How Does Shakespeare Challenge Sexist Assumptions About Male Intellectual Superiority in the Conversation? How Does He Prepare the Audience for This Earlier in the Play?

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to get an idea of her character.

Though it could also be argued that Shakespeare is not challenging sexist assumptions. This is seen in the way that Hero, upon Claudio finding out that she has already lost her virginity, refuses to marry her. This very much fits with the stereotypes of the era in which men could have as many sexual partners as they wished before marriage whereas women still had to have their virginity intact in order to be allowed to marry. Shakespeare also doesn’t challenge sexist assumptions with his character Hero, who is submissive, “My cousin means Signor benedick of Padua” this line shows how she respects men with the way that she says his entire name, unlike Beatrice who gives him a nickname. She is also very much an ideal female for the era’ she does not speak until spoken; she does not make fun of the men (unlike Beatrice); lastly she does what her father tells her to do. At the end of the play everything turns out well for her showing in some ways that it is good to be submissive to men as it means everything will turn out well for you.

The first dialogue between Beatrice and Benedick is an effective way that Shakespeare shows his challenging of sexist assumptions on gender’s intellect as the words which Shakespeare picks and how the two characters insult each other clearly portray his intention of challenging sexist assumptions, Beatrice being intellectually superior to Benedick a man. Furthermore, because it is their first conversation together out of the whole play a clear impression of how Shakespeare wanted the two characters to be portrayed to the audience and what characteristics he wanted the audience to see instilled in them.

Benedick is very much shown to be of less intellectual prowess than Beatrice. This is shown heavily in the last line which Beatrice speaks in which she says, "You always end with a jade’s trick". This line is accentuate of the6 way that Benedick is not quick or mind, unlike Beatrice, and has to rely upon stereotypes in order to come up with retorts for Beatrice. This si clearly seen by the audience as although he is retorting to Beatrice’s insults, it is not to the same level, "what my dear Lady Disdain" instead he insults her skill of word saying, "I would my horse had the speed of your tongue" though this does not give high level of credit to his mind it still gives insult as it plays on the stereotypes of women not meant to be clever, this again accentuates his lack of cleverness by his relying on stereotypes in order to insult. It also clearly brings light to the audience the lack of fairness built into the sexist stereotypes in the way that Beatrice has to be clever in order to insult Benedick whereas Benedick simply needs to rely on sexist comments to insult Beatrice. This helped Shakespeare to challenge sexist stereotypes as the audience would have been more aware of what is wrong with the stereotypes and how the sexist of each gender’s intellects of Elizabethan society are morally wrong.