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Abstract
This paper presents a study of the Elizabethan family and the status of women in Shakespeare’s times. The different plays written by dramatists of this time reflect the hierarchal order of the Elizabethan society. In this order, men, as fathers and husbands, placed themselves at the top and women were relegated to the subordinate position . A daughter was supposed to be obedient towards her father and later to her husband. The fundamental work of a wife was considered to be child-bearing and child-rearing in addition to managing the household. Marriage was more a privilege of the father than the right of a daughter. A father used to decide the husband of his daughter, not the daughter herself. This paper attempts to explore the structure of Elizabethan family and the status of women through a close study of Shakespeare’s two plays: King Lear and The Winter’s Tale. As Shakespeare has shown his great interest in describing family and family relationships of his times so it would be very interesting to study the Elizabethan family in these two selected plays.