As You Like It

On Monday September 14, we went to Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Globe Theater. It was my first time ever seeing a Shakespeare play performed professionally, and I enjoyed it much more that I expected. It is definitely easier to understand Shakespeare's wit when actors are performing it rather than just reading the lines from a book. For my Shakespeare class we were required to read an article and write a summary of it, including our opinion on the subject. I have posted the assignment below.

Cross-Dressing in Shakespeare’s Time

The article I have chosen to summarize is “Cross dressing, The Theater, and Gender Struggle” by Jean E. Howard which discusses cross-dressing in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Very few people dared to walk the streets of London dressed in clothing of the opposite sex, but there are records of it occurring, particularly with women. These bold women were punished; most everyone in the society was against the practice. Many women who dressed mannishly were accused of prostitution. There was also a strict sex-gender hierarchy at this time, and some believe cross-dressing was used as a way of going against the normal social order and challenging the male-dominant society. Cross-dressing opened the gap between one’s social station and how they were supposed to dress. When rules of apparel are broken, social classes begin to break down. If there are not distinct sexes, then there is no distinct social order or division of labor. In As You Like It on the other hand, the role of male dominance was reconfirmed by Rosalind’s act of cross-dressing. She maintains her femininity by acting like the love sick maid that she really was. She also enhances the distinction of sexes by role-playing the part of a girl although she is dressed as a boy.

I learned a lot from this article. I had never thought about the profound meanings of cross-dressing in plays. I also never thought about cross dressing in the times of the Renaissance and the effect it would have on class distinction. I think it is very interesting that women who dressed in a masculine way were accused of being prostitutes, while it is the opposite today; women who dress in mannish ways are often accused of being homosexual. I believe that because there is much less of a strict social class in this day and age, cross-dressing is more widely accepted.