LiteratureDiversified

The Elizabethan Era was a period of cultural renaissance for England, occurring after the Dark Ages of Europe. Although English life was improving, social changes did not positively affect all groups of people. Women underwent abuse in a patriarchal society where men were given power of their households and government affairs. Women were denied the right to vote and had very little legal rights. Women could not even act during the Shakespearean era, and young boys often replaced them in plays.

Sources

• Gender on Shakespeare’s Stage: A Brief History

• Elizabethan Women

• Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance

• The Role of Women During the Italian Renaissance

• Women and Medicine

• Educating for Silence: Renaissance Women and the Language Arts

• The Invention of the Renaissance Woman

• Suzanne W. Hull. Women According to Men: The World of Tudor-Stuart Women

•  Women, History, and Theory 

Review

• Why were women not allowed to perform during the peak of fine arts development?

• What was the role of women in politics?

• What was the impact of politically silenced women? 

• How did political oppression motivate others to put an end to the suppression of women?