Disguise: Shakespeare’s Weapon against Male Domination

Abstract

The display of women in male disguise is a theme that William Shakespeare had a great liking for and that has perplexed the critics most. Scholars have endeavoured to find out the nub of Shakespeare’s interest in presenting a woman in a man’s robes. Was it the requirement of the plot of the plays or did he use the device of disguise only for “the compounding of comic confusion”.¹ What did Shakespeare think in regard of women when he presented them in male disguise? What pressing situations did he face in which his heroines impersonated men? Was a male disguise compulsion for them or did they disguise themselves only for entertainment? This paper aims (i) to examine from the feminist viewpoint the situations that induce Shakespeare’s female characters to adopt to the male disguise, (ii) to asses Shakespeare’s contention in displaying only his female characters impersonating men and not vice-versa, (iii) to explore the patriarchal set-up of the society that compel women to hide their identity for survival. The paper attempts to demonstrate disguise as a weapon that Shakespeare’s female characters generally adopted against the male domination. It chiefly deals with three plays of Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Twelfth Night.

Keywords: Disguise, Feminism, Shakespeare’s Comedies and his comic heroines, patriarchy and androcentric double standards in society, Elizabethan society.