Capulet's Non-Traditional Female Role In Romeo And Juliet

438 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles in the Renaissance

Sometimes people defy the rules because they know their hard work will pay off. In the fifteen hundreds, there was a set way a woman should behave. The feminist theory focuses on analyzing the inequality between gender roles. During the Renaissance, people expected women to need a man in their life to take care of them and to play the role of housewives and mothers. People additionally expected women to be seen and not heard. Women had many limitations and very little rights. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Juliet displays a non-traditional female role demonstrated in her connections with Romeo, Paris, and Lord Capulet.

Juliet Capulet displays her non-traditional female role in her relationship with Romeo Montague. In current times people still expect a certain gender to perform specific …show more content…

Romeo and Juliet’s undeniable love for each other leads the reader to expect a marriage. While a marriage does take place, the proposal happens in an unusual way. Directly following Juliet’s deliberate proposal, she asks Romeo to “send [her] word to-morrow [...] and all [her] fortunes at [her] foot [she will] lay” (Shakespeare. 2. 2. 150, 153). Juliet’s proposal to Romeo rolls right off her tongue like second nature. Juliet proposing to Romeo confirms that she breaks through the stereotype of how a woman should act and that she exhibits the traits of a non-traditional female. During this fast-paced action of this play, during the four days Romeo and Juliet spend with each other, Juliet partially plans her own fate. Juliet’s decision to go along with Friar Laurence’s plan caused her and Romeo’s death. Many things could have and did go wrong, which Juliet previously thought of. Juliet exemplifies the characteristics of a non-traditional female character because she and Friar decide that “Romeo [shall] by [their] letters and know [their] drift”(Shakespeare. 4. 1. 115). During the Renaissance,

Show More
Related

  • Reverse Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    397 Words  | 1 Pages

    One clear representation of the reverse gender roles displayed throughout the novel is when Juliet proposes the idea of marriage to Romeo. On the balcony, following Romeo’s profession of love, she states, “Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow” (Rom.2.2.146). During the time of Romeo and

    Read More

  • Capulet's Treatment of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Capulet's Treatment of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet During the time that Shakespeare was writing Romeo and Juliet, the roles of people in society and the family were very different. Men were superior to women in every way; the father had full control over every aspect of his marriage and family. Children, especially girls, would have been expected to everything their father bid them – from chores to marrying a suitable husband. Men controlled every aspect of his family. He also owned everything his wife owned.

    Read More

  • The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V by Shakespeare

    2326 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Shakespearean time and even up to the turn of the 20th Century men were expected to be the sole provider of the family, entailing them to be either well educated or hard working. They were also expected to be good with the handling of finances and property. It was also acceptable for them to be barbaric, boisterous and socially well connected. This has given the men of this time an overwhelming sense of power, respect and freedom; rights which were not given to women at this time. Far from what was socially acceptable in regards to men, the gender identity of women was of a somewhat weaker nature. Women during Shakespearean time were regarded as docile, quiet and non-opinionated. Their socially acceptable role in many cases was to be domestic, entailing them to spend countless hours in the home, tending to basic familial needs, such as cooking and cleaning. This position prevented many women to receive an education or to socialize outside of the home. As a result of their inferior social status, they were expected to be submissive and to cater to her husband’s needs at all times. Women in Shakespearean time were also treated as property, either by their husbands or fathers, which diminished any sense of self-worth they may have possessed. This gender ideology ultimately paralyzed women, as the majority were helpless to alter their social standing or designated familial role.

    Read More

  • Juliet: From Mouse To Woman

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Later when Juliet is at the ball she meets Romeo, and falls in love at first sight. Later Romeo follows her to her balcony where she confesses her love for Romeo to herself. Overhearing her, Romeo shows himself and also confesses his love for her. Taken over by her first feelings of love and lust, she defies her parents just by speaking to him in that manner. Before this, which was only about five or six hours ago, she would not have spoken to him at all, let alone that time of night. Romeo soon proposes to Juliet and she says yes.

    Read More

  • Lady Capulet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

    1755 Words  | 4 Pages

    A woman during the 16th century did not have the freedoms that a woman today enjoys. During Shakespeare’s life wives were not allowed the independence they take pleasure in today. Therefore, the role of the mother for Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is not commanding or authoritative because of the time period Shakespeare lived.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Based On Fate Or Personal Choice?

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet believe their fate is to be together even without knowing each other for longer than a day, deciding to get married right away. In the play without Romeo, nor Juliet's parents knowing, the night after meeting Romeo decided to have Juliet marry him and he says “I take thee a thy word. Call me

    Read More

  • Predictable Behaviour In Romeo And Juliet

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    Juliet’s character is a collection of innocence, youth and naïveness. Her portrayal, however, did not fit well with the stereotypical view of how an Elizabethan women should have been. Women back then had to obey their fathers and husbands. They weren’t granted free will and so Juliet initial portrayal is girl who is an obeying daughter but when she discovers love she becomes a disobedient daughter to be faithful to her husband (Romeo).

    Read More

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream - Battle of the Sexes

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine being a woman in sixteenth century Europe. Females were raised to believe that they were subservient and that men knew better on any subject. Basically, women had no rights. They were considered property, first “owned” by their fathers and then control was “transferred” to the husband chosen for them. Marriage was not about love, but in most cases, it was a business deal that was mutually beneficial to both families – an interesting fact is that like young women, most young men had no choice in the selection of their future betrothed. These traditions and the gender roles assumed by men and women at that time had an impact on Shakespeare’s writing and performances and a great example of this is evident in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

    Read More

  • Gender Relations in Shakespeare´s Romeo and Juliet

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet has different roles for different genders. During the Shakespearean period, when Shakespeare writes, most women had to marry when they were teen, when they were in adolescence or even before. However, the men who they were marrying were in their early to late twenties. In the household that the women lived in, the men basically owned them. The women always followed men’s word, which says that the male was the dominant gender of the society. Romeo and Juliet reflects this in a number of ways. Juliet was forced to marry Paris, by the word of her father, who said that if she did not marry Paris, she would go to the streets(Shakespeare, 3.5.154-62). Women were thought to be weaker and less important than men in Romeo and Juliet because men are trying to be the strongest out of everyone, women have a lower social status, and men think they owned women in Romeo and Juliet.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Reckless Quotes

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    The lover’s immediate connection is established at the Capulet feast, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Through doing this, it shows that Romeo is reckless and continues even though he recognizes that they come from different families, “o dear, my life is my foe’s debt”. Throughout the play, it establishes that Juliet allows herself to behave impulsively and be persuaded by Romeo into a impetuous and thoughtless marriage, “The exchange of thy love’s faithful vowel for mine” Juliet expresses her concern that it is too soon to promise to love Romeo when they have only just met, “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden / Too like the lightning” This simile is used to convey Juliet’s thought on their sudden love. Although Juliet has recognized how spontaneous they are acting, it does not prevent her from continuing her relationship with Romeo, proving that Juliet is just as impulsive as Romeo. Thus, Shakespeare has skillfully utilized the lovers to demonstrate that their own reckless actions is a reason for their untimely

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Forgiveness Analysis

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the course of the play, Romeo and Juliet immediately fall in love. Also, they know they are meant for each other and therefore decide to get married. After this marriage, there was a brief moment in time where everything was perfect. They are married, in love and there is nothing stopping them from being together. This however quickly changes after a fight that leads to death. Once Romeo is banished from Verona for the penalty of murder, love grows tremendously between the couple and drives the need to be together. The marriage between Romeo and Juliet is hidden from their parents, so Montague decides to arrange a marriage between her and Paris. With all the conflict arising between Juliet’s family, Friar Lawrence creates a plan that unfortunately does not succeed. His plan for Juliet is to tell her father she will marry Paris then go to bed with no one, not even the nurse. After, she will drink a potion to make her seem dead for forty two hours and then have a messenger tell Romeo about it. He will have her put in a vault to wait for Friar to bring her out so she and Romeo can elope. The plan was perfect until tragedy occurs, Benvolio had seen Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it. The result is Romeo and Juliet murdering themselves and the play had a tragic ending. Overall, young, innocent lovers die, through no fault of their own but a simple mistake. “How oft when men are at the

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, there is an overlaying presence of the typical roles that men and women were supposed to play. During Elizabethan times there was a major difference between the way men and women were supposed to act. Men typically were supposed to be masculine and powerful, and defend the honor. Women, on the other hand, were supposed to be subservient to their men in their lives and do as ever they wished. In Romeo and Juliet the typical gender roles that men and women were supposed to play had an influence on the fate of their lives.

    Read More

  • Impulsiveness in Shakespeare’s Tragedy "Romeo and Juliet"

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo’s numerous rash decisions demonstrates his great impulsiveness. Romeo at first grieves over his unreciprocated love for Rosaline, but after he sees Juliet; he forgets about Rosaline entirely. His hastiness leads him to make decisions that are not intelligent or to his benefit. Shortly after meeting Juliet, he asks her to “exchange [her] faithful vow” for his ( 2.2.132). Romeo’s recklessness is evident that he does not think before he makes important decisions; prompting him to propose to Juliet just hours after their first meeting. Yet the morning before, Romeo was suffering from depression because he could never have his Rosaline. After what seems like a lifetime of loving Rosaline and promising to never love anyone but her, Romeo sees Juliet and instantaneously all his thoughts of Rosaline vanish. Romeo becomes infatuated with Juliet, with whom he exchanges less then fifty words before “falling in love.” The next morning he begs Friar L...

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Hamlet And Michael Almereyda's Hamlet

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is to be expected in a society that did not even permit women to perform in theaters, so men played the women’s roles. Women were not allowed to perform on stage until 1660 when Charles II took the throne and the Restoration occurred (Nestvold). Hence, women are often restricted by husbands or fathers, like Juliet who was controlled by her father in Romeo and Juliet, or women are victimized by men and not in control of their own fate, like Desdemona who dies at the hands of Othello in Othello.

    Read More

  • Women´s Portrayal in Shakespeare´s Othello

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.

    Read More

More about Capulet's Non-Traditional Female Role In Romeo And Juliet

Open Document