King John Women and Femininity Quotes

We included this quotation under the theme of "Men and Masculinity," but we think it's worth repeating here, too. That's because, like some of the other quotations we've seen in this section, it shows that the play doesn't portray all stereotypically male qualities as good, and all stereotypically female qualities as bad (or vice-versa)—even if some of the characters in the play happen to think that way. Why do we say this? Because everything in the play is setting us up to root for young Arthur, and hence to wish for Hubert to experience a compassionate change of heart. And if that means Hubert will be acting in a "womanish" way, then acting in a "womanish" way can't be bad. Here, as elsewhere in the play, we can see how Shakespeare's play encourages us to take a broad perspective—meaning that we can't uncritically attribute any of the individual characters' views to Shakespeare himself.