Misogyny and the Role of Women in the Literature, Society, and Politics of the English Renaissance

This thesis analyses the pervasive role of misogyny in the formation of modern England's literature, society and politics. In fact, English Renaissance culture was founded on a patriarchal ideology, which imposed submission to the female gender as a moral and natural duty. It will examine not only how misogyny was founded on religion, medicine, folklore and domestic life, but also how it profoundly influenced Renaissance literature, particularly Shakespeare's, which reflects and reinforces such gender hierarchies. We will also analyse how the customs and norms of society have been overwhelmed by hostility towards women and how the latter has resulted in persecution for witchcraft, with attention to the work of James VI, who legitimized female repression. Finally, I will show how misogyny was radicalized also and above all in politics, hindering and persecuting royal and powerful figures such as Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I. We will therefore be able to demonstrate how the patriarchal and misogynistic model was not only radicalized in the daily aspects of life, but also how at the same time it was perpetuated by institutions and social and cultural spheres.