Gender Roles In The Elizabethan Era

By any metric, the middle ages in Europe was not an egalitarian society. Gender roles were heavily ingrained in the culture, with men meant to have aggressive masculine traits, and women to have fragile feminine traits.The practice of minting coins was perfected by Roman Emperors such as Augustus, Vespasian, and Diocletian, and as many Roman customs did, it became adopted by medieval kings, particularly Anglo-Saxons ones. The minting of coins not only served as a way to facilitate the exchange of goods and services, but they also were political tools utilised by leaders. Cynethryth, Queen of Mercia and Wife of Offa the Great, was the only Anglo-Saxon Queen we know of who issued her own coinage1. This not only has implications for the political eptitude of Cynethryth, but also has significance to understanding of medieval gender roles and how women in power operated and exercised authority.

The Renaissance was a time of rebirth of old traditions, and in old traditions women’s role in society was very minimal. During times of the Renaissance women’s roles were often more suppressed than it once had been before. Many times women were looked off primarily her looks and social status. Another contributing factor of women’s role was how well she would be acquired to married life. Women were so suppressed in the Renaissance that many women joined convents to be able to have the ability to learn like the men were able to. Changes and continuities of women’s public roles during the Renaissance included social status, acquirement to marriage, and reduction of rights for women.

In John Osborne 's 1956 piece, Look Back in Anger, housewife Alison Porter is faced with the difficult decision of remaining in a toxic marriage or returning to live with her parents. Indeed, Alison is the archetype of the 1950s British woman, as depicted in both academic and popular discourse—meek, miserable and resigned to her fate as mother and housewife. While such a paradigm of the 1950s woman has long remained unchallenged, historians have begun to suggest that this stereotype is inaccurate and misleading, and overlooks the complexity of female gender roles during Britain of this era. When reviewing the literature on this topic, what emerges as a clear point of tension between academics is whether the 1950s was a static or a dynamic

Women in Medieval Europe lived the life one may expect them to live from the 5th and 15th centuries. We know today that women are treated equal compared to men (in most cases), and we also know that Women were not always given the freedoms that they have today. This was no different in Medieval Europe during these times. Women were expected to hold jobs in which they took care of children and tended the household, occasionally helping their husbands with crops during the busy part of the planting year (bl.uk). Also as we would expect, men had complete power and say in the relationship (wikipedia.org). Women lived a lot more different back in Medieval times than they do today, but it was their lifestyle, and they did what society asked of them, whether they wanted to or not.

Women were so tired of being treated unequal to men and started to look for change. They rose above society to make a point that women deserve an education so they can better themselves. “By 1886, there were 192 women's assemblies, and an additional number of women joined formerly all-male assemblies” (Manning 2013). By the end of the 1800’s, the number of women that were done being mistreated started to rise rapidly. Women continued to take over men’s “jobs” because they were just as capable. It was unusual for women to try to attend colleges, but they gradually started to apply. “Although few persons obtained a college education then, by 1880 women constituted one of every three students enrolled at institutions of higher learning, and many remained single. Of eight thousand female college graduates in 1880, only five thousand were married” (Sklar 1998). Marriage seemed to be one of the main factors that restricted many women into getting a college degree. Women during that time were better off because they did not have to worry about men’s daily opinions of them and how they should act and

They were like live-in maids, or nannies. In early-1900s America, they were taught things that would be necessary for keeping a house, cooking, and raising children while the men got jobs and made the money. While universities such as Harvard and Yale had been operating in the United States since the seventeenth century, these schools were typically only open to men. Some schools did allow women to attend, but only the wealthy. It wasn’t until around 1980 that women were reported as receiving higher education to the same extent as men. Science and mathematics were thought to be “too hard” for women to do, so those subjects were left for the men to study. Often times, women were denied degrees that they had rightfully studied for and earned. It was even said that women would have too hard of a time trying to cope with the vigorous studying routines that came with a college education. Meanwhile, men earned degrees, and attending a university was viewed as a very honorable path to take. This is not to say that women didn’t go to school at all. Most went to grammar school when they were young, but stopped when they became teenagers to help at home and prepare for adult life. Some schools, however, were entirely devoted to making girls into “proper ladies,” such as the Long Lane School for Girls, in Middletown Connecticut. “About two months is spent in the central laundry,” the 1936 Long Lane Farm Report

During the Elizabethan times, there were many issues facing common people and William Shakespeare. An important issue that played a part in everyday life for Elizabethans, whether rich or poor, was the difference between men and women. Gender roles have been debated throughout history and are changing everyday. Although modern American gender roles are much more defined and different than Elizabethan times, if Shakespeare were to live today, his writing would have been very different.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to three, quoted by the famous playwright William Shakespeare. Never has this been so true in the two films Taming of the shrew and 10 things I hate about you. Femininity has changed dramatically between the elizabethan era and today's era this change is displayed greatly in both tammy of the shrew and 10 things i hate about you. Today the women of the world are not known to up hold the man to be the lord of the house and to obey by his word but to show respect to the man of the house as the man is to show the same amount of respect or even more to the women of the house. In today's world both the man and women are both as equal in the way that they share the

The Elizabethan Era is said to have been one of the most interesting periods in the History of England. The Era being named after Queen Elizabeth the I, also called the Virgin Queen is not only famous for its monarchy and explorers but it was also the era of the appearance of the very first theatres in England ( Alchin,1). The Elizabethan theatre was a booming business for England, and the people loved it. However, there was one thing that the theatre was missing, women. Queen Elizabeth the I saw to the prohibition of female actresses on stage. Being an actress was not considered a reliable profession and it was immoral, therefore young boys played the roles of women ( Alchin, 1). Court Masques were a special form of entertainment

During the Elizabethan era, gender roles were clearly defined with men as the dominant gender. Shakespeare challenges these social norms with the true definition of feminism being conveyed in The Merchant of Venice. The characterisation of Portia, the heiress of Belmont, challenges traditional gender roles of an obedient daughter and the clever male figure. Portia is bound by a clause in her dead father's will that forces her to marry whichever suitor chooses the right casket. While Portia obeys her fathers wishes it is clear that she is upset with the plan stating "Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one nor refuse none?"

Women during this time were meant to raise the children and take care of their household. They were not allowed to become very educated, unlike the boys who were able to attend school. Women only needed to become somewhat educated so that they were able to teach their children. Women had

Imagine living in a time period where women were expected to less than men and everyone was separated by the amount of money they made. In the Tudor era also known as the Elizabethan era there was an unmarried woman on the throne in the Elizabethan England. The roles of women in this society were very limited. Men were the main ones allowed to work while it was a must the woman were housewives and mothers. Let’s not even get into how many kids women were expected to have.

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.

     Throughout history, men and women have been assigned specific roles to which society prescribes standards and qualifications. There are certain tasks that have been traditionally completed only by men, and others that have been assigned to women; most of which are separated by the realm of the domestic sphere. During the period of the Renaissance, men and women were assigned very different roles within society. The value, social expectations, legal status, and rights of citizenship differed greatly between the sexes as well as among the classes. Many of these gender roles can be identified through careful readings of the literature produced throughout the Renaissance.

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.