“Women in her greatest perfection was made to serve
and obey man”- John Knox
Expectations of women in sixteenth
century England
The Role of Elizabethan Women in Society
Women in the Elizabethan era were brought to believe that they were inferior to men. The
Protestant church believed this idea and the protestant leader John Knox wrote, “Women in her
greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man”. Elizabethan women were controlled and
dominated by male members of their family. The punishment for disobeying was the whipping stool,
the Elizabethan women were beaten into submission and disobedience was seen as a crime against
their religion. Additionally women could not inherit their father’s dowry; instead it went to their
eldest son. However the only exception was the monarchy.
The Role of Elizabethan Women - Education - The Nobility vs. Commoners
Elizabethan women from wealthy and noble families were mostly allowed the privilege of an
Education. The women of Noble birth were consistently taught by tutors at home and Elizabethan
women were taught from the age of five, or even younger. Music and dancing skills were essential
for Elizabethan women. However, Elizabethan women were not allowed to go to university.
The Elizabethan women who were commoners were not allowed to have attended school or
received any formal type of education. Elizabethan women would have had to learn how to take
care of a household and become skilled in all housewifely duties. Their education would have been
focused of the domestic nature in preparation for the only real career option for a girl , which was
marriage. Single Elizabethan women were sometimes looked upon with suspicion. It was often the
single women who were thought to be witches by their neighbours. All Elizabethan women would be
expected to marry, and would be dependent on her male relatives throughout her life.
The Roles of Famous Elizabethan Women in Society

Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603
Queen Elizabeth was never married. She was an independent and dominant woman who would not
share her throne with a man. She would have also been required to show total obedience to her
husband

Lettice Knollys 1540-1634
Knollys was a Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth. She had married the Queen's favourite, Robert
Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in secret

Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke - 1561-1621
By Ajay Patil and Shaneil Narayan
Herbert was referred to as the Swan of Avon. The second most important woman in England next to
the Queen

Kat Ashley
Faithful servant of Queen Elizabeth from a small, neglected child to the most powerful woman in
England

Mary Queen of Scots 1542-1587
Elizabeth's cousin who was kept prisoner in England until her execution for treason - conspired with
Roman Catholics culminating in the Babington Plot

The Four Mary's
Four Ladies in Waiting to Mary Queen of Scots - Mary Beaton, Mary Seaton, Mary Fleming and Mary
Livingstone
Women in Shakespeare’s Work
Shakespeare effectively explored the significant roles female characters seized, this outlined the
prejudice and inequality in the treatment of women in the Elizabethan Era and how women contend
with this type of treatment.
 The Bawdy Woman – is where the female characters are sexualized, cheeky and flirtatious.
These characters often speak in verse as it shows their high class and they tend to use sexual
innuendos. An example of this is Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Audrey in As You like it “I
am not a slut, though I thank the gods I am foul”.
 The Tragic Innocent Woman – These characters always are pure and chaste , where they
abide the rules, however , when they lose their innocence they tragically die, which suggests
Shakespeare’s treatment of innocent women is fairly brutal .
 The Scheming Femme Fatal- These characters are archetypal characters, where these
characters use manipulation to get what they want. A good example of this is Lady Macbeth
in Macbeth where both her and Macbeth die because of her manipulative skills.
 The Witty and Ugly Woman- This is where the female characters are treated very badly
because of their looks, however these characters tend to be funny and humorous.
 Women who dress like Men – This gives the female characters more rights if they were to
dress up as a man which shows the envy of women to have rights. A good example of this is
Rosalind in As You like it where she dresses up as a man named “Ganymede”.
 Falsely Accused of Adultery – these characters are always accused of cheating on their man
and hence they suffer a great deal of pain. A good example of this is Desdemona from
Othello where Othello kills Desdemona for a mistake that Desdemona did not commit.
Why Elizabethan Women Were Not Treated Equally
In the Elizabethan era men considered women "inferior" and too emotional to carry the burden of a
man’s lifestyle. Elizabethan men believed that due to the over-emotional aspects of women, that
they were to unstable to have certain rights. They were also discriminated due to their physical
weakness. Women were "scrawny" and couldn't perform tasks that men would do. If they were to
disobey their husbands, it would be considered a crime and the consequences were harsh. In drama,
By Ajay Patil and Shaneil Narayan
the men had to play the roles of the women, because women were considered not to be fit for the
roles.
References/ sources
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/lists/bl_list_10th_century.htm
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1j.html
https://sites.google.com/site/nothingbutshakespeare/role-of-women-in-elizabethan-times
http://www.womenpriests.org/theology/knox.asp
By Ajay Patil and Shaneil Narayan