The Liberating Transformation of Female Characters in Shakespeare’s and Držić’s Comedies

During the time of Queen Elizabeth I, the prevailing belief was that women were intellectually, physically, and morally inferior to men. While some female characters in Shakespeare’s plays conform to the stereotypical image of the era, many others challenge these stereotypes. Influenced by the Renaissance and the portrayal of the queen as a powerful and dominant ruler, Shakespeare depicted women in his plays as intelligent, brave, noble, and not significantly different from men. Independent young women such as Rosalind from As You Like It, or Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing present a dramatic contrast to characters like Hermia from A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Hero from Much Ado About Nothing. Though not independent in the modern sense of the word, they certainly are independent when compared to the typical women of Shakespeare’s time. This paper will examine how Marin Držić created female characters and whether the Renaissance spirit in Dubrovnik, which changed the lives of all social classes in many ways, also influenced the transformation of female characters in his works. In certain segments of the texts (e.g., Tirena, Skup, Dundo Maroje), a conservative, patriarchal criticism of society, especially aimed at the youth and women, is evident. They are depicted as idle, unintelligent, and obsessed with fashion. However, in Držić’s comedies, when it comes to conditionally liberated female characters, one can encounter fairies, courtesans, women from Kotor, and maidservants. Some of them undergo transformations of identity, which will be explored in terms of motivation and function. In the end, an attempt will be made to conclude the extent to which the cultural spirit of an era could (or could not) influence the liberation of female characters in the works of these two authors.