Gender Expectations and Women´s Role During the Elizabethan Era

949 Words2 Pages

Introduction
Gender expectations limited personal choice to a great extent during the Elizabethan Era. The Elizabethan Era was the period in which Elizabeth I ruled England from 1558-1603. There was a strong view on women should be the property of men and must obey them. William Shakespeare influenced this time period massively and incorporated the different gender roles and expectations into his plays. Personal is defined as something concerning one's private life, relationships, and emotions rather than one's career or public life. Choice is defined as an act of choosing between two or more possibilities. Therefore personal choice can be seen as how someone chooses to life their personal life; whether that be the relationships formed or lifestyle. Women were greatly disadvantaged as they had little legal rights and had no choice in lifestyle. The main clashing differences between men and women during the Elizabethan Era were: legal status and marriage. These differences between men and women limited women to a great extent which in turn resulted in a lack of personal choice for women; in contrast men could choose how to live their life freely.

Legal Status
The legal status of a woman completely differed from a man as it completely limited her to have no personal choice in her career and lifestyle. There was also a difference between a married woman and a single mature woman- a single woman could administer and inherit land;make a will and contract; and sue – once married a woman lost all her rights. A woman was owned by her father and then passed on to her husband. Olivia, a single, rebellious woman in 'The Twelfth Night' lost all her rights once she married. At the start of the Duke Orisino and Sir Andrew actually feel thr...

... middle of paper ...

...e revolting against the inequality between men and women. Even Queen Elizabeth was reluctant to marry as she would have to obey her husband. Also, marrying was not always a girls dream during the Elizabethan Era. Having to marry was not all ways a girl's dream during the Elizabethan era, having to have a baby every two years and 'dishonour' of the man results in serious punishment for the woman and her father. This was shown when Hero from 'Much Ado About Nothing' was framed for having an affair with another when she was meant to marry Claudio. However she could not defend herself as that was against social customs. 'Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust' is a notation used in 'Much Ado About Nothing'-meaning that everyone is equal-however this was not the case in the Elizabethan era due to contrasting expectations of the different genders that would limit personal choice.

Open Document