Gender in Twelfth Night and Volpone

Talking to the highest degree women in Shakespeares plays is talking well-nigh men too. Shakespeare absolutely spurned the idea of separating genders in exclusively aspects; physic altogethery, intellectually and spiritually. Theres no semblance with the transitional plosive consonant from the medieval time to the modern period (the Renaissance) when Twelfth Night was written, Ben Jonson on the other side did non invent cross-gender casting - virile actors portrayed women in all Elizabethans drama; but the antics of confinement Common and Pliant in The Alchemist reveal the womens identities as temptable to change as any. When severe tells Pliant he has deliver her honor and preservd [her as] a adult female, he is mistaken. A wo mans reputation, like wealth, is not easy to preserve in Jonsons world, if the woman is a man. (Joel Schechter, Berkeley repertory Theatre program, February 2000.) The Renaissance was a culture full of negations. In this particular culture, women were forced to be under the control of men, in the primary(prenominal) because they needed male protection. A perfect example is Celia in Volpone. This simile linking Celias sex-appeal with the appeal of gilded: Bright as your gold ! And pleasant as your gold! do by Mosca whets Volpones interest in her, by comparing Volpones main addiction (money) with her. Volpone rackets the cunning purchase of his wealth more than the mirthful possession, so he go out as well enjoy the challenge of seducing a woman who is married and hard to get. A womans identity was by law unified with the one of her male defender: Shes kept as warily as your gold Celia was under Corvinos control. She is kept shut up at home, guarded by spies. The unfavorable position women had enforced on them to be decent, silent, and respectful. As women were judged as organism inferior to men, cross-dressing induced an historic change of status in society. If a woman misrepresent to be a man in any aspect, she in truth was assuming more rights than she was designated to. It was onl...