Why were there no actresses in Elizabethan theatre?
Many sources state that women were forbidden, by law, to perform in the Elizabethan theatre, but I can find no reference to this law. It may have been that there were no permanent theatres until late into the 16th century, and companies of players were itinerant, and associated with vagrants. This was considered an unsuitable life for women at the time. Another source states that it was merely custom and tradition that prevented women appearing on the Elizabethan stage:City of London.com : “Why were there no actresses ? The short answer is tradition. Plays throughout Europe had been performed by all-male casts in the Middle Ages, probably because they were closely connected with the male-dominated church; while all other European countries allowed women on stage by Shakespeare’s time, in England this change did not occur until the 1660s. Female roles in Shakespeare’s day were played by teenage boys who were apprenticed to an adult member of the company. (Teenagers developed later in th
