Women’s place in Elizabethan

Society

• William Shakespeare was part of a society where women were subservient to men

• Women were the property of their father until they married

• Once married they became the property of their husband

• A woman could rule a country but if she were to marry, all her power and wealth would pass directly to her husband

• Women’s rights were restricted legally, socially and economically

Homily on the state of Matrimony

• Religion was a powerful instrument used to enforce the belief of male superiority

• Homily on the state of Matrimony was frequently read aloud in church

• It ordered wives to obey their husbands

• It instructed husbands that ‘the woman is a frail vessel and thou art therefore made the ruler and head over her’

Do the women in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

conform to Elizabethan society?• It is hard to determine

whether or not Shakespearian comedy is clearly a product of Elizabethan Courtly society

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream is so unrealistic and original that it could have come from any period in time

• An important critical question about the historical content of this play is

• What was Shakespeare’s attitude towards women and their place in society?

In Shakespeare’s comedies, the female characters have the major parts and as many words as men

Their actions powerfully influence or direct the development of the plot

They appear witty and intelligent and can hold their own with men in dialogue

The Elizabethan Theatre

• At the time Shakespeare was writing, women were not allowed to be actors

• All the female characters were played by young men

• Therefore we have to ask the question, was Shakespeare writing witty, intelligent, lines for his female characters or for the male actors who portrayed them?

Do Shakespeare’s female characters conform or subvert

negative stereotypes of women as weak, submissive and pliable?

• The women in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream do appear to enjoy some freedom and independence

• Both Hermia and Helena take off into the forest despite its danger

• Hermia disobeys her stern, patriarchal father

• Helena is determined to get her man and doesn’t appear to be constrained by a father

The marriages at the end of the play do reflect women’s place in Elizabethan society with the female characters becoming the ‘property’ of their husbands