The men and women presented in Shakespeare's plays King Lear and Othello differ and are similar in various ways. Shakespeare adheres to many contemporary stereotypes about how men and women should or should not behave in the Jacobean era. Gender has great importance in his plays as Jacobean era society was patriarchal, so it is not surprising that men and women are presented differently. Women have often been associated with weakness or lower intelligence. According to Gibson, women in the Jacobean era were “a different species from men, far inferior in rational thought”. This supports the idea that women are different from men as women have always been described as weak and “inferior”, in contrast to men who have been described as powerful and “firmly in control”. However, Shakespeare's work also carries stronger underlying connotations that women share similar traits to men that contrast greatly with the typical view of men and women at the time. In King Lear, Cordelia returns with an army, act 4.4; this puts her in a position of power as she is in control of her soldiers. Shakespeare's portrayal of women is revolutionary for the Jacobean era and would have been very controversial to audiences of the time. Women in Shakespeare's plays are portrayed in a stereotypical way that parallels the views of women in the Jacobean era. During this period, according to Leach, “gender inequality must be seen in the Elizabethan and Jacobean context.” This shows that a woman's social priority in that period was "to be feminine, delicate and caring so that she could take care of a family and have children", says Bigter, while men had to be "strong, powerful and ambitious". Desdem...... middle of paper ......command” . Because of this, women would have been seen as weaker than men and Shakespeare's underlying suggestions that women are stronger than men would have been lost in the comic presentation of women. In conclusion, Shakespeare is somewhat revolutionary in how he portrays women the way he does. do not adhere to the usual expectations of Jacobean women. It is clear that men and women had equally unequal roles in society, as demonstrated by their portrayal in Shakespeare's works. Through the characters of Cordelia and Desdemona we can see that women have been portrayed as weak and “helpless” and that they rely on men. The characters of Othello and Lear display positions of power and heroism in contrast to the opinions of women. However in both characters, particularly Lear, we see another side to men that shows that they can be helpless and that too much power can be their downfall..