing how she as the author felt that her society should put aside, status power and pride.

In conclusion Shakespeare and Austen do present us with flaws in society such as the need to conform to social norms, the segregation between classes and the inequality between men and women. However not only are we presented with the flaws but also given an insight into how both authors would have liked society to be, This is seen through the likes of characters such as Darcy, and Katherina before she is Tamed. The concept of feeling accepted by society is found in both texts, Petruchio tames Katherina so that she conforms to the stereotypical image of the house wife, Darcy conforms to the image of 'the gentleman', and Mr Collins is seen trying to feel accepted by the upper class as the rest of society.