| Most Shakespearean criticism concentrates on the rebellious nature of father-daughter relationships; however, these relationships also reveal a similarity between fathers and daughters. Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia in King Lear, Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It, Desdemona in Othello, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Portia and Jessica in The Merchant of Venice are the father-daughter relationships considered in this study.;These plays were written by William Shakespeare between 1592 and 1596, a period which marked the death of Shakespeare's son Hamnet, the maturation of Shakespeare's daughters Susannah and Judith, and the declining years of the reign of Elizabeth I. The women in Shakespeare's family, as well as the royal daughter, influenced the portrayal of father and daughters in the plays.;The father-daughter relationships in the analyzed plays each observe the changing roles of women within Elizabethan society. Shakespeare's daughters exhibit more independence matched with more acceptance of the political status quo than has been previously brought forth in scholarly criticism. The daughters inherit the physiological traits of their fathers as well as their political and social stances.;In King Lear Goneril and Regan have similar views of monarchical power; Cordelia mirrors her father's irrational need for public statements of moral righteousness. In As You Like It, Celia reflects her father Duke Fredrick's concern with rightful rule; however, Rosalind and her father Duke Senior both ponder, contemplate, and accept their responsibility in the patriarchal social order. Desdemona and her father Brabantio in Othello share a susceptibility to exotic tales, a propensity to misjudge others and a proclivity to see only good in man and his institutions. In Romeo and Juliet, Lord Capulet and his daughter Juliet are highly intelligent, capable of amazing forethought and decidedly impetuous in their actions when emotionally strained. In The Merchant of Venice, Jessica and Shylock are both obsessed with wealth and distressed by their alienation from Venetian society. Despite his absence from the play, the late Duke of Belmont and his daughter Portia share the same clarity of mind and confidence of spirit needed to maintain the family inheritance and prestige for future generations. |
