Compare and Shakespeare's older vs. younger female characters.how does shakespeare present his older women such as cleopatra, gertude and lady...

These women are all very
different.

Cleopatra is queen and she has power despite the
fact that Egypt is under the rule of Rome.  She is strong and independent. She uses this
power (which is sexual) over Anthony.  He listens to her rather than trust his own
abilities when he goes along with her battle plan which is a disaster for both of
them.

Gertrude is a queen in name only.  She appears to be
weak since she married Claudius after the death of old Hamlet.  It would appear that she
has always depended on men in her life, first her father and then her husbands.  She is
very dependent.

Lady Macbeth is probably fairly young since
she has an unrealistic attitude about life and death.  She feels that once they wash
Duncan's blood from their hands everything will be wonderful for them.  Her husband
knows better.  She is a strong woman but not strong enough to commit the murder she
thinks is necessary for her husband to be king.

Ophelia,
like Gertrude, is dependent on the men in her life to take care of her.  Her father
seems to favor her brother.  (He uses thee and thou with his son and you with his
daughter.)  She is manipulated by her father, the king, and Hamlet.  Shakespeare writes
strong female characters but she is not one of
them.

Juliet, on the other hand, is a strong female.  Young
as she is, she knows her own mind.  She defies her father and his choice of Paris. Some
might say that her suicide showed weakness but considering that she lived in a Roman
Catholic world where suicide is a mortal sin, she showed either great courage or great
foolishness since she chose eternal damnation rather than live in that
world.

Just as we are all individuals, so are Shakespeare's
female characters.