Thou changèd and self-covered thing, for shame
Bemonster not thy feature. Were ‘t my fitness
To let these hands obey my blood,
They are apt enough to dislocate and tear
Thy flesh and bones: howe’er thou art a fiend,
A woman’s shape doth shield thee.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 4, Scene 2. Albany wants nothing more of his evil wife Goneril. He calls her a devil in a woman’s shape and warns her not to make herself look even more monstrous. If he allowed his hands do what his heart wishes, he would tear her apart with his hands, but he says that her woman’s appearance protects her. Goneril is saved here only by her gender.