Women's roles in Shakespeare

                                                         Women in Shakespeare

Throughout Shakespearean stories, there are many different types of women and relationships.

(My apologies for it being very stereotypical) Types of women:

- Smart, witty, and sexy (Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing) 1612
- Shy, beautiful, and pure (Hero in Much Ado about Nothing) 1612

- Smart, beautiful, and pure (Miranda in The Tempest) 1611

- Smart, beautiful, and troubled (Poor Ophelia in Hamlet, she commits suicide) 1609

- Controlling, manipulative, and troubled (Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, she commits suicide) 1606
- Loving and motherly/ Seemingly opposite Lady Macbeth (Lady Macduff in Macbeth) 1606

- Greed and loyalty (The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet) 1597
- Maturing, growing up, and purity (Juliet in Romeo and Juliet) 1597

- Skeptical, loyal, and insecure (Adriana in The Comedy of Errors) 1594
- Shy, loyal, and beautiful (Luciana in the Comedy of Errors) 1594

- Portrayal of Shakespeare's thoughts towards women (Kate in The Taming of the Shrew) 1590
- Opposite of Kate/What a man wants in a woman (Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew) 1590

And many more!
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Shakespeare wrote his women very carefully.
But why? What do women mean to him?

- In the beginning, he portrayed women as loyal to their husbands. This was important in the Elizabethan Era, and it would have appealed to the audience (more specifically, the queen). This is important to keep in mind while reading the plays.

- Then, liberation became more widespread among women, and more importantly, liberation while also remaining pure. This is shown through the portrayal of women like Juliet, Hero, and Miranda.

- Beatrice (From Much Ado About Nothing) is an important character because not only does she have sex before marriage, but she also is one of the smartest women throughout Shakespeare's writings.


  Rich Elizabethan women vs. Poor women 



Now that we have some background, let's talk about Macbeth.

There are two women in Macbeth that are polar opposites. These women being Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff. They are seen as opposites because Lady Macbeth tends to come across as controlling and manipulative. While Lady Macduff (the short amount of time we get to see her) is warm and cares deeply about her family.

Lady Macbeth commits suicide - Lady Macduff is slaughtered by Macbeth's men
- Suicide at that time was considered to be a selfish act

Then, there are the witches. What is their purpose in the story?
- They tell Macbeth the prophecy, this then causes him to kill Duncan in order to fulfill his desires to become king (with the heavy persuasion and guilting of Lady Macbeth).
- Witches: different than regular women = chaos?

How are witches portrayed in other Shakespeare works?
- Fairies in a Midsummer nights dream : chaos to man
- Spirits in The Tempest: able to change the appearance of the world
What do these supernatural beings have in common?
- They use their powers to control men: control reality: control the future
- More like The Fates than humans: meant to have "powers"
- The witches are also not given names, and not given identities/ not given strict genders

This shows that Shakespeare thought of these characters as different than typical "women"

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32379759

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