Women were not allowed to act. Young men played the parts of women.
In Shakespeare's time women's parts were played by boys, and there might be 2 or 3 boys in a company, therefore there are few women's parts in any one play.
In Shakespeare's day, all the female parts were played by boys.
Young boys played female parts. It was against the law for women to act.
The roles of the women would be played by men, typically young boys who had not yet gone through puberty, because it would be easier to pass them off as women. Women were generally not allowed to participate in theater.
In Shakespeare's own era, it was deemed highly improper for women to act in plays, so the parts were played by men, in particular slim, young boys whose voices hadn't yet changed.By the Restoration of the Monarchy (1660), the tradition was dropped, and actresses appeared on the English stage, although some parts, such as the nurse in Romeo and Juliet and the witches in Macbeth were still played by men for comic effect.
No, they were played by all men. This tradition of men playing every role in a play was also seen in Elizabethan England - all the parts in Shakespeare's plays were played by men.
In Elizabethan culture it was socially unacceptable for women to be actors in the theatre. So as a consequence female parts were played by males. It is thought that Shakespeare was in love with the young man that originally played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. And wrote many of his female parts for that man.
Actors were all men. It was illegal for a woman to act. Young boys played the parts of women.
In Elizabethan theatre, the parts of women were played by boys whose voices had not changed. Some of them must have been exceptionally gifted actors.
There was a time when women were not allowed to perform. It was not considered appropriate and was actually illegal. During Shakespeare's time, all the female parts were played by young men. Women did not appear on the stage until 1660.
It was unlawful for women to appear on stage in Shakespeare's day. (People couldn't imagine women getting on stage except for some kind of striptease) The women's parts in all plays performed before 1660 in England, whether by Shakespeare or by one of the many other paywrights of the day, were played by boys.