Shakespeare's Gender Roles In Much Ado About Nothing

Fyodor Guerrero Aymar
April 21, 2016
Mrs. Butterfield
Hon English IIb

Shakespeare has had a lasting effect on society to this day, but he hasn't predicted society. In his play Much Ado About Nothing, which is still being performed today, he says many statements about society in a whole. One of those being about gender roles of old society. Although some will say that Shakespeare's gender roles hold up to today's society, they would be wrong because Beatrice being frowned upon , the way women are viewed as things in the play and role of honor.

Beatrice is one of the most round characters in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. She is the opposite of what a woman was supposed to be. Hero, on the other hand, is the perfect woman. She is quiet,
When Claudio asks what Benedick thinks of Hero, he talks about how worthless she is, and she isn't worth “buying”. The only thing that is valued in a woman is her beauty and how obedient she is. later in the play during act 2 Claudio thinks that Don Pedro stole Hero for himself ,when he was getting Hero to love Claudio. Benedick basically tells Claudio that Don Pedro stole your “meat”. And Claudio doesn't even seem to care, he was willing to marry her, but then gave up at the slightest obstacle. The way men treat women like property in the play makes it obvious reasons that they don't have a voice in anything. The men also don't consider women trustworthy, before the men even see “Hero” in the window having an affair, they believe Don John’s claims. Once they “see” that Hero has in fact had an affair, they come up with a plan to punish her by publicly shaming her. Even Leonato believes that she is guilty, “Could she here deny the story that is printed in her blood? Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes…” (Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 120-123) I. Today's society, men are much more accepting of women. They can be viewed as trustworthy and smart (even though Hillary isn't either of those things), and they definitely aren't viewed as things
But honor is all centers around women. For example, if Hero really did have an affair and he knew and still married her, he would lose his honor. That is why he “had” to shame Hero, because it would be more embarrassing to lose his honor to a woman. Gender role play a big part in honor, men are able to win back their honor, while women cannot gain back their honor once they lose it. When Beatrice says, “O that I were a man for his sake!” “I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving.” (Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 312-318) she is wishing she had a voice in this because she knows that Hero is innocent, but only the men have a say in the play's society. In today's society women have a say in everything. It is very different today because women can have more power over men, which was unheard of. Today people's honor is still important, but not in the same way as Much Ado About