The Wykehamist
takes many of Ovid’ s more prominent female characters and adapts them to fit into the narrative he wishes to sell to his audience. His characters are often less wild and more easily controlled than Classical women, perpetuating the stereotypes of what an Elizabethan woman should be— strong and beautiful, but also modest and mild. However, he also builds upon the trope of feminine rage, granting disproportionate power and outspokenness to an otherwise self-controlled, model woman. Ovid, perhaps due to the more frequently mythical settings of his poetry, allows himself more freedom than Shakespeare does with regards to the fates of his female characters, resulting in a wider variety of archetypes, while Shakespeare’ s women often fall into more stereotypical boundaries. Nevertheless, Shakespeare’ s female characters are inarguably all the richer, and often more interesting than those of other contemporary playwrights, due to the influence of Ovid.
Ottilie Fergusson( K, 2024-)
All quotations from Shakespeare’ s plays come from Project Gutenberg’ s free online editions.
All English quotations from the Metamorphoses come from David Raeburn’ s Penguin Translation.
All English quotations from the Heroides come from Harold Isbell’ s Penguin Translation.
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