Bushman, Faculty Advisor, Mary Ann

Zomparelli, Kristen

English

Digital Commons @ Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 2007, 18th Annual JWP ConferenceApr 14th, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AMSatirizing the Silence: A Critique of the Patriarchy'sDestruction of the Female Character in Much AdoAbout NothingKristen ZomparelliIllinois Wesleyan UniversityMary Ann Bushman, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Zomparelli, Kristen and Bushman, Faculty Advisor, Mary Ann, "Satirizing the Silence: A Critique of the Patriarchy'sDestruction of the Female Character in Much Ado About Nothing" (2007). John Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference. 2.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/2007/oralpres5/2THE JOHN WESLEY POWELL STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE - APRIL 2007 Oral Presentation 05.2 SATIRIZING THE SILENCE: A CRITIQUE OF THE PATRIARCHY'S DESTRUCTION OF THE FEMALE CHARACTER IN MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Kristen Zomparelli and Mary Ann Bushman* English Department, Illinois Wesleyan University The purpose of my Research Honors project is to analyze women' s  roles in Much Ado About Nothing using both semiotic and feminist theory. The play enacts the disastrous effeCts of placing strict l imitations on women and endowing men with unquestionable authority simply because of their gender. Much Ado presents two possible responses for women in a patriarchy: Hero' s  silent, compliant tongue and Beatrice ' s  rebellious, outspoken tongue. Despite Hero's compliance with the patriarchy, the men read her as a text and assign meaning based on their interpretations, which leads to their slander of her spotless reputation. Although Beatrice is given a more privileged tongue, her voice is ignored due to her gender. I argue that the ending of the play is left intentionally unresolved to spark social debate on problems with the patriarchy: no matter what her response to patriarchal rule, a woman will always be silenced and overruled. 

Satirizing the Silence: A Critique of the Patriarchy\u27s Destruction of the Female Character in \u3cem\u3eMuch Ado About Nothing\u3c/em\u3e

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Satirizing the Silence: A Critique of the Patriarchy\u27s Destruction of the Female Character in \u3cem\u3eMuch Ado About Nothing\u3c/em\u3e

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