Gender Roles in The Merchant of Venice and Othello

Abstract

—Literature enables authors to express various societal matters. Shakespeare provides a wide range of information from the Elizabethan era through his works. An important issue that is evident in his work is gender roles. The roles of characters, as described by Shakespeare, show social norms that define female and male genders. Female characters in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and Othello are underestimated because of the stereotypical gender roles. The roles involving female characters revolve around the homestead, unless where a female character is from a wealthy family, a queen or a princess. Male dominance in societ y implies that the Shakespearean era advocated for women discrimination.