Shakespearean Female Monarchs: Early Modern Empowerment or a Cautionary Tale? A Feminist Critique of Selected Plays

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse three Shakespearean female monarchs in terms of their nonconformity with the stringent societal gender expectation of the Early Modern period and to determine how the plays suggest that the characters’ behaviour should be assessed. As the main analysis focuses on royal women, this article provides a brief historical perspective on queenship during that era. The main part of the article is the feminist analysis of Gertrude, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra whose common denominator is their royal status and womanhood as well as their untraditional and nonconforming behaviour. The investigation delves into their relations with others, their importance to the plot, and the way they wield power and exert influence. What follows is an examination of how each of the characters dies and what it might symbolise in a broader social context. As in each case the death of an unruly female character marks the reemergence of a patriarchal order, the article arrives at the conclusion that the characters are punished for their subversive behaviour and what these plays do is perpetuate the masculine view of the world.