William Shakespeare : Gay?

Nevertheless, a woman dressing up as man is nothing out of the ordinary. It was very common in comedic plays for women to be playing a man’s role and this was used to demonstrate the difference in hierarchy between men and women.

The audience already has an idea of the history behind the plays, and this affects how people view the characters and what judgements they have before they even watch the plays with conflicts such as male v. female, old v. young, and many others. Shakespeare has an even amount of his strongest/main characters being both male and female, but this does not mean he does not use gender roles to make the stories more believable. In King Lear, Shakespeare, through Lear, is supporting these roles by saying: “suspend thy purpose if thou didst intend/to make this creature fruitful” (King Lear 1.4.289-290), and is indicating that the woman's only job is to give birth, and so the worst curse for them would be to get rid of the one thing they are actually meant to do. But, Shakespeare has many examples of breaking the gender norms, and Antony and Cleopatra is arguably Shakespeare’s most gender redefining play (Moss, "Antony and Cleopatra" 296). In one of the opening scenes, Caesar states, “the lamps of night in revel, is not more manlike/Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy/ More womanly than he” (Antony and Cleopatra 1.4.5-7), which shows that women are supposed to be womanly, but Egypt’s ideals are backwards. While in Egypt it is fine, in Rome, Antony would be mocked. Antony and Cleopatra also spends time defining two types of women, “if beauty, flashiness, and riggishness do not settle, /Wisdom and modesty can harbour /The heart of Antony, Octavia is/A blessèd lottery to him” (Antony and Cleopatra 2.2.265-266, 274-276). Both women are represented here, Cleopatra as beautiful and ambitious, while Octavia is more obedient, wise and modest, but Shakespeare or his characters never state which is better, but rather they are both equal in different senses. The generation problem is also evident in Shakespeare's plays, especially in King Lear. Lear is old, and his first daughter

Yes, this was a practical device for playwrights to use in those times because it attracts audiences and gets the play producers money they need for survival. When girls are used it makes the play more alive and realistic. For example, in the book with the play Romeo and Juliet the whole town was excited for the new Juliet which was rumoured to be an amazing actor. Secretly behind all of it, Kit playing Juliet is a girl. “I heard the murmur of surprise and disappointment run around the theatre” (p.106). This shows how everyone was so excited to come and watch the amazing performance by a “boy” who can play the parts just like a girl, but when they realize who is playing the part they won’t be interested to come and watch again. Just like if you are going to watch a movie, you obviously want to watch one acted well in versus one with poor acting. When everyone get hyped up about watching the good one, they are expecting a good result. Therefore, I believe this was a practical device for playwrights to use in those times because it attracts audiences and gets the play producers money.

Shakespeare's use of cross dressing and deceitfulness extends beyond the actual writings in the plays and goes onto the stage. Women were not allowed to perform on stage in Shakespeare's time. ."..all the great women's roles in Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, from Juliet and Lady Macbeth to the duchess of Malfi, were written to be

The actors were expected to perform their own stunts. They had to have a good memory to learn and memorize their lines in a short time period. William Shakespeare acted in some of the productions of the plays. Males had to act out the female parts of the plays because females were not allowed to perform in theaters at this time. Although, all of the actors worked hard, the males who dressed up as females got paid the least; this proves they had a lot of dedication to their work. The actors help make the plays at the theater a huge success and very profitable to The Theater.

Shakespeare created his own archetypal structure when he wrote tragedies and comedies. In tragedies everyone dies. In comedies everyone gets married. Across each tragedy and comedy similarities with other tragedies and comedies can be found. That’s because, once again, it’s archetypal literature. The characters especially as far as women go consist of “the weak one”- (Ophelia, Juliet, (although not really because she loved her parents enemies), Hero and many others. Shakespeare created a new type of literature with women that were stronger and rebellious and perhaps had power like Rosalind and Beatrice in “As you like it,” and “Much Ado about

Women in Shakespearian plays have always had important roles. Whether they create the main conflicts and base of the plays, or bring up interesting proper and cultural questions, they have always been put in challenging situations. Some women are stronger than others, and their effect on the play is different for each one. One woman who plays a very important role in Shakespeare's plays is Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra is the dominant force in the play. Cleopatra takes on masculine qualities such as being bold, `alternative masculinity' and manhood of stronger determination. She is also viewed as a perfectionist. During the play many critics notice that Cleopatra and Antony switch roles, by Cleopatra acting more masculine, and Antony acting more feminine. Antony becomes jealous of Cleopatra because sometimes she acts more masculine than he does. Cleopatra is not dependant on anyone. Some critics say that Shakespeare discriminated against women because of his actions. He did not allow women to have a role in his play, nor let them have any say in his writings. He had boys or men play the parts of women until later on in his playwriting. Shakespeare favored men during his time period and was also very sexist.

Others have asserted that the roles of women in his plays were prominent for the time and culture that he lived in,his intent in creating characters to inspire much controversy. Two works, Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night, stand out particularly well in regards to Shakespeare's use of female characters. If you could examine these two plays, you would see that Shakespeare, though conforming to contemporary attitudes of women, circumvented them by creating resolute female characters with a strong sense of self.

Shakespeare was a playwright from Stratford who had arguably the most influential affect on English literature and the English language. His works are still praised to this day for their divine superiority, however, controversy in exceeding amounts has risen over the dispute of his authorship. This controversy has been the topic of many arguments between differently opinionated scholars who support opposing theories and beliefs (Friedman XV). "A difficult dilemma confronts biographers who tell the story of the glove maker's son from Stratford-on-Avon who is supposed to have become the world's greatest poet and dramatist" (Whalen 3). It may seem odd that this confusion and doubt had come to light in the first place, as the origin of

The portrayal of Shakespeare’s female roles in the plays Titus Andronicus and Julius Caesar, leave one to question his belief on gender equality. Even though both of these plays take place during the Elizabethan era in Rome, the depiction of women’s roles in each play is significantly different. The female leads, Tamora and Lavinia, in Titus Andronicus, exhibit strong and powerful personalities, which however contradict with the portrayal of women in his other plays. The different approach used in his play Julius Caesar, leaves the only two female characters, Calpurnia and Portia, with much less significant beliefs. Shakespeare’s purpose behind the different portrayals of women in each play is to appeal to diverse audiences.

First, we must call into question the age of these male actors for surely young men who have not fully developed would more easily play a female character. Evidence from this period suggest that actor’s playing female roles would be under the age of 21. (Maguire 164) Again, within Shakespeare’s writing it is suggested that female characters have shrill, high pitched voices. In Hamlet, it is stated, “pray god your voice, like a piece of uncurrent gold, be not cracked within the ring.” This suggests that the voice is higher in pitch and does not crack. Since women were not allowed to act, it seems the best fitting male to play such a role would be a young one. Another hint at

In Shakespeare's plays Twelfth Night and As You Like It both of the lead female characters dress as men. Both plays are comedies and the change in gender is used as a joke, but I think it goes much deeper. A woman can become a man, but only if it is not permanent. The affect of the change cannot be too great because she must change back to female once everything is settled. They are strong female characters, but must become men to protect themselves and ultimately solve the problem of the play. In the book Desire and Anxiety: The Circulation of Sexuality in Shakespearian Drama Valerie Traub calls the characters, "the crossed-dressed heroine who elicits and enjoys

With every great story line comes a theme. William Shakespeare created an art of intertwining often unrecognizable themes within his plays. In Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice, one hidden theme is the idea of homosexuality. This theme might not have even been noticed until modern Shakespeare fans discovered them. According to Alan Bray’s book, Homosexuality in Renaissance England, “the modern image of ‘the homosexual’ cannot be applied to the early modern period, when homosexual behavior was viewed in terms of the sexual act and not an individual's broader identity.” (Columbia University Press). This difference between homosexuality as a “sexual act” and an

Female characters, whether they are mothers, sisters, daughters, or lovers, are used as essential roles in every play written by William Shakespeare. In the beginning of both plays, Twelfth Night and Othello, we see strong-willed ladies. Shakespeare enjoys giving women powerful minds and hearts in his works. I think that the female character development between these two plays is that women have the ability to be dominant in a man’s world, but can also lose themselves by becoming submissive to men. While Shakespeare wrote the later play with concepts about consequences of jealousy and not trusting a loved one, he used Twelfth Night to be an example to men to have more compassion for women.

“Women’s roles in the plays were acted by men or, more commonly by boys.” (Bommarito, 267). Boys were used for women’s roles because of their small figures and higher pitched voices. The boys began acting at the age of ten, learning the correct way to walk and talk on the stage. In addition they were also taught the art of applying make-up moving gracefully in the many layers of clothing that the Elizabethan women wore at that time.