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Calendula Jacobs
Mr. Garner
08 March, 2018
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, misogyny was predominant in English culture.
Not only in the country, but worldwide, hostility towards women was commonplace and
seemingly encouraged. Gender roles became so extreme that even female roles in plays were
acted out by men and actresses were believed to be prostitutes (Stott 1). Thus, when
Shakespeare began presenting the image of powerful, independant females in his plays, he was
using his craft to disagree with the prejudice of his own time. Through his portrayal of women
throughout his plays, particularly Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s feminism is incontrovertible.
the character of Juliet much more puzzling. In multiple instances throughout, Juliet takes on
roles that men would have generally held. For instance, in Act II, Juliet proposes to Romeo (I,ii,
142-148). This is an extremely odd act as even today it is tradition for the man to propose
marriage to his lover. Shakespeare used the scene to subtly introduce the idea of unrestrained
gender roles. Additionally, Juliet’s character is created to be smarter, more level headed, and
more punctilious than her male counterpart, Romeo. In Act II, Scene ii, Romeo has come to visit
Juliet in a manner that could have him killed. She says, “Although I joy in thee, I have no joy of
this contract to-night, it is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden,” (I,ii, 116-118). Though she is
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just as in love with Romeo as he is with her, she does not let it distract her from being objective.
In this scene she shows that she has power, restraint, and objectivity that Romeo does not
possess. Shakespeare has, in a sense, placed Juliet on a pedestal, as a more perfect character, for
Romeo and Juliet is not the only play in which Shakespeare presents such a willful
female as Juliet. In fact, it seems to be a theme between his plays. Romeo and Juliet is just the
first of his plays in which the female protagonist is of equal importance to the male protagonist,
and it seems that the play began a routine of strong female characters. Shakespeare writes
characters such as the “proud Titania”, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is a strong
female fairy who holds authority over many of the men in her life, and even challenges her
husband. Another character, Katherina from the Taming of the Shrew, is written as
argumentative and violent, both stereotypically male traits (Matsuura 1). In Twelfth Night, the
protagonist is Viola, a resourceful and quick-witted female who uses her skills to survive in
harsh situations (Roberts 1). In time Shakespeare becomes so confident in expressing his ideals
that he makes the bold decision to write the powerful character of Cleopatra (Matsuura 1). These
are merely a few examples of the many feminist characters that Shakespeare writes throughout
his plays.
These characters often add much excitement, power, and esteem to his plays, however
they most always meet their harsh demise at some point in the production. Thus we can question
why Shakespeare would do this to each manifestation of these similar characters. As in Romeo
and Juliet, readers find that the powerful females are subject to their environment, and it is most
always the reason behind their death. In Juliet’s case, had she not been restricted by women’s
roles in marriage, her story would have been written much differently. Shakespeare kills off
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these characters to show the audience that the potential of women is being squashed by the
environment they are in and the men they are surrounded by. In fact, Shakespeare even writes a
character in Hamlet named Ophelia. Her entire life was spent being tormented by the men
around her that she was driven to insanity. Shakespeare used Ophelia to get his point across…
But how was Shakespeare to be a feminist in a time so prejudiced against women? The
equality that Shakespeare seems to represent may have been a reflection of his own marriage.
His relationship with Anne Hathaway is known to have been a very loving one. In his will, he
even left her their marital bed, a very heartfelt gift (NoSweatShakespeare 1). His love to Anne
would have likely sparked a respect for women, thus causing him to create respectable female
Simply stated, there is hardly any evidence to prove that Shakespeare is a masculinist, as
many have argued. Many of these arguments are based on The Taming of the Shrew in which
Shakespeare’s only purpose seems to be establishing male supremacy (Thrasher 39). However
considering the ridiculousness and sarcastic nature of the entire play, as well as the obvious
feminism in the rest of his plays, it is easily concluded that Shakespeare meant The Taming of the
Shrew to be an ironic display of his beliefs. Having been named “Katerina the Shrew” at the
beginning of the play, at the end the character is named “Katerina the Most Obedient” because of
how she began to accept her place in society. Shakespeare is, again as he displayed in Romeo
and Juliet, saying that a woman is beaten down by her male-ruled environment. The Taming of
the Shrew is so completely absurd, and different than the rest of his plays, that he was most
Shakespeare exhibited throughout the writing of his plays. He disagreed with his male
dominant-ordered society however he could not have openly stated his opinions. Had he done
so, he likely would have been mentally and socially punished by his community to a great extent.
So Shakespeare used his popularity to subtly introduce powerful female characters and killed
them off to represent the harshness of their environment. To begin this, Shakespeare created
Juliet, a powerful, strong, independent female whose male counterparts ruined any chance of her
survival. Shakespeare could have simply let his ideas go unheard, but through the life and death
of Juliet and other feminist characters, he sparked a revolution in his writing. His words and
allegories influenced many of his time period, and were very advanced in terms of equality and
progress. His influence may have been less recognizable in his day, but the significance of his
Works Cited
www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z967hv4
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www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-family/shakespeare-wife-anne-
hathaway/.
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/twelfth-night/character-analysis/viola
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1965.
Stott, Dr. Anne. “Early-Modern Europe.” Women and Gender, 1 Jan. 1970, early-
moderneurope.blogspot.com/2008/10/women-and-gender.html.