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Calendula Jacobs

Language and Literature 8B

Mr. Garner

08 March, 2018

Shakespeare was a Feminist

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.

As previously mentioned, misogyny was standard in Shakespeare’s time, which makes

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

the rest of the play to revolve around her conflicts.

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…

women and their potential is being ruined by male presence.

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

characters and spread his ideas.

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

definitely mocking the ignorant world around him.

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Romeo and Juliet is a particularly quintessential example of the feminism that

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

writing is vastly inspiring today.

Works Cited

Matsuura, Eleanor. “Was Shakespeare a Feminist?” BBC IWonder, BBC,

www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z967hv4
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“NoSweatShakespeare.” No Sweat Shakespeare, 28 Feb. 2017,

www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-family/shakespeare-wife-anne-

hathaway/.

Roberts, James L. CliffsNotes on Twelfth Night. 06 Mar 2018.

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.

Thrasher, Thomas. The Importance of William Shakespeare. Lucent Books, 1999. U