International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology, 2022, 4(6); doi: 10.25236/IJFS.2022.040601.
Li Ji, Liyan Ma
Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
The article interprets and analyzes Portia, Jessica, and Nerissa, the three new bourgeois female characters created in Shakespeare’s famous work The Merchant of Venice, and illustrates their complexity that though they have had preliminary feminist spirit and subject consciousness, they are still willing to submit to and be bound by the male hegemony. Their nature is the coexistence of progress and limitations. Since Shakespeare does not provide any practical solutions, the work merely reflects the tragedy of women in the patriarchal society at that time.
The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare, feminism
Li Ji, Liyan Ma. Progress and Limitations of Female Characters in The Merchant of Venice. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology (2022), Vol. 4, Issue 6: 1-4. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2022.040601.
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