Restoration drama is remarkably loaded with questions about politics and sexuality in both artistic and social life. This study examines the cultural anxieties surrounding gender and its implications in Elkanah Settle's The Female Prelate (1680) where gender roles signify less about biological traits and more about the Restoration cultural scene. We argue that the gendered discourses the play introduces possess a twofold critical relevance that combines the contemporary social expectations of the male/female and complicated political partisanship in the Restoration period. We argue that by assigning specific masculine and feminine roles to characters, Settle shows his political stand and expresses his views regarding the most heated political debates of the period. The study demonstrates how the play destabilizes the traditional conceptions and expectations of gender. This remarkable gender instability can be best evaluated through a combination of literary and historical analysis.