Mixed Gender, Mixed Genre Shakespeare Analysis

Throughout class thus far I have noticed a familiar theme that each play exhibits, which is gender. William Shakespeare is very good at altering issues in women studies and overall gender ideology. He does support the stereotypes of women and men and their roles in society but he also questions, challenges and changes these representations. I think the main question that Shakespeare raises, is what it means to be a female and what the characteristics of gender are?
In the article Mixed Gender, Mixed Genre by Barbara Bono gives many views on gender and other authors views on gender as well. She has found that within As You Like It there is an intertwined masculine and feminine talk, she describes this as “double-voiced” that represents the male dominant culture. On author she includes is Chodorow; she …show more content…
In most cases the daughter is being ruled by her father and cannot make her decisions on her own. The female role has to move the scene forward by creating a “dispute” that most would not expect from a women role. Shakespeare also has relationships between females and their husbands. This is where the female role can outshine the male character, seeming to be stronger or in charge. Without the male and female relationships within these plays, I believe that the reader will not see the female characteristics, or maybe not even witness them at all. When Shakespeare does show these female roles, I believe that he gives the character a strong role. He proves that he added them into the play for a reason. He represents his female roles to be intelligent, full of energy and all having a personal individuality. For example he shows the intelligence of women through Portia and the heartlessness energy from Lady Macbeth. Overall I believe that Shakespeare did a great job portraying female characters through uses that were not as dominant or overly demonstrated during his