Gender is society's dictation of how an individual should act, in accordance with their sex. Shakespeare challenges the assumptions made about gender in his own society. He presents gender as a changeable trait, not necessarily corresponding to the sex of the character. Furthermore, he presents gender in a way contradictory to the conventions of his time, through the use of disguise. In Elizabethan times, women were not allowed to act on stage, and society considered them to be the weaker sex, who needed to be looked after, or 'owned' by men. ...