Shakespeare's Women
Podcast - The Women of Shakespeare
This podcast discusses the changing roles of women written by Shakespeare, broadly dividing Shakespeare's female characters into categories -- maids and mothers and queens and villains. Was Shakespeare a feminist? Did changing societal roles for all people of all classes influence Shakespeare's writing of his women characters, or was it the other way around? Are Shakespeare's women truly that revolutionary?
Reference Shelf
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Shakespeare's Women - Character Summaries
Below is a list of female characters from some of Shakespeare's plays.Click on a name to read more about the character, and choose the red monologue link to access the character's full monologues.
Katherine - The Taming of the Shrew
Widely reputed throughout Padua to be a shrew, Katherine is foul-tempered and sharp-tongued at the start of the play. She constantly insults and degrades the men around her, and she is prone to wild displays of anger, during which she may physically attack whomever enrages her. Continue reading...
The daughter of Duke Senior. Rosalind, considered one of Shakespeare’s most delightful heroines, is independent minded, strong-willed, good-hearted, and terribly clever. Continue reading...
Portia - The Merchant of Venice
Portia is a beautiful, intelligent, and wealthy heiress from Belmont. Her father’s will stipulates that she can only marry the man who manages to solve a riddle involving three caskets made of different metals. Due to her wealth and beauty, Portia has many suitors. However, her father’s will has left her powerless to decide who she weds. Continue reading...
Helena - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Obsessed over Demetrius, Helena's character emphasizes the unpredictability of love and its excesses. Even though she knows she is making a fool of herself by pursuing Demetrius, Helena cannot stop the chase. Continue reading...
Find a complete database of Shakespeare's women monologues here. Each monologue entry includes the character's name, the first line of the speech and whether it is verse or prose.
Alternative Shakespeare Auditions for Women by 
Soliloquy! The Shakespeare Monologues by References
Allston, Washington. (1818). Hermia and Helena [Image]. Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_(A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream)#/media/File:HermiaandHelena.jpg
Apple Podcast. (2019, May 21). The women of Shakespeare (ep. 3) [Audio Podcast episode]. In The Bicks Pod. Podbean. https://podcasts.apple.com/md/podcast/episode-3-the-women-of-shakespeare/id1173682530?i=1000438975898
Hughes, E. R. (1898). Katherina contemplates her empty plate in The Taming of the Shrew [Image]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shrew_Katherina_(Hughes).jpg
Macbeth, R. W. (1888). Rosalind [Image]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rosalind_-_Robert_Walker_Macbeth.jpg
Millais, J. E. (1886). Portia [Image]. Wikimedia Common. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Millais_-_Portia.jpg
Shults, S. & Faloona, B. (2022). Women's monologues. Shakespeare's Monologues. https://www.shakespeare-monologues.org/women/
