After reading two works by William Shakespeare: Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream, you will notice a huge difference in the way a noble woman, compared to an average woman, attracts a man and during the 16th and 17th centuries. These differences are evident in the conversations and actions of particular characters in Shakespeare's plays, including Maria and Olivia from Twelfth Night and Hermia, Helena, and Titania from A Midsummer Night's Dream. 16th and 17th century art also demonstrates a hierarchy of women in relation to their nobility and social class, such as Elizabeth as a Princess, Mary Queen of Scots in White Mourning, Two Women Sewing and Interior with Two Women at Linen Chest , will also be used. to explore early modern England. Finally, this society will be compared to current American society, a society in which a woman's worth is determined by her outward appearance. Is there a similarity between the vanity of early modern England and that of Americans today? Twelfth Night shows that a woman's worth is based on her position in society and this is the case from the beginning of the play. The play proves that a noble woman has equal or greater power than a man in this society. Olivia, a noblewoman, has several men trying to woo her and she exerts emotional power over them. These men are in love with her because of her status in society. This power is the equivalent of a beautiful woman in American society today. It is evident that Olivia has the emotional power of the noble Orsino when, in Act I Scene I, he declares: “O, she who has a heart of this fair figure/ To pay this debt of love but to a brother,/ How will she love when the rich golden tree/ Hath has killed the fl...... middle of paper ......rn England Susan Frye Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 2010. P42 .Pieter de Hooch Interior with two women in a laundry chest. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1663. Pens and Needles: Women's Textualities in Early Modern England. Susan Frye. Philadelphia: Philadelphia University Press, 2010. P 174. Roghman, Geertruid, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1600. Pens and needles: women. Textualities in Early Modern England. Susan Frye. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 2010. P161.Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The Norton Shakespeare Volume 1: Early Plays and Poems by Stephen Greenblatt. & Company, Inc.P 849.Shakespeare, William. “Twelfth Night.” The Norton Shakespeare Volume 1: Early Plays and Poems. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: WW Norton & Company, Inc. P 1691.