Shakespeare And Gender Roles In The Elizabethan Era

Shakespeare and Gender Roles William Shakespeare is one of the most celebrated and talented writers in the English Language. He was a poet, a playwright and actor who’s work has been studied, analyzed and preformed all around the world. Shakespeare’s works has been continuously anatomized through a cultural and political lens. He lived during the Elizabethan Era, where theatre and literature were widely popular. As some of the first ways to spread ideas and provide entertainment, Shakespeare used these platforms wisely. His works became increasingly popular during his life and much more so after. When he died in 1616, he left behind with him more than 1,700 invented words that first appeared in his writing, along with 37 plays, 154 sonnets and 5 long narrative poems. The messages he left in his art continue to speak to new generations today, through his topics on life, love,

(CBBC Newsround "Who Was William Shakespeare and Why Is He Famous?”) Another topic that Shakespeare commented on in his works was gender roles. These characteristics that a culture identifies with a persons sex is one of the many important topics of discussion in the 21st century. Slowly but surely progression on the perception of gender and sexuality continues to evolve in our society. In the Elizabethan Era however, gender and sexuality were held to strict rules and expectations. Living during this era, Shakespeare was ahead of his time. He brought gender and sexuality to the forefront of his work. Particularly in Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, and Macbeth. Within these plays he opened up the public to more progressive ideas, discussion and opportunities to look at gender roles. It is evident in his depiction of both men and women, that his world view was more evolved than typical renaissance culture. Shakespeare challenges, questions, and distorts traditional English Renaissance stereotypes of women and men in their various roles and responsibilities in