In Shakespeare, a spiteful woman about to whimper (7)
I believe the answer is:
capulet
'in shakespeare' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'a spiteful woman about to whimper' is the wordplay.
'a spiteful woman' becomes 'cat' (I've seen this in another clue).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'to whimper' becomes 'pule' ('pule' can be a synonym of 'whimper').
'cat' enclosing 'pule' is 'CAPULET'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for capulet that I've seen before include "Juliet's house" , "Verona family" , "Will's family" , "lover's house" , "Shakespeare's Juliet's family name" .)