How would you feel if you were a woman in the Elizabethan Era and you could not act in the playhouse plays? In Elizabethan Theater there where many things that were very un-proper. This paper will everything readers would ever want to know and learn about an Elizabethan Era.
As readers may already know during the Elizabethan Era, Theater people were thought of as low class people, especially the women. Women were not allowed to act in any of the playhouse plays, however, they were allowed to start acting in 1660. Back then a woman would be busy taking care of household problems such as cleaning and making sure things were ok in the house. Also back in those times women were thought of as prostitutes if they acted in plays and it was considered as bad luck. That’s why the young men played the roles of the women because of their higher pitched voice and appearances.
Everyone wants to know what the plays were like back in those times. William Shakespeare’s play have the reputation of being among the greatest in the English language in the 38 plays are divided into the genres ...
The young men voices were still high pitch and bodies had not been matured, so the role of women was perfect for them. William Shakespeare took a big part in theatre during the Elizabethan Era and his work is still popular till this day. Most plays that you often hear about such during the 1600’s were pretty much his. One of his most famous plays that still grab reader’s attention is Romeo & Juliet. Another thing about the Elizabethan Era was the way they said their words, what they would do is use a four count beat and pitching their voices high and low. All through London theatre was very popular. In the 1600’s during the Elizabethan Era instruments had also played a big part in their time. Like once before I told you that any instrument could play a ...
Richmond, Macrae Hugh. "Women's Roles" Shakespeare's Theatre: A Dictionary Of His Stage Context (2004): 502-504. Literary Reference Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
This paper will look at the different conceptions highlighted by Bulman in his article through the use of different methods used by the actors in the play. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare captures the different conceptions of gender identity and different sexualities within the Elizabethan period.
The characters in the comedy are not realistic, and those that could have been were transformed throughout the course of events depicted. The most trouble with the play, however, seems to come from the representation of the female characters, particularly in comparison with the males. It seems almost that the female characters are written off, rather than merely written out. The male characters of the play are given higher roles, and their characters are followed more faithfully, further proving its chauvinistic composition. The title of the play even suggests a sexist nature in its possible Elizabethan reference to the female genitalia. The play seems to reflect the common thought of its era concerning the social stat...
"Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." Elizabethan Theatre Audiences. Strayer University, 16 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Kemp, Theresa D. Women in the Age of Shakespeare. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2009. Print.
“The women were not allowed to star in plays mainly because they were poorly educated and they had no education so they wouldn't know what to do” found from Why Were Women Not Allowed To Act In Shakespeare’s Plays Back In Elizabethan Era? Women could not act on stage during the renaissance for many reasons people believe women did not act because women didn't have any rights, they also had no
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
During the time of William Shakespeare, it was very immoral to court a woman on stage. This may become a problem for a play-write, but this problem was solved with one simple solution: have men play the women. When males play females on stage, the reader of a future generation may see some homosexual tones. During this era, this would be completely normal. When the plays were performed, there were rarely any women in the audience. The groundlings, people who couldn’t pay for seats high up, were predominately male. On occasion, the females that were in the audience were whores and prostitutes. Women were rarely workers, they were meant to be homemakers and mothers. Women had a hypocrisy when it came to the rules of who they could marry. In reality, men could marry whoever they wanted. Men could marry above their social class and most controversially, under their social class. The same cannot be said for wo...
Shakespeare has created stories that are so powerful, emotional, comedic, tragic and romantic that they are still continuously remembered and studied in the modern era. Though the essence of his talents does not lie in the simple themes behind his plays, but more so in
During the times in which Shakespeare lived, women had certain roles which ensured they were a permanent underclass to men. In Women in Shakespeare’s world by Theresa D. Kemp, Kemp states that “The roles of early modern women included daughters and wives, sisters and mothers; they learned and worked and played but for the most part they were not expected to be school girls (whining or otherwise) As women they were expected to be the slightly beautiful beloved and not the balladeer. Women were not seen as fit to play soldier or the judge. And as keepers of the homes and the households, as in our own time, women withdrawn from a “world too wide” ( 29). This quote from Kemp shows how victorian women were seen a just a pretty face to do as told. They were to be obedient and non opinionated. A woman of that time period was very objectified and used, basically women weren't real people.
This is to be expected in a society that did not even permit women to perform in theaters, so men played the women’s roles. Women were not allowed to perform on stage until 1660 when Charles II took the throne and the Restoration occurred (Nestvold). Hence, women are often restricted by husbands or fathers, like Juliet who was controlled by her father in Romeo and Juliet, or women are victimized by men and not in control of their own fate, like Desdemona who dies at the hands of Othello in Othello.
Firstly, I will delve into the history, customs and conventions that were synonymous with the Elizabethan era/period. In order to discuss and question the male to male relationships that were accepted by society on stage, I need to gathering the necessary data to discuss how male to male relationships on stage was ironically accepted by audiences It will also be imperative to this study to take an in depth look at the contradictions of the male to male interaction within a socio-political context and the influences it had on the subtleties/happenings within the play and on stage.” The subject of male relations versus homosexuality correlates that it was seen as a norm in theatre for men to portray female characters, but was seen as immoral in Elizabethan society, It then becomes ironic that the idea of theatre and stage representing real life contradicted the societal
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...
were acted out in the yards of bawdy inns and the great halls of the