---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that Shakespeare had his male…"
description: "\"I think that Shakespeare had his male side and his female side extremely well developed. And this was a great quality of the Elizabethan, all-around Re..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg"
---

#  I think that Shakespeare had his male side and his female…

![“I think that Shakespeare had his male side and his female side extremely well developed. And this was a great quality of the Elizabethan, all-around Renaissance man. They were not afraid of their male side and their female side co-existing. This somewhere along the line got lost. And then it got…” quote by Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg)

> “I think that Shakespeare had his male side and his female side extremely well developed. And this was a great quality of the Elizabethan, all-around Renaissance man. They were not afraid of their male side and their female side co-existing. This somewhere along the line got lost. And then it got misunderstood.”

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Shakespeare embodied both masculine and feminine traits, a balance admired in Renaissance men but later lost.

**In simple terms:** Shakespeare showed both male and female sides.

Key Takeaway

Embrace both sides of yourself.

Themes

gender balance Renaissance masculinity femininity

Mood

reflective thoughtful

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

- acting
- writing
- personal development
- gender studies

Key Concepts

dual nature human complexity cultural shift

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we revive appreciation for dual gender traits?
- What benefits arise from integrating both sides?

A Different Perspective

Modern culture often forces strict gender roles, limiting this balance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Elizabethan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elizabethan/) [Elizabethan Renaissance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elizabethan-renaissance-3943006/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Great qualities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-qualities/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Misunderstood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misunderstood/) [Not afraid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-afraid/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Quality Elizabethan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality-elizabethan-3943005/) [Renaissance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/renaissance/) [Renaissance man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/renaissance-man/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) [Shakespeare Male](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare-male-3943004/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [Think Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-shakespeare-725026/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/)

## Related quotes

> [I think that Shakespeare is a s\*\*\*. Absolute s\*\*\*! He may have been a genius for his time, but I just can't relate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-simmons/i-think-that-shakespeare-is-a-s-absolute-s-he-may-have-been-a-genius/)

[Gene Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-simmons/)

> [I think that if Shakespeare had had access to CGI, he would have used it. Imagine Lear conjuring the storm and the lightning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-white/i-think-that-if-shakespeare-had-had-access-to-cgi-he-would-have-used/)

[Julie White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-white/)

> [Nothing is or is not unless you happen to think it so. That's what Shakespeare said, and he knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nothing-is-or-is-not-unless-you-happen-to-think-it-so-that-s-what/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [I think with Shakespeare you can be required to do absolutely anything at the turn of a sixpence - suddenly you go into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/i-think-with-shakespeare-you-can-be-required-to-do-absolutely/)

[Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/)

> [I think my strength is always been in being very natural. I think Shakespeare and things like that would be more a stretch for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-gilford/i-think-my-strength-is-always-been-in-being-very-natural-i-think/)

[Zach Gilford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-gilford/)

> [You don’t think of Shakespeare being a child, do you? Shakespeare being seven? He was seven at some point. He was in somebody’s English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/you-don-t-think-of-shakespeare-being-a-child-do-you-shakespeare-being/)

[Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/)

> [I think Shakespeare is really the one. Words as music and music as words. Everything he wrote was good, which is really frightening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-van-vliet/i-think-shakespeare-is-really-the-one-words-as-music-and-music-as/)

[Don Van Vliet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-van-vliet/)

> [I think Shakespeare really got it. He was the first one to introduce psychology to villains and give them a real point of view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-isaac/i-think-shakespeare-really-got-it-he-was-the-first-one-to-introduce/)

[Oscar Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-isaac/)

> [But Shakespeare knows what the sphinx thinks, if anybody does. His genius is penetrative as cold midwinter entering every room, and making warmth shiver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-alfred-quayle/but-shakespeare-knows-what-the-sphinx-thinks-if-anybody-does-his/)

[William Alfred Quayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-alfred-quayle/)

> [“You will never see the ends of his armies. They blanket the Earth as a storm blankets the sky, but the sun will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-allison-moulton/you-will-never-see-the-ends-of-his-armies-they-blanket-the-earth-as-a/)

[Courtney Allison Moulton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-allison-moulton/)

> [“If the distinction is not held too rigidly nor pressed too far, it is interesting to think of Shakespeare's chief works as either love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-clarke-goddard/if-the-distinction-is-not-held-too-rigidly-nor-pressed-too-far-it-is/)

[Harold Clarke Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-clarke-goddard/)

> [I try to think about Shakespeare, leap year, the Beatles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patty-loveless/i-try-to-think-about-shakespeare-leap-year-the-beatles/)

[Patty Loveless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patty-loveless/)

> [I think that Shakespeare himself raided fairy tales and chronicle writers, and he always looked to people who worked in the mythic genres, whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/i-think-that-shakespeare-himself-raided-fairy-tales-and-chronicle/)

[Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/)

> [I think Shakespeare is everybody's treasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fortier/i-think-shakespeare-is-everybody-s-treasure/)

[Anne Fortier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fortier/)

> [“He quite certainly shouldn't care: and still he feels a hot sick bubbling in his gut, as if he'd drunk turned milk, or been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-ankarr/he-quite-certainly-shouldn-t-care-and-still-he-feels-a-hot-sick/)

[Alex Ankarr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-ankarr/)

## More by Ben Kingsley

> [Millions of children are disempowered and we need to empower them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/millions-of-children-are-disempowered-and-we-need-to-empower-them/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [We are adjusters. We empathize, we change rhythm and above all we listen to our fellow actors-if they're good actors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/we-are-adjusters-we-empathize-we-change-rhythm-and-above-all-we/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [When Attenborough asked me to do Gandhi it was almost like stepping off one boat and stepping on to another, even though both boats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/when-attenborough-asked-me-to-do-gandhi-it-was-almost-like-stepping/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [There is always something about the villains that I'm able to play, quote unquote, that isn't villainous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/there-is-always-something-about-the-villains-that-i-m-able-to-play/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [Family is family over the internet, over Skype, over the telephone. Love is love. You don't have to actually go through some ritual to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/family-is-family-over-the-internet-over-skype-over-the-telephone-love/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [Fifteen years before I became a screen actor, I was in the theatre. A lot of my work was comedy, which I loved doing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/fifteen-years-before-i-became-a-screen-actor-i-was-in-the-theatre-a/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [But comedy I'd love to do as much as humanly possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/but-comedy-i-d-love-to-do-as-much-as-humanly-possible/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [You can throw away the privilege of acting, but that would be such a shame. The tribe has elected you to tell its story.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/you-can-throw-away-the-privilege-of-acting-but-that-would-be-such-a/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [I just loved playing a man who was unafraid of making an idiot of himself in the process of falling in love. I found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-just-loved-playing-a-man-who-was-unafraid-of-making-an-idiot-of/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [When you drop your guard in films, the acting process compensates. You get lazy and you start acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/when-you-drop-your-guard-in-films-the-acting-process-compensates-you/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [When I choose a role it's either because I recognise the man, or that I'm very curious to know him. If I neither recognise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/when-i-choose-a-role-it-s-either-because-i-recognise-the-man-or-that/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [If one is going to offer children stories that underneath the story must be something that will inform, stimulate and guide, I love to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/if-one-is-going-to-offer-children-stories-that-underneath-the-story/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [It is better for me to serve a charity as an actor or a voice, rather than at a luncheon being just a celebrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/it-is-better-for-me-to-serve-a-charity-as-an-actor-or-a-voice-rather/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [The leaping Jaguar on the bonnet, to me, makes it look more like a hunter than something that is getting away. It's a hunter.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/the-leaping-jaguar-on-the-bonnet-to-me-makes-it-look-more-like-a/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

> [I don't honestly think people know what acting is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-don-t-honestly-think-people-know-what-acting-is/)

[Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

[Explore all 100 Ben Kingsley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/)

## More Elizabethan quotes

> [Sometimes I joke that I'm an Elizabethan who's had the misfortune to be alive during the reign of the wrong Elizabeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-fetherling/sometimes-i-joke-that-i-m-an-elizabethan-who-s-had-the-misfortune-to/)

[George Fetherling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-fetherling/)

> [“...language always occurs in a context - you can speak Elizabethan words, but to speak the language you have to put on the mindset...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/language-always-occurs-in-a-context-you-can-speak-elizabethan-words/)

[John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/)

> [Some are dinning in our ears that we Americans, and moderns generally, are intellectual dwarfs compared with the ancients, or eventhe Elizabethan men. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/some-are-dinning-in-our-ears-that-we-americans-and-moderns-generally/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [I was born in England and went to school there. That's when I discovered my undying passion for history - not just for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-henley/i-was-born-in-england-and-went-to-school-there-that-s-when-i/)

[Virginia Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-henley/)

> [“Elizabethan cookbooks included not only carving instructions, but the proper terminology for each type of meat such as “breake that deer, leach that brawn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-segan/elizabethan-cookbooks-included-not-only-carving-instructions-but-the/)

[Francine Segan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-segan/)

> [What light through yonder window breaks?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/what-light-through-yonder-window-breaks/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I think there are one or two things similar in Elizabethan English and contemporary Hebrew. This is not to say that every one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-think-there-are-one-or-two-things-similar-in-elizabethan-english/)

[Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/)

> [Once you reach your fifties, you have to stop being interested in the present and write only on Elizabethan poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/once-you-reach-your-fifties-you-have-to-stop-being-interested-in-the/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [But in reading Shakespeare and in reading about Edward de Vere, it's quite apparent that when you read these works that whoever penned this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/but-in-reading-shakespeare-and-in-reading-about-edward-de-vere-it-s/)

[Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/)

> [Ruin, weariness, death, perpetually death, stand grimly to confront the other presence of Elizabethan drama which is life: life compact of frigates, fir trees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/ruin-weariness-death-perpetually-death-stand-grimly-to-confront-the/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-soft-what-light-through-yonder-window-breaks-it-is-the-east-and/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [We don't go to Shakespeare to find out about life in Elizabethan England; we go to Shakespeare to find out about ourselves now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/we-don-t-go-to-shakespeare-to-find-out-about-life-in-elizabethan/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [I love Bach, I love Beethoven, I love Mozart, I love the Beatles, I love you know, Stockhausen, I love many things. But for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-love-bach-i-love-beethoven-i-love-mozart-i-love-the-beatles-i-love/)

[Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/)

> [If someone said, "Here, you have your pick, you can do either a musical, Moulin Rouge type of movie, where you sing and dance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megalyn-echikunwoke/if-someone-said-here-you-have-your-pick-you-can-do-either-a-musical/)

[Megalyn Echikunwoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megalyn-echikunwoke/)

> [Before the famine, which was in the 1840s, that was an emotional turning point... There are various documents showing how the Elizabethan English, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/before-the-famine-which-was-in-the-1840s-that-was-an-emotional/)

[Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/)

[Browse all 45 Elizabethan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elizabethan/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I think that Shakespeare had his male side and his female side extremely well developed. And this was a great quality of the Elizabethan, all-around Renaissance man. They were not afraid of their male side and their female side co-existing. This somewhere along the line got lost. And then it got misunderstood.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ben Kingsley"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-side-and-his-female-side/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Elizabethan"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-side-and-his-female-side/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/933/ben-kingsley-5765_elizabethan_i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-si_2062668.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I think that Shakespeare had his male side and his female side extremely well developed. And this was a…” — Ben Kingsley",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Ben Kingsley",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I think that Shakespeare had his...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-side-and-his-female-side/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-think-that-shakespeare-had-his-male-side-and-his-female-side/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
