Why Women Weren’t Allowed to Act in Shakespeare’s Plays

The role of Desdemona, the devoted, loving wife murdered by her husband in “Othello,” wasn’t performed by a woman until 1660 – about six decades after Shakespeare wrote the play. This is because when Shakespeare was writing for the early modern stage, young men and boys performed all the women’s parts. Numerous English theatergoers considered More

The post Why Women Weren’t Allowed to Act in Shakespeare’s Plays appeared first on CounterPunch.org.