![]() It was a serious and dangerous accusation and, in this period, women were guilty until proven innocent. If a woman, married or not, is accused of being unchaste and labelled a ‘whore’, it could mean the downfall of her family in society, and the ruin of her future. In A Sermon of whoredom and Uncleaness against adultery in 1547, the preacher tells women if they commit ‘fornication’, ‘adultery’ or any ‘unclean’ act, they would be going against ‘God’s commandment’ and would ‘abuse the gentleness and humanity’ of her husband. Women were warned in conduct books and in sermons preached each Sunday that if they misbehaved, they would be committing a sin. Once a woman is married she has more rules to follow – she especially needs to be submissive to her husband and faithful to him or she could be branded a whore. This last rule is why it is such a shock that Desdemona has had a clandestine marriage. ![]() The rules that applied to women concerned their conduct in a variety of situations: they should not go anywhere unescorted (this is particularly true for elite women like Desdemona in Renaissance Venice) they should not wear sexually provocative clothing or makeup they should not speak very often, and certainly not about matters of state or important issues that only men would be able to discuss they should remain chaste, keeping their virginity intact until marriage and they should obey their husbands and fathers in all things. Society was patriarchal in other words, men ran all of the institutions and were considered the heads of households. Because women were responsible for maintaining the ‘honour’ of their families (particularly amongst the upper classes), there was a great deal of anxiety about how they behaved in public and in private. This was a time of strict social hierarchies and stringent rules about how women should behave in the home and in public. In Shakespeare’s time, women did not enjoy the same freedoms that they do today.
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