How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
POSTHUMUS
Could I find out
The woman's part in me—for there's no motion
That tends to vice in man but I affirm
It is the woman's part
[…]
They are not constant but are changing still
One vice but of a minute old for one
Not half so old as that. I'll write against them,
Detest them, curse them. Yet 'tis greater skill
In a true hate to pray they have their will;
The very devils cannot plague them better. (2.5.20-23; 31-36)
Women are always changing, but Posthumus wants them to stay the same. That, however, hints at how insecure he is about women. He only feels like he's in control if his wife remains exactly the same forever. One thing he learns in this play is that remaining exactly the same forever is impossible—more than that, it's not even desirable. By the end of the play, Posthumus seems more okay with the idea of change; he's been forced to rethink his views (and his insecurities) by the events in the play.
Quote #8
PISANIO
You must forget to be a woman; change
Command into obedience, fear and niceness—
The handmaids of all women, or, more truly,
Woman it pretty self—into a waggish courage,
Ready in gibes, quick-answered, saucy, and
As quarrelous as the weasel. Nay, you must
Forget that rarest treasure of your cheek,
Exposing it—but O, the harder heart! (3.4.179-186)
Here's a how-to manual on becoming a man. Aside from the comedy of it all, we think this is an important quote because of what it tells us about men and women: women are always changeable, fearful, pretty, and weak hearted. We don't agree with these characteristics, but we do think they sum up what many of these men think about women.
Quote #9
IMOGEN
I see a man's life is a tedious one.
I have tired myself, and for two nights together
Have made the ground my bed. I should be sick
But that my resolution helps me. (3.6.1-4)
As Imogen wanders around in Wales, she thinks about gender since she's just "become" a man. Is she just tired from her own experiences, or does she think all men's lives are as bad as hers is right then? There's not much else in the play to support a full-scale investigation into what makes a man a man, but we get a small glimpse here. It turns out that being a man and being a women may be equally difficult, if in different ways.