(Wo)Men; (Fe)Male: An Exploration of Gender in Romeo and Juliet In the middle ages, men and women had completely different roles in society. Romeo and Juliet is set in the city of Verona, in a time when what gender you were dictated your entire existence. If you were a women then you were nothing more than someone’s property, first your father’s then your husband’s. Women had no say in their lives and were seen as weak. Men ,by contrast, were seen as always strong, mentally and physically, and dominant. In Romeo and Juliet, gender expectations play a huge part in the action of the play. Shakespeare uses imagery, hyperbole, and metaphors to highlight the theme of gender roles and the meaning of gender in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare uses …show more content…
He uses this exaggeration, sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic in order to really highlight what gender means in Romeo and Juliet. When Juliet tells her father that she wants to choose who she married and that she needs more time to decide, but he responds cruely saying, “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!/I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday,/Or never after look me in the face./Speak not; reply not; do not answer me.” (Act 3 Scene 5, Line 166-169). Capulet would not truly have his daughter hanged/killed and may be over exaggerating when he says that he would never want to see her again, but the fact that he is this angry over Juliet daring to question him and have a say in her own life just shows how little choice women had. He thinks that Juliet wanting to make her own decisions makes her ungrateful and nothing more than baggage because women would never speak up in the society he lived in. When Romeo first say Juliet he said, “O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art/As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,/As is a winged messenger of heaven” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 29-31). Romeo is obviously exaggerating when he calls Juliet an angel, but Romeo realizes that this is even more of an act of love is that the idea of a man putting a woman above him was unheard of. Romeo is essentially saying that he is unworthy of Juliet because she is …show more content…
Gender roles in Romeo and Juliet are a major part in the play. Much of the action in the play can be directly drawn back to what is expected of people of certain genders. Romeo kills Tybalt because he feels he is not masculine enough, due to the fact that he turned down a fight. Juliet fakes her death because she had no choice in the rest of her life and whom she was going to marry. These are just a few examples of how the pressure of society’s gender roles can have drastic, terrible effects. While this problem was more prevalent in past times, the effects of pre-existing gender roles are still occurring today. Girls are less likely to play sports because they fear they will be mocked for not being feminine and boys feel a pressure to demonstrate their masculinity, which can lead to even bigger problems. Sex may be something that we are born with, but gender and the way anyone should act due to their gender is no one’s business, but their own. No behavior or characteristic is inherently more masculine or feminine, but it is our choice to perceive it as so. The pressure applied due to gender affected Romeo and Juliet, and it affects people in the same ways
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
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
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.
William Shakespeare is known to be the greatest writer in the English language, and till this day Shakespeare upholds the title of being the start of English literature. Something every reader has possibly observed is how Shakespeare portrays women. The majority of William Shakespeare’s plays objectifies women and in some ways shows his underline feelings towards women, and their roles in society. This is clearly shown through out Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’. The society of Othello is completely controlled by men who are the military and political leaders of their homeland. Furthermore women are seen as powerless second-class citizens, who are in place for nothing more than to serve their men. But the horrendous actions and intense downfall of the men in Othello show how men are not nearly as authoritative and powerful as they seem. The boldness of the female characters proves that they are much more capable of just serving. Furthermore, by the end of the play, I admit the men of Othello are not the ones who perform courage and power instead; this title is given to the women in the play.
Exaggeration is a hallmark of comedy. When characters use exaggeration, it makes it easy to laugh at them. Throughout the entire play we see multiple examples of hyperbole from basically all of the characters. However, Romeo and Juliet tend to use it the most often. When Juliet first wants to know Romeo’s name, she tells her nurse, “Go ask his name. - If he be married my grave is like to be my wedding bed.” Basically, she’s saying that she will never marry, if she can not marry him. How much more dramatic can you get? And, of course, Romeo wants to join her in dramaticness, like everything else, and declares that “[his] life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of [her] love.” In this particular line Romeo is saying that he would rather die, than live not being able to be with her. Sound familiar? Going back to Juliet, we see her in a desperate situation. Her father has arranged for Juliet to marry Paris, and she is trying to get out of it. She cries out to her mother and she says, “Delay this marriage for a month, a week; Or if you do not, make me the bridal bed in that dim monument where Tybalt lies,” meaning that she will kill herself if she is forced to marry
Society in the16th century was highly structured. Women of the upper class were expected to be trophies for their husbands. The men were required to hunt, lead, and go into battle. If one chose not to follow these dictates, the rest of society would question, look down on, or even punish the deviant. The prominent author, William Shakespeare, placed this subject into comedy and tragedy plays with dramatically different outcomes. In Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare makes fun of stereotypical gender roles by establishing Beatrice and Lady Macbeth as the dominant characters over Benedick and Macbeth through imagery, dialogue, and character personalities.
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.
In this time period, girls were treated like property and like nothing. Within Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare loosens the role of the male. If a girl said something that went against a male, then she would most likely be executed. In Act 3 Scene 5, Juliet finds out she has to marry Paris. When she is talking back to her father, this is what she says, “Now, by Saint Peter’s Church and Peter too, He shall not make me there a joyful bride.
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.
Romeo & Juliet is a play written by Shakespeare about two young lovers, who cannot have each because of their family’s never-ending fighting. They both come from rich upper class families and, in which they have a big impact on the society of Verona. In the fifteenth century social statuses were based on how much money a person had, and if the person were born in to the right family or not. In Romeo & Juliet there are a lot of gender rolls, which there still is in today’s society. A woman gets paid $0.77 for doing the same job that a man does for $1 dollar an hour. This is even less for women of color. So another question woul...
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 portrayal of gender roles in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, demonstrates the inferior treatment of women and the certain stereotypes of men placed on them by society. Both the male and female characters in the play have these certain gender expectations placed on them. In a society dominated by men, it is understood that the women are to be seen rather than heard. The women are referred to and treated much like property. If indeed they do speak up, they are quickly silenced. One woman’s attempt to be the perfect wife is what ultimately led to her demise. The expectations of men are equally stereotypical. Men are to be leaders and to be in control and dominant especially over the women. The male characters compete for position and use the female characters in the play as leverage to manipulate each other. Shakespeare provides insight in understanding the outcomes of the men and women who are faced with the pressures of trying to live up to society’s expectations, not only in the workplace, but also in the home. The pressure creates jealousy issues amongst the men and they become blind to the voice of reason and are overtaken by jealous rage, leads to the death of many of the characters.
In Othello, Shakespeare writes about relationships and gender power between females and male who are from different classes and race. Gender roles and power has always been an issue in a society. Now man and women are becoming more equal than before, but it is hard even now. In that time, the man was superior and the power in the house and women were seen just as objects with no saying at all and they had to act feminine. It was hard to be a woman at that time because man felt superior and was encouraged to act like bosses to them.
Treatment of women has evolved much since Elizabethan England. As a preface to the dissection of The Tempest – in particular, the character of Miranda, Shakespeare’s role for women as a whole must be addressed. According to Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz’s introduction of Woman’s Part, “patriarchal order takes different forms and is portrayed with varying degrees of emphasis throughout the Shakespearean canon” (5). In the midst of this patriarchy, where do women stand? What social assumptions guided the pen of the great English poet and playwright as he wrote The Tempest? Lenz discusses that “In the comedies women are most often nurturing and powerful; as their values educate the men, mutuality between the sexes may be achieved” (6). However, “in tragedy…their roles are at once more varied, more constricted, and more precarious…they are condemned for acting, accused of being deceitful even when they are not” (6). Why the canyon between the two? How does Shakespeare reconcile women in what The Norton Shakespeare terms a romance play?
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.