Masculinity was a political issue in early-modern England. Phrases such as courage-masculine or manly virtue took on a special meaning and signified commitment to the ideals of militant Protestantism. Diplomacy and compromise were disparaged as feminine. This text presents a study of the way Shakespeare's plays engage with this ideal, also a subject that provoked bitter public dispute. Robin Headlam Wells argues that Shakespeare took a sceptical view of the militant-Protestant cult of heroic masculinity. Following a series of portraits of the dangerously charismatic warrior-hero, Shakespeare turned at the end of his writing career to a different kind of leader. If the heroes of the martial tragedies evoke a Herculean ideal of manhood, The Tempest portrays a ruler who, Orpheus-like, uses the arts of civilization to bring peace to a divided world. Other plays receiving close readings include Henry V, Troilus and Cressida, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Coriolanus.