Shakespeare and Gender Ambiguity

My purpose in this research is to investigate the subject matter of gender ambiguity in Shakespeare’s plays. The Renaissance was an interesting and specific period in history in which traditional gender values clashed with the need for change. With the emergence of numerous female rulers in both England and Scotland and the rising number of “monstrous” – a term frequently adopted as equivalent to “masculine” or even “genderly ambiguous” – women who refused to succumb to traditional female roles, playwrights had to handle these topics and make use of them in the theatre, a realm in which gender ambiguity of boy actors has always been a tradition.
This thesis investigates how Shakespeare represents gender ambiguity in his theatre. In the first glimpse, the majority of Shakespeare’s characters seem to follow traditional gender stereotypes: in Measure for Measure (1604) we have a dutiful yet virtuous sister whose adamant preservation of chastity is ultimately rewarded by the survival of her brother and the marriage with the Duke; in The Taming of the Shrew (1593), there is a persistent “shrew” whose intense refusal to succumb to male authority is ultimately suppressed; she is tamed into a docile wife who would gladly place her hands below her husband’s foot. In other plays, there are also strong women who equate to malevolence and vice, such as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (1606) and Goneril in King Lear (c.1603-1606). However, Shakespeare represents gender identity in a much more complicated aspect than this, even in relation to these specific plays. Rather than promoting a traditionally restrictive and patriarchal view of gender, I argue that Shakespearean theatre investigates gender identity as social constructions and demonstrates the importance and strength of gender ambiguity.