ROLE OF WOMEN IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

Shakespeare’s presentation of women in his plays demonstrates his feelings about women
and their roles in society. As our guide to the types of female roles in Shakespeare
demonstrates, women had less freedom than their male counterparts in Shakespeare's
time. It's well known that women weren't allowed on the stage during Shakespeare's active
years. All of his famous female roles like Desdemona and Juliette were in fact once played
by men.

Shakespeare's Presentation of Women

Women in Shakespeare's plays are often underestimated. While they were clearly restricted
by their social roles, the Bard showed how women could influence the men around them.
His plays showed the difference in expectations between upper and lower class women of
the time. High-born women are presented as “possessions” to be passed between fathers
and husbands. In most cases, they are socially restricted and unable to explore the world
around them without chaperones. Many of these women were coerced and controlled by
the men in their lives. Lower-born women were allowed more freedom in their actions
precisely because they are seen as less important than higher-born women.

Sexuality in Shakespeare's work

Broadly speaking, female characters that sexually aware are more likely to be lower class.
Shakespeare allows them more freedom to explore their sexuality, perhaps because their
low-status renders them socially harmless. However, women are never totally free in
Shakespeare’s plays: if not owned by husbands and fathers, many low-class characters are
owned by their employers. Sexuality or desirability can also lead to deadly
consequences for Shakespeare's women. Desdemona chose to follow her passion and
defied her father to marry Othello. This passion is later used against her when the
villainous Iago convinces her husband that if she would lie to her father she would lie to
him as well. Wrongfully accused of adultery, nothing Desdemona says or does is enough to
convince Othello of her faithfulness. Her boldness in choosing to defy her father ultimately
leads to her death at the hands of her jealous lover.

Sexual violence also plays a major role in some of the Bards work. This is seen most notably
in Titus Andronicus where the character Lavinia is violently raped and mutilated. Her
attackers cut out her tongue and remove her hands to prevent her from naming her
attackers. After she is able to write their names her father then kills her to preserve her
honor.

Women in Power
Women in power are treated with distrust by Shakespeare. They have questionable morals.
For example, Gertrude in Hamlet marries her husband’s murdering brother and Lady
Macbeth coerces her husband into murder. These women show a lust for power that's often
on par or surpassing that of the men around them. Lady Macbeth especially is seen as a
conflict between the masculine and feminine. She forgoes normal "feminine" traits
like motherly compassion for more "masculine" ones like ambition, which leads to the ruin
of her family. For these women, the penalty for their scheming ways is normally death.
For a deeper understanding of Shakespeare's women read our guide to the types of female
characters in Shakespeare.

7 Types of Female Characters in Shakespeare's Plays

Certain types of female characters often resurface in Shakespeare’s plays, telling us a great
deal about his view of women and their status in Shakespeare's time.

The Bawdy Woman

These characters are sexualized, cheeky and flirtatious. They are often working-class
characters such as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Margaret in Much Ado about Nothing or
Audrey in As You Like It. Mainly speaking in prose, as befitting their low social status,
these characters often use sexual innuendo when conversing. Low-class characters like
these can get away with more risqué behavior—perhaps because they have no fear of losing
social status.

The Tragic Innocent Woman

These women are often pure and chaste at the beginning of the play, and tragically die once
their innocence is lost. In stark contrast to his presentation of bawdy women,
Shakespeare’s treatment of young innocent women is fairly brutal. Once their innocence or
chastity is taken away, they are literally killed to signify this loss. These characters are
generally courtly, high-born characters such as Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Lavinia
from Titus Andronicus or Ophelia from Hamlet. Their high social standing makes their
demise seem all the more tragic.

The Scheming Femme Fatal

Lady Macbeth is the archetypal femme fatal. Her manipulation of Macbeth inevitably leads
them to their deaths: she commits suicide and he is slain. In her ambition to become
Queen, she encourages her husband to murder. King Lear’s daughters, Goneril and Regan,
plot to inherit their father’s fortune. Once again, their ambition leads them to their deaths:
Goneril stabs herself after poisoning Regan. Although Shakespeare seems to appreciate the
intelligence at work in his femme fatal characters, allowing them to manipulate the men
around them, his retribution is brutal and unforgiving.

The Witty, but Unmarriable Woman

Katherine from The Taming of The Shrew is a prime example of the witty but unmarriable
woman. Feminists have commented that their enjoyment of this play is marred by the fact
that a man literally “breaks” Katherine’s spirit when Petruchio says “Come on and kiss me,
Kate.” Should we really celebrate this as a happy ending? Similarly, in the plot to Much Ado
About Nothing, Benedick ultimately conquers the feisty Beatrice by saying, “Peace, I will
stop your mouth.” These women are presented as clever, bold and independent but are put
in their place by the end of the play.

The Married Off Woman

Many of Shakespeare’s comedies end with an eligible woman being married off – and
therefore being made safe. These women are often very young and passed from their
father’s care to their new husband’s. More often than not, these are high-born characters
such as Miranda in The Tempest who is married to Ferdinand, Helena and Hermia in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing.

Women Who Dress as Men

Rosalind in As You Like it and Viola in Twelfth Night both dress as men. Consequently,
they are able to play a more active role in the play’s narrative. As “men”, these characters
have more freedom, highlighting the lack of social liberty for women in Shakespeare’s time.

Falsely Accused of Adultery

Women in Shakespeare’s plays are sometimes wrongly accused of adultery and suffer
greatly as a result. For example, Desdemona is killed by Othello who supposes her
infidelity and Hero falls terribly ill when she is falsely accused by Claudio. It seems that
Shakespeare’s women are judged by their sexuality even when they remain faithful to their
husbands and husbands-to-be. Some feminists believe that this demonstrates male
insecurity about female sexuality.

Shakespeare's Representation of Women

Shakespeare's representation of women, and the ways in which his female roles
are interpreted and enacted, have become topics of scholarly interest. While
seldom occupying the center of his plays (the few exceptions include Rosalind
in As You Like It and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra), Shakespeare's
heroines encompass a wide range of characterizations and types, from the
uncompromising frankness of Cordelia, the quick wit of Beatrice and of Kate, and
the intelligence of Portia, to the ruthlessness of Lady Macbeth, the opportunistic
unkindness of Regan and Goneril, and the manipulative power of Volumnia.
Within this gallery of female characters, critics note similarities, especially among
Shakespeare's young women characters, who commonly display great
intelligence, vitality, and a strong sense of personal independence. These
qualities have led some critics to herald Shakespeare as a champion of
womenkind and an innovator who departed sharply from flat, stereotyped
characterizations of women common to his contemporaries and earlier
dramatists. Contrastingly, other commentators note that even Shakespeare's
most favorably portrayed women possess characters that are tempered by
negative qualities. They suggest that this indicates that Shakespeare was not
free of misogynistic tendencies that were deep-seated in the culture of his
country and era. Within the texts of the plays, charges of promiscuity are often
leveled against young women, for example, and women occupying positions of
power are frequently portrayed as capricious and highly corruptible.