Gender Roles In Elizabethan Era

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Recommended: Gender roles through history

Sahibdeep Singh
Mrs. Scruton
ENG-2DO
May 18, 2014
Gender Roles in Elizabethan Era
Gender role refers to set of possibilities controlled by society about the ways in which men and women are supposed to behave based on their gender. In Elizabethan era, gender roles played by men and women were critical in many ways: - The Elizabethan life for men was one of power, secondly, Elizabethan women were considered to be inferior to men.
Firstly, The Elizabethan life for men was one of power. Men were expected to have all the say and they were de facto the head of the family and expected to be obeyed as women were believed to be inferior to men. Next, as the head of the family, -men had to guide the female members of the family and in case of wealthier people, arranged fruitful marriages for their sons and daughters. In spite of their superior position, they were expected to be lovable to their wives. “In fact, they were encouraged by the bible to love their wives and treat them lovingly”. As a gender role, men in Elizabethan period acted as an authoritative person being the head of the family
Secondly, Elizabethan women were considered to be inferior to men. The life of Elizabethan women was certainly a tough - arranged marriages, subordination to men, short life expectancy, constant child bearing and no right to education, no voting, not political participation, etc. were crucial facts about Elizabethan women’s life. Elizabethan women were categorized class wise as: Upper Class, Royal Class, Lower Class Elizabethan women. Elizabethan women were considered subordinate to men and they were dependent on males. They were also used for alliance with powerful families through arranged marriages not only in the lower class, but also in the ...

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...n at home only by the tutors. In the light of all the above facts and information, it could be concluded that women had a submissive role to play in Elizabethan era.
In nutshell, women in Elizebathan era were expected to play second fiddle to men in their families irrespective of the strata of society they belonged to. In contrast, men enjoyed all the power & authority and had the final say in everything that mattered.
Works Cited
• Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Women." Elizabethan Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .
• "ELIZABETHAN WOMEN." Elizabethan Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .
• "Elizabethan Women." Elizabethan Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .

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