GENDER POLITICS AND PROTO-FEMINIST DIMENSIONS OF GENDER ROLES IN RENAISSANCE ENGLAND: A SOCIO-LITERARY EXAMINATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v13.i6.2025.6236Keywords:
Renaissance England, Gender Politics, Proto-Feminism, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I, Women’s Roles, PatriarchyAbstract [English]
This paper explores the socio-political and cultural positioning of women in Renaissance England, with a particular emphasis on proto-feminist expression in literature and historical discourse. Drawing from legal treatises, moral writings, religious texts, and theatrical works—particularly those of William Shakespeare—it examines how women’s voices were both suppressed by and embedded within patriarchal structures. The study discusses the ways in which female agency was restricted through marriage contracts, property laws, and gendered expectations, yet also highlights how certain women, such as Queen Elizabeth I and aristocratic patrons, navigated and occasionally subverted these constraints. These figures serve as historical precedents for gender consciousness in a society otherwise dominated by male authority. The paper further analyzes the portrayal of female characters in Renaissance drama and identifies their role in echoing or resisting dominant ideologies. Although not formally feminist, the literature and sociopolitical conditions of the time reveal early critiques of gender inequality and lay the groundwork for the emergence of feminist theory in later centuries. By bringing together historical context and literary analysis, the study illustrates how proto-feminist themes evolved within a culture that was often overtly misogynistic but not devoid of resistance or reformative thought.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Kristina Kostova
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