(Essay introduction) Nowadays, women can afford the luxury of being their own, but unfortunately this wasn't always the case. During his lifetime, William Shakespeare created many positive female characters who challenged traditional gender roles and drew attention to the misogynistic patriarchy of Elizabethan England. One of these true feminist icons is "Much Ado About Nothing". Beatrice. The women in "Much Ado About Nothing" challenge traditional gender roles. Beatrice represents a courageous and outspoken woman who challenges traditional oppressive gender roles for women. Her cousin Hero, however, represents those women who were successfully oppressed by patriarchy and accepted traditional gender roles without much complaint. The Elizabethan society in which Shakespeare lived during his lifetime held a misogynistic ideology in high regard. “Much Ado About Nothing” was written in 1598-9, at a time when women were second-class citizens compared to males and were considered inferior to men in every sense. As soon as she was born, the female was the property of her father until she was married off to his family, when she then became the property of her husband. A woman was expected to be seen and not heard, she was expected to be chaste and submissive. Women were ignorant and undervalued, they were not themselves. This misogynistic attitude is present in "Much Ado About Nothing." In the play, Messina is presented as a positive and cheerful community and the woman seems to have freedom, however those misogynistic attitudes of the time are still demonstrated. When Leonato says to his daughter Hero: "daughter, remember what I told you: if the prince solicits you in that way, you know your answer." Don Pedro is b...... middle of paper... the challenge is different but both show some form of defiance to traditional gender roles. Shakespeare was clearly ahead of his time with his view of women. He probably drew inspiration for his female characters from Elizabeth I, the English monarch of the time. Like Beatrice, Elizabeth I was a strong and very independent woman, she was the sole ruler of England during her reign as she never married. Elizabeth I was a strong ruler, who challenged the traditional gender roles for women, from which Shakespeare would draw inspiration for his characters. Shakespeare's works were fictional, so even though he portrayed women in a positive way, society desired to oppress women and portray the type of independence Beatrice displays as a negative thing. Shakespeare used his characters as a subtle way to empower women, putting strong women in a positive light.