Romeo And Juliet: Gender Roles In The Elizabethan Era

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

broke the gender conventions set in place for men and women, eventually leading to their downfall.
Men in Elizabethan times were supposed to be chivalrous, hard-working, and brave.

However, throughout Romeo and Juliet, Romeo possessed little to none of these traits. “Men in Renaissance society were expected to engage in public affairs in the way of soldiers, politicians, and other leaders; to be talkers, decision makers, and move events forward. Their lives were duty-bound to the state and were aggressive and self-satisfying.” (Leann Pettit 1). When Romeo is upset about having to be away from Juliet, he goes to friar Lawrence for help. When Friar Lawrence is talking to Romeo, he says that he is being preposterous and not acting like a man for sulking around and crying. Men were supposed to be valiant, and it was not very brave of Romeo to talk about attempting suicide as Friar Lawrence points out. Friar Lawrence says “Hold thy desperate hand! Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art.Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast. Unseemly woman in a seeming man,Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!” (3.3.118-123). Friar Lawrence tells Romeo he is being very feminine, and that instead he should be brave and act how an Elizabethan man should. Another way in which Romeo breaks gender roles is when he blames Juliet for his lost manhood. Prior to meeting Juliet he has always been feminine, yet he blames it on the fact that because he was hanging out with Juliet all the time he became womanly. Romeo cries “O sweet Juliet. / Thy beauty

hath made me effeminate, / And in my temper soft’ned valor’s steel!” (3.1.113-115) He is trying so hard to not be feminine because that is what the society expects from him. “This distinctly shows the enforced concept of dominance. Men from opposite sides are meant to be defeated through fighting duels, and women are objects to conquer and overpower to sate sexual desires.” (Romeo and Juliet: An Exploration of Gender Roles 1). Romeo trying to prove his masculinity eventually leads to him getting involved in a fight with Tybalt to defend Mercutio and becoming banished from Verona.
Women, on the contrast to men, were made out to be far less important and just utilized for children and cleaning.

Pleasing their husbands, parents, and families were all things women should aspire to do. At the beginning of the play, Juliet follows gender conventions. She always obeyed her parents and did what they wanted her to do. After Juliet meets Romeo, things change dramatically. Juliet breaks gender conventions by denying her parents request for her to marry her suitor Paris, something that was unheard of in Elizabethan times. It is said that “Marriages were usually arranged by the families of the bride and the groom in order for both sides to benefit from one another” (Women's Rights in Romeo and Juliet 1). When Juliet's father finds out she does not want to marry Paris, her father says “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.” (3.5.166-169). After Juliet says no to her father, he is completely furious with her. Being the daughter of a prestigious and wealthy father, Juliet should never disobey him. The fact that she is contravening her parents makes Lord Capulet angry, and he says to her if she does not marry Paris he will disown her as his child. Juliet also breaks gender conventions by leaving her house to go to confession with friar Lawrence, when she actually was going to see Romeo. For women in Elizabethan times, it is stated that “Elizabethan society was patriarchal, meaning that men were considered to be the leaders and women their inferiors. Women were regarded as "the weaker sex", not just in terms of physical strength, but emotionally too. It was believed that women always needed someone to look after them.” (Elizabethan Women 1). Juliet's parents were very strict, and never let her leave the house. They always needed somebody to be watching her, such as the nurse, and she was never allowed to do something only because of her gender. During Elizabethan times, it was always thought to be that women needed someone to be with them at all times. It was a huge deal that Juliet left the house because it was an unheard of thing to do.
Romeo and Juliet faced many obstacles due to their preconceived gender conventions. Romeo was seen as cowardly and feminine while Juliet was seen as disobedient and rude.The things expected of men and women of the Elizabethan era were not fair and this integrated to much of Romeo and Juliet's downfall. Romeo tried too hard to be masculine and ended up getting banished because of killing Tybalt. Juliet denied what her family wanted and was brave enough to stand up to them, as a man would have done. In present times, Juliet would have been able to marry whomever she would like, and it would be acceptable for Romeo to be a bit feminine and show his feelings. The Elizabethan era had many stereotypical gender conventions for men and women, that Romeo and Juliet broke throughout the play.