Lives of the Saints Essay

In Shakespeares crossroads and Nino Riccis Lives of the Saints both demonstrate different visions of women. Comparing weak and hesitant women in Hamlet as to strong and indep remainderent women in Lives of the Saints.Ophelia in Hamlet is characterized many times as a weak women in particular in the quote, frailty thy name is woman. She is completely dependent on her don and proves her dependence when she acts cruel to Hamlet. Which goes against her true feelings toward Hamlet. Afterwords Ophelia agrees to non see Hamlet anymore, I shall obey my lord. Which shows Poloniouss control over his daughter. Ophelias actions show that she go away do anything to please her father, even making a some mavenal capitulate which she doesnt agree with. Ophelias desire to please her father leads her to be utilise as a puppet in order for the fag and Polonious to spy on Hamlet, Ophelias willingness to spy on a person she truly loves, shows her true nature toward her father.Even when Hamlet h arasses Ophelia and tells her to go to a nunnery, Ophelia had the inability to defend herself. When her father passes on, Ophelia is left by herself, with no one to give her guidance. Instead of trying to move on with her breeding, she calls for her brother hoping he will rent a plan for her, My brother shall know of it and so I thank you for your good counsel. Poloniouss was irreplaceable and finally Ophelia realizes this I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.The import of the violets are that they symbolize faithfulness and they all died because she felt useless without her father.Ophelias death is in result of her dependence and weakness of character.Overall, Ophelia goes mad because she has no position in society. Men stomach continuously ordered her around, used her, pulling her mind in e truly direction. She put her faith in one person and never made her witness decisions. Similar to Ophelia is Gertrude. She is in addition characterize d by the quote, frailty thy name is woman. Gertrude depends on her husband. Gertrude longing for the attention that she loses when her husband dies, quickly marries Claudius, her husbands brother. Shakespeare displays that women have no back bone and our weak. As if they could not live with out others, men especially.Nino Ricci demonstrates a whole different placement of women, he shows that women are strong and independent. The character that illustrates these qualities is Cristina, she climbd her child Vittorio alone. unalike the women in Hamlet, Cristina didnt need a man to help her raise her child or to get through life. When her son gets beat up at school, she doesnt just ignore it. She takes physical action near the situation Ill make her pay for this, Vittorio, youll see, by the blood of messiah Ill make her pay. The wiping at some tears in her own eyes, she took me suddenly by the hand and marched me out the door into the street. (107).Cristina is defiantly not a pusho ver and stands up for what she believes in. She lives in a closure where the women plosive consonant at home and the men work out in the theatre and everyone believed in strange superstitions. Cristina was against her villages expectations and went against what everyone thought. Cristina is outspoken and self-assured. She has a womens rightist point of view and is vey confident in it, she says Hes plausibly slept with every whore in America by now, but for me its a disgrace. (154). Cristina is explaining about her husband Mario but it is also a statement in general about men. Guys can go around going from young lady to girl to girl and its not a problem. But if a women were to do the same thing, even if it was just with one guy its an absolute disgrace. This have got was based in 1960 and the same sentence could apply to 2012. Also has consequence to the text because she had an affair and the whole town found out, which then they do by her with disgust.Cristina also state s Women have had their faces up their asses for too long, they let their men pass off around like goats and then theyre happy if they dont come home and beat them (154) It is demeaning that women are seen as whores when they have affairs, especially when its said by other women. Theyre oppressing their own sex activity when saying it. She finally decides to move away and says her final words to the village You are the ones who are dead,not me, because not one of you knows what it means to be drop off and to make a choice, and I pray to God that he wipes this town and all its stupidities off the face of the earth (184)Most women wouldnt have spoke there mind, especially a woman like Ophelia or Gertrude. Cristina constantly fought with her father and always disagreed Long arguments were carried on daily amidst kitchen and bedroom, tension hovering around.(154). She finally got fed up with living with her father and perceive his opinion she said Then to hell with all of you Ill go to Rome, Naples, anywhere. She had the courage and strength to leave her father and start a life somewhere else, mean while Ophelia couldnt last a couple days with out her father and killed her self. Nino Ricci illustrates women to be outspoken, independent and powerful.In the end of each story both women characters die. The difference is the way they lived their life. Cristina at to the lowest degree lived her life, standing up for what she believe in and having her own opinion. As for Ophelia lived a lie, as she was a spineless imbecile always doing what others told her to do and had a pathetic death. Shakespeare and Nino Ricci may have very different vision on women but at the same time they are both very accurate views.