Sex and Gender in Early Modern England

Shakespeare and Sex and Gender

In this course, Dr Sophie Duncan (University of Oxford) introduces ideas about sex and gender in the Early Modern period. We start with an overview of contemporary ideas about sex, gender, femininity and masculinity. In the second module, we investigate the Early Modern concept of a woman, from literary images to ideal behaviour. In the third, we focus on gender and sexuality in the Early Modern theatre, looking especially at boy-players and the theme of cross dressing. In the fourth, we look at Early Modern marriages in practice. In the fifth, we consider the possibility of same-sex desire, and what that might have looked like. Finally, in the sixth, we look at ageing, and its implications for gender and sexuality.

Sex and Gender in Early Modern England

In this module, we explore Early Modern ideas about sex, gender, femininity and masculinity, focusing especially on: (i) how generally, women lacked power, and couldn’t have property, (ii) Early Modern conceptions of gender being bundled up with sex, (iii) the prevalence of Aristotelian medical ideas about men and women, (iv), the Christian understanding of women as men’s ‘helpmeets’, (v) ideas about masculinity based on strength, but also civility and credit, (vi) fear of androgyny, yet its importance for Elizabeth I, and (vii) Michel Foucault’s argument that homosexuality as we know it today could not have existed before the 19th century, and that in the Early Modern period it is about practice rather than identity.