Characteristics of Shakespeare's plays

Shakespearean comedies almost always contain certain traits. The three most compelling traits of his comedies are that they all depict romance and end in marriage, they exclude death, and they emphasize the female experience.

I find these three characteristics most compelling because they are all present in almost every play. In Twelfth Night the main characters all marry; and not necessarily to whom they wanted to wed in the beginning but the entire play is based on courting and wooing. Thus resulting in successful marriages, Orsino to Viola and Sebastian to Olivia. In The Taming of the Shrew, Katherina and Petruccio as well as Bianca and Lucentio were married. Initially, all of the male characters were trying to win Bianca’s heart without even giving Katherina a second look. The play walks us through the journey to the alter and the hardships and joys of marriage; specifically, on the behalf of Katherina and Petruccio. Moving from the happiness of marriage we go to the sorrow thoughts of death. In A Winter’s Tale, Hermoine is claimed to have dies and a statue of her is then resurrected. At the end of the play when this “statue” suddenly springs to life we realize that we have been teased by the ideals of death and not actual death itself. Also in Much Ado about Nothing Hero’s death is also faked (a trend we see more than actual death in Shakespearean comedies). The characters in the play are again tricked into thinking a woman had died but in all realities the idea of death is tricking them again. Sometimes Shakespeare hints to the reader that the death is not actually taking place but it is impossible for all of the characters in the play to know. The last trait is emphasizing the female character and experience. In The Merchant of Venice, Portia cross-dress as a boy to be able to enter the trail where she speaks her mind. She should be impartial to the case but she in fact decides the outcome of the trial by speaking and acting like herself, a female. She dressed as a man so her opinion could be heard while voicing her feminine views. In As You Like It Rosalind and Celia cross-dress and venture into the forest. They represent female tendencies and mannerisms within a male appearance and demonstrate how the play itself revolves around these two female characters. The play revolves around women and their adventures through the forest and the interactions with the people they come across. In most of these comedies the female character is very influential and as well as a main character on whom the play closely follows. I find these traits are clearly present in Shakespeare’s comedies and I find them very important to the value of the play.