During Elizabethan times women ultimately had no control over their lives. The men made most of the decisions for them. Even though the men made most of the choices, they were still expected to be good and caring husbands and fathers. Divorce was essentially unheard of. Marriages usually lasted as long as the couple was alive. The female’s main role was to stay home and take care of the house and children. Although Childbearing was a great honor, the females were treated as children themselves. The husbands were expected to look after their wives, and if the woman was single her brothers and father were expected to look after her. Although the women could not attend school, they were still well educated. Despite being educated, women still could not enter most professions.
All of these limitations placed on women is clearly expressed in Twelfth Night, Much Ado about Nothing, and Shakespeare in Love. The women in Shakespeare in Love and Twelfth Night had to go to the extreme to overcome the obstacles they faced for being a woman. It took hoodwinking people into thinking they were men if they wanted to have genuine job. Furthermore, there was an enormous amount of emphasis on getting married in both of these films. The women were free to fall in love with who they pleased, but it seemed like they had no choice as to who they actually married. Much Ado about Nothing showed the hardships of women somewhat, but most of the women did nothing about it. Beatrice was one of the