Much Ado About Gender Roles

In the comedy, Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, there is much focus on the different roles of men and women in society as well as the establishment and maintenance of their honour. The play acts out against the unfairness of gender roles in society and the inequality between men and women, and Shakespeare humour the fact that men believe women are suspicious. This essay will attempt to examine the issues of gender roles and honour in the play.

In the play, the roles of men and women were clearly that of a patriarchal society, in which women were subordinate to men. A man's loyalty and social grace was influenced by orthodox rules of honour, camaraderie and the dominance of women. The camaraderie is obvious when Claudio listens his friend, Don Pedro, rather than trust Hero's word, and he therefor chooses obedience and friendship over his love for Hero.

A central theme in the play is a women's virginal chastity and that it is of utmost importance that she should cherish it until married. Women were expected to be obedient and subordinate to men, chaste, virtues and a good wife and mother. The play focusses much on the importance of an honourable and virginal bride, rather than true love and happiness. The men fear that their women can be unfaithful to them because they will have no way of knowing this. They mistrust female sexuality and express this by telling jokes of cuckoldry and making reference to horns, a symbol of cuckoldry, therefor establishing their social and sexual dominance. Despite the established gender roles in the era of the play, Shakespeare emphasizes that male power over female fragility is not so importance and cleverly pokes fun at the inconstancy of men rather than women.

The importance of honour is evident throughout the play and men and women establish their honour in different ways. The men's honour depended on male camaraderie and social rank, which was achieved through wise words and speech or fellowships. A man could defend his and his family's honour if it was slandered, by challenger the offender to a duel. A woman's honour was based upon her maidenly behaviour and virginity. If a woman had sexual relations before she got married, she would lose her honour and innocence and that meant losing her social grace. A promiscuous woman is a disgrace to her family and it's honour, and the loss of her morality meant the annihilation of her whole life.

After the disastrous wedding scene in the play, Beatrice wishes that she could become a man in order to avenge Hero's integrity and honour by accessing the strength and violence of men. Unfortunately, as a woman she is physically weak and can only hope on a man to do so for her:

BENEDICT

Is Claudio thine enemy?

BEATRICE

Is he not approved in the height a villain, that

hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? O

that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they

come to take hands; and then, with public

accusation,