This dissertation investigates how ballet adaptations of Shakespearean works have the power to interrogate established patriarchal traditions in both Shakespearean and balletic performance practices. Through the analysis of Frederick Ashton's The Dream, Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, and Christopher Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale, this study assesses how the phenomenological experiences and material aspects of ballet performances affect the comprehension and reception of a Shakespearean narrative; how these three ballets portray gender and female agency through movement to confront the patriarchal structures present in Shakespeare’s works and ballet history; and how the embodied knowledge of dancers and choreographers contribute to the performance of Shakespearean characters and meanings. I bring together theories and methodologies from literary and Shakespeare studies, adaptation studies, gender studies, and dance studies to expand the conversation surrounding Shakespearean ballets at the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada. This research establishes the potential for artistic collaboration to unite scholarship in Shakespearean performance studies; observes that representations of patriarchal control in Shakespearean drama depend on the genre of the work and are influenced by the conventions of the adaptation’s performance tradition; recognises how gender theory illuminates conventions of balletic femininity; and reinforces the importance of embodied and artistic inquiry in Shakespearean adaptation studies.