The Role of Women in Shakespeare's Plays

While characters such as in the Taming of the Shrew may lead one to believe that women could possess strong, independent characters in Shakespeare's plays, think again!  The roles women play in Shakespeare's plays essentially serve to highlight female sexuality, female submissiveness, and male power over women.  Women are essentially props used to drive the story line.

Going back to Taming of the Shrew and the characters Bianca and Katherine, we see completely opposite ends of the spectrum in reference to female temperament.  Bianca is the prized daughter because she is beautiful and obedient, making her the focus of male attention in the town.  Katherine is the exact opposite; she is rough, starkly independent, and emotionally unavailable.  However, we discover that once Petruchio wins Katherine over, she fits right into the mold that women were expected to fit into.  She didn't desire to become just another housewife, but the male power over her life forced her into that role.

In Hamlet, Ophelia is used by every character in the play.  Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, married Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, so he begins to align his mother's sexuality with Ophelia's, causing her to greatly suffer.   Hamlet uses her as the scapegoat for his anger towards his mother, Claudius uses her to spy on Hamlet, her father uses her to win the favor of the royalty, etc.  Also, Hamlet takes her virginity, and then won't marry her because of it.  She is obedient to all of the powers in her life, and unable to voice her own opinion, she falls into a deep madness.  She is shunned for no longer being a virgin, which was a big deal at the time if you weren't married.  Because of her sexuality, she is seen as a whore even though she was just doing as Hamlet wanted.


Richard III exhibits the male power over women because although Richard is an evil man and the women despise him, he somehow wins their favor through manipulatory flattery.  For example, he was the reason for Lady Anne's husband's death, but throughout her cursing him, he says that her beauty made him do it.  Before you know it, she is now Richard's wife.  He doesn't appear to actually love the women he encounters, but he does want to use them to gain greater power for himself as he pursues the crown.  Although these are just a few examples of women's roles in Shakepeare's plays, this is a theme that Shakepeare holds to in many of his plays.