Elizabethan Treatment Of Women In Our Country's

In Elizabethan times, gender roles were dominant in society. Women were regarded as the weaker sex and were taught from birth to cook, clean, and do similar tasks so they could marry and their husbands would be proud (Ram, Pham, Sok, Hamsafar, and Wilhemsen, “Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society.”). Women were expected to bear children and take great pride in being mothers (Ram, Pham, Sok, Hamsafar, and Wilhemsen, “Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society.”). They had few rights; they could not vote, choose a profession, receive an actual education, join the army or navy, or generally provide for themselves (Ram, Pham, Sok, Hamsafar, and Wilhemsen, “Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society.”). Men, on the other hand, were to provide for the women in their families, make all decisions, and have ownership of the family’s land and home (Ram, Pham, Sok, Hamsafar, and Wilhemsen, “Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society.”; Petit, “A Look at Male Gender Roles in Shakespeare’s Renaissance.").. The men could vote and all actors on stage were men. In general, men had every advantage in that time period (Ram, Pham, Sok, Hamsafar, and Wilhemsen, “Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society.”; Petit, “A Look at Male Gender Roles in Shakespeare’s Renaissance.").

Since the vowels in the word “submissive” are not sharp or elongated they are not given much attention, this resonates dismissal towards women. Cleopatra takes into consideration only the happiness of herself and that of her lover because “when Antony was defeated, like him Cleopatra committed suicide”, leaving her country without a leader or anyone to guide them. The deaths of Antony and Cleopatra are like that of Romeo and Juliet. Both couples died because of their love for one another, but it was at the expense of their families and the entire

Life during the Elizabeth Era men were more respected in society than women. Women during the Elizabeth Era were raised to believe that they were inferior to men. Depending on your social class, determined your role in society. Women weren’t allowed to vote along with the men from lower social classes. Women who were born into the upper class were afforded the right to an education, compared to women of the lower class who were not.

Women in the Jacobean era were still viewed as the property of their male superiors; their lives were determined by their fathers, brothers and husbands who dictated their rights and freedoms. Shakespeare depicts this reality in many of his plays. He uses the female characters in his plays Othello and Antony and Cleopatra to explore the function and roles of women within societies and worlds controlled by military engagement and war. In societies where the warrior and men with military prowess govern, women are left to deal with the consequences. Unable to hold positions of power or authority, they are subjugated and left to endure the ramifications of men’s actions and decisions.

Shakespeare’s plays showed his admiration for Queen Elizabeth by writing female characters that play the role of a woman but still hold the power; this is portrayed in his characterization of Gertrude in Hamlet versus Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.

Defining what a female was supposed to be and do was an act of Renaissance culture. For most of Renaissance society, women represented the following virtues which, importantly, having their meaning in relation to the male; obedience, silence, sexual chastity, piety, humility, constancy, and patience. The most important being sexual chastity and piety.

Women of today are still not considered equal to men in several aspects, but compared to just a few decades ago, women are living the good life. Women from ancient time to now have not had the same privileges as men have. Women’s roles have changed significantly from the Elizabethan era to now, yet alone from ancient times, transitioning from property to property owners and from uneducated to educators was a big change for the social placement of women. A 13th-century Christian theologian, Thomas Aquinas said that woman was "created to be man's helpmeet, but her unique role is in conception . . .

In my opinion, I think the decision regarding to the roles of women in theatres was not wise. Women did not have freedom, unlike the men. They were considered as the weaker sex and is in need of protection. In the Elizabethan era, women did not have any sayings in their life. They spend their daily lives at home being housewives or being tutored. Women did not get to enjoy their lives the way they would want to. All their lives, they have to listen to their husbands as obedience was a part of the law. Women who acted in theatres were called prostitutes. I strongly believe that it not right for the actresses to be labelled as something that their not. Women not being able to have professions and not having to live their lives freely could lead

Literature has taken the center stage in the world to pass important communication to the people. Shakespeare alone has written outstanding pieces of plays that have adorable messages and entertaining drama. Shakespeare wrote several stories in the context of the Roman Empire to show the cultural background of the Roman people. The stories by Shakespeare are very instrumental in representing various themes of leadership, society issues like love, marriage institution and even hostility among the human beings. One of the most remarkable themes that Shakespeare uses in his plays is the oppression of women under the patriarchal society structure, especially in the play Julius Caesar.

The 19th century essayist and literary critic William Hazlitt wrote of Cleopatra, "She is voluptuous, ostentatious, conscious, boastful of her charms, haughty, tyrannical, [and] fickle," which are "great and unpardonable faults" (Hazlitt 2-3). Much of the criticism of Antony and Cleopatra has recycled this judgement, depicting Cleopatra as a villainess uses her eroticism and sexuality to motivate Antony to seek power. Cleopatra is memorable for her propensity for violence as well. While Antony and Cleopatra was written after the death of a violent English queen, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare may have been faced with a dramatic dilemma: how to make a woman

“The male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other one is ruled; this principle, of necessity, extends to all mankind,” (Aristotle). Aristotle was not the only man who viewed women as inferior, in fact this idea carried on for thousands of years. During the era of Shakespeare, in the period of the Renaissance, women were treated as insignificant compared to their male counterparts. The sparse number of women who were in Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, were not held in high regard. Shakespeare’s female characters were described as being unfailingly submissive, disrespected, and dishonorable.

Shakespeare and Webster represent the female characters in ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The duchess of Malfi’ by using general themes such as the patriarchy and the social control, the female identity and its independence, this institution of marriage, the expressions of sexuality and finally women shown to be either conformist or transgressive. Men were firmly in control in the Elizabethan and Jacobean era, and the expectations for women were to stay home, cook, clean and raise a family. Women’s status and roles were subject to the Tyranny of patriarchy, they were given strict disciplinary rules to follow whether by law or unspoken norms to prevent from rebellion. Women’s rights were restricted, legally, socially and economically, unlike today were women are more powerful and independent. Today women and men are seen to be equal and women can do pretty much everything a man can do (voting, working, becoming president) although there are many people still today who disagree with women having these rights.

“Beauty is power, and makeup is something that really enhances that; it’s a woman’s secret” - Charlotte Tilbury. Many women of the Elizabethan era had their own thought on makeup and beauty. Women with long hair and tan skin is the ideal beauty for women today, but this was not the case in this era. In the Elizabethan era, having pale skin was a sign of nobility, wealth, and (for women) delicacy, and was sought after by many. The Elizabethan view of pure beauty, and nobility was a woman with light hair and a snow white complexion complemented with red cheeks and red lips. The way people judge each other tend to make them into something they’re not.

Women in Shakespearian plays have always had important roles. Whether they create the main conflicts and base of the plays, or bring up interesting proper and cultural questions, they have always been put in challenging situations. Some women are stronger than others, and their effect on the play is different for each one. One woman who plays a very important role in Shakespeare's plays is Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra is the dominant force in the play. Cleopatra takes on masculine qualities such as being bold, `alternative masculinity' and manhood of stronger determination. She is also viewed as a perfectionist. During the play many critics notice that Cleopatra and Antony switch roles, by Cleopatra acting more masculine, and Antony acting more feminine. Antony becomes jealous of Cleopatra because sometimes she acts more masculine than he does. Cleopatra is not dependant on anyone. Some critics say that Shakespeare discriminated against women because of his actions. He did not allow women to have a role in his play, nor let them have any say in his writings. He had boys or men play the parts of women until later on in his playwriting. Shakespeare favored men during his time period and was also very sexist.

Shakespeare and the members of the Elizabethan era would be appalled at the freedoms women experience today.  The docility of Elizabethan women is almost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture.  Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as undesirable and even evil.