In William Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet” the distinguishment of gender identity is significantly shown in the actions of both characters. In the town of Verona, there is a strong value of patriarchy which is what drives Romeo to act like he is in charge of Juliet in their relationship. Men want to be the dominant one in the relationship, but males often also ofectify and degrade women in the play. The societal pressures that is shown in the men in Verona, is what influences Romeo to act the same way. Having the outside world foster anxiety towards Romeo, is what puts tension in the microcosm between Romeo and Juliet. The bliss that Romeo and Juliet felt together, gets challenged by a lot of chaos happening around them. The stress of …show more content…
In the play, there are many situations where both characters show the opposite of how they represent themselves. In some situations, Romeo acts feminine, while in some other times Juliet showcases characteristics that can be considered masculine. Though Romeo likes to come off as manly, and masculine, when he talks about Juliet, or speaks to her directly, he presents some feminine aspects. After Romeo’s banishment he explains that he would rather live nowhere else than Verona because “Heaven is here / Where Juliet lives” (III.iii.29-30). Romeo’s speech suggests that he finds angelic qualities in Juliet, that make Verona seem heavenly to him. He does not want to leave where he finds the most happiness with someone. This proposes the idea of feminine characteristics in Romeo because usually he tries to act brave and manly, but Juliet has impacted him to become more kind hearted. Just as societal pressures causes people to change, they also cause people to …show more content…
Her father informs her that women much younger than she is are already married, and are mothers. He tries to pressure Juliet into marriage with Paris although she states her thoughts about marriage as “an honour I dream not of” (I.iii.67). Juliet confronts her father about her views on marriage as an experience she does not want to live through yet. She wants to be a faithful wife to Romeo by promising her loyalty. Though, many young girls like Juliet will obey what their father asks of them. Having Juliet stand up for herself in this way shows she does not want to live controlled aymore and uncovers her rebellious propensity. Juliet adheares from specified gender norms of extreme femininity by expressing her true opinions on marriage with Paris. Though both Romeo and Juliet can show opposite aspects of masculinity and femininity, they still end their lives being their assigned gender role. Seeing Juliet dead in the tomb, makes Romeo want to end his life without any consideration of being rational. As well as Juliet, she wakes up to find her husband dead on the floor next to her. Juliet is quick to make a decision that it would better to be dead than to live without her one true love, Shakespeare writes: “Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger! / This is thy sheath: there rust, and let me die” (V.iii.169-170). Suicide is Juliet's submission to leave this world and to find pure bliss with
Romeo develops the theme of gender roles by being an example of society’s view of a male during this time period, Romeo also shows that he is aware of his masculinity when he states that by being around his lover,Juliet, he has become “womanly” and non-masculine, “This gentleman, the Prince 's near ally,My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt In my behalf. My reputation stain 'd With Tybalt 's slander—Tybalt, that an hour Hath been my cousin! O sweet Juliet,Thy beauty hath made me effeminate. And in my temper softened valor 's steel!”(3.1.114-120). In Verona, in Romeo and Juliet, the world of men and the measure of a man was determined by violence, sexual domination, and also conquest, Romeo displayed these characteristics with his first motive to go to the Capulet’s Ball, he went after Rosaline, Juliet’s cousin, whom he was trying to seduce, and this shows that Romeo saw Juliet by accident because he was only at the ball due to his determination to sexually dominate Rosaline and make her his. Romeo has given countless examples of the claim of masculinity through violence, but one example comes from when Romeo kills Tybalt, who had previously killed Romeo 's best friend Mercutio, and restates his masculinity as well as getting revenge on the behalf of his slain friend, “ Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain!Away to heaven, respective lenity,And fire-eyed fury be my conduct
On the night of the lovers’ first encounter, Juliet, thinking she is alone, reveals her affection for Romeo on her balcony. When she realizes that he overhears her, she urges him to leave, concerned that her kinsmen would find Romeo, a Montague, and execute him. Completely dismissing Juliet’s practical insight, he responds, “Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye / Than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet, / And I am proof against their enmity” (2.2.76-78). In other words, he would rather be stabbed by twenty swords than be told that Juliet does not love him. As long as she returns his love, he claims he is invincible against any animosity or hatred. Romeo’s use of hyperboles emphasizes his illusory and unstable personality, which is directly contrasted with Juliet’s sensibility and reason, regardless of her younger age. After Romeo continues pouring his heart out, also in an exaggerated form, Juliet stops him; she wishes him to be genuine in expressing affection instead of overstating his feelings. However, in a later scene, the characters’ personalities switch. Before Romeo leaves for Mantua due to his banishment, the couple exchanges their last words. Juliet, hesitant to let go of her dearest husband, insists various times that the morning song belongs to that of the nightingale, not the lark. Knowing this is not true and that it is, in actuality, morning, Romeo
...se he believes Juliet to dead, drinks poison to take his own life as a last resort. What Romeo is unaware of is that Juliet is very much alive, so it is very ironic when he says, “Death, that has sucked the honey of thy breath,/ Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:/ Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet/ Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,/ And death’s pale flag is not advanced there” (V iii 101-105). This is fate in the works in the play. When Juliet sees that her love has not rescued her and rather is dead, she kills herself with a dagger found in the proximity. “O happy dagger/ This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die” (V iii 182-183).
In the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, a quintessential pair of teens fall in love, but their fate ends in misfortune. The pair falls in love in a time where women are seen as unimportant and insignificant. In spite of this, Romeo breaks the boundaries of male dominance and shows a more feminine side. Throughout the play, there is an interesting depiction of gender roles that is contrary to the society of the time period.
Many times in this play and in today's time, women are perceived to be fragile and submissive while men are seen as dominant, sinewy people. To illustrate, “Where I have learned me to repent the sin/ Of disobedient opposition/ To you and your behests, and am enjoined/ By holy Lawrence to fall prostrate here/ To beg your pardon. (falls to her knees)” (III.v.14-18). Juliet is showing how another adult told her to fall on her knees and beg for her father’s forgiveness for just giving her opinion on marriage earlier in the
ng she stabs herself before they ask her why she's still alive and what's been going on, Juliet does this to save herself and to be with her husband Romeo, after death. "Yeah, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger, This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die. " Love triumphs in the end because the two families are united.
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).
“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is a play about two lovers from different families that have an internal feud between them. It ends in both lovers, Romeo and Juliet, committing suicide as they could not openly live with each other. An important idea in this play is that of the impetuosity of youth and the rash decisions that young people may make. This idea is continuously brought up throughout the play and is explored through the concepts of overreacting and being blinded by anger, desperation in forbidden love and taking your life for love.
Appelbaum, Robert. “’Standing to the Wall’: The Pressures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.” Shakespeare Quarterly 48.3 (1997): 251-72. JSTOR. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.
Juliet’s weakness to be controlled by love leads her to make unadvised and irresponsible decisions that contribute to her choice of ending her life. Characterized as a young and rash teenager, with no interest in love and marriage at first, Juliet wants to be independent. However, after she first lays eyes on Romeo, Juliet’s perception of love is quick to change. Their strong love easily manipulates and clouds her judgment. Even if she is cautious and realizes their love is too fast, the rush of feelings from having a first love overcomes her. Her soft-spoken words symbolically foreshadow the journey of Romeo and Juliet’s love. “Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee, / I have no joy of this contract tonight. / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;…/ This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, / May prove to be a beauteous flower when next we meet” (2.2. 117-123). The blooming flower is indicative of their growing love, especially Juliet. Being her first experience of true love, her actions become more rash the deeper she falls in, even ...
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time where the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arrange their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing into the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love and values social position rather than men themselves. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet centres on the relationship between two young protagonists, but much of what occurs during the play is as a result of the inequality between men and women.
The societal roles and expectations forced upon Juliet regarding her identity impact her actions and decisions. Juliet’s expected contributions to society are based on her gender, her age, and her family name.
Romeo believes that he needs to kill himself to be with his true love: "I set up my everlasting rest, And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh...Here’s to my love! [Drinks] O, true apothecary!Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss, I die" (page ). Romeo needs to be with Juliet because of his deep love for her, his desire to be with her leads him to kill himself. Romeo’s decision to end his life has a disastrous impact on his family and Juliet's, this destruction directly leads to two more deaths. After Romeo has ended his life Juliet awakens and sees Romeo’s dead body. This causes the young teenager to take on a course of action similar to her love's believing that it is the only way to be with him, " O happy dagger![Snatching ROMEO’s dagger]This is thy sheath; [Stabs herself] there rust, and let me die. [Falls on ROMEO’s body, and dies]" Juliet is eager to end her life and considers it to be the best and only option to maintain her love. Although she considers death the best option it leads to a disastrous impact on her family (once again) and Friar Lawrence the one who helps her to stage her fake
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.
The Elizabethan era gender roles were much different than they are today. Women were regarded as the weaker sex, and men were always dominant. These “rules” are shown prominently throughout Romeo and Juliet, and paved way for obstacles they went through in their relationship. The gender conventions for women and men were prodigiously stereotypical and unreasonable, as they made men out to be the superior gender. Women should not have been perceived as inferior to men, and these unwritten rules for masculinity and femininity were shown throughout the play. Romeo acted very feminine which contradicted his gender conventions while Juliet did not abide by rules and disobeyed her parents. Romeo and Juliet had many ways in which they followed and