An you should do it too terribly, you would fright the Duchess and the ladies that they would shriek, and that were enough to hang us all.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 2. When Bottom offers to play the lion in the play for Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding, Quince tells him not to roar too fearsomely. Otherwise it will frighten the Duchess and the ladies, he warns. Women are obviously seen by Quince as fragile creatures.