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People in England in Shakespeare's time felt that it was indecent for women to appear on stage, that such a show verged on the pornographic. Acting was seen as a man's profession, and so there were no actresses as such. Therefore, male actors took a variety of parts in a play, including female roles. Women would not appear on English stages for another fifty years or so. This was a peculiarly English form of prudery (and they were not particlarly prudish about much else) because actresses were a regular item in France at the time.

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well because men found women incapable of doing eney thing and held our creativity back for it. It all comes down to men thinking their beater than everyone else

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Q: Why did Shakespeare have men playing female roles?
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Why are there only two women in Julius Caesar?

In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".In Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed to act on the stage. All female roles had to be done by boys or young men. Therefore the playwrights of that time were restricted in the number of women's roles they could write and still have convincing "actresses".


When did the first woman appear in one of Shakespeare's plays?

Margaret Hughes, playing Desdemona in Othello in 1660, is believed to be the first professional woman to perform on the public stage in England. In William Shakespeare's time all female roles were taken by boys whose voices had not yet broken, or by older men in the players' company. Only in private performances, such as masques at court were women allowed to act on stage, and then only alongside professional players. The notorious female transvestite Mary Frith is said to have taken part in a play at the Fortune Theatre ca. 1611, but it would not have been one of Shakespeare's. (It may have been the Roaring Girl by Middleton and Dekker, which was actually written about her)


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