Swati Joshi
Ms. Kilburn
9th Grade English Period 4
23 May 2014
Patriarchy in Romeo and Juliet
“The power of patriarchy has been to make maleness feared and to make men feel that it is better to be feared that to be loved” (Hooks). Patriarchy demands fear and control, and love cannot satisfy the conditions for this ideology. This proves true in the case of Romeo and Juliet, who disregard William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, societal patriarchy and conventions are disregarded by the protagonists.
The extent of patriarchy is a large contribution to conflict in interpretation.“And you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend/ And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets” (4.5.193). Lord Capulet wants and has complete control over Juliet and her actions. In these lines, he proves the social belief that patriarchy is required to keep order. Without Lord Capulet’s control, Juliet would be starving on the streets like a peasant. Romeo, however, declares,“It is enough that I may but call her mine” (2.6.8). By using “call”, he shows that he does not require dominance-rather, the decla...
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.
Who would be willing to die for their loved ones? Romeo and Juliet would and did. Romeo and Juliet’s love and death brought two families together who could not even remember the origin of their hate. When the parents saw what their children's love for each other, they realized that their fighting had only led to suffering and insoluble conflict. Romeo and Juliet loved each other to an extent that they killed themselves rather than live apart. They did it with no hiatus. Juliet says before she kills herself, “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.”( 5, 3, 182-183) demonstrating how she would rather die than not be with him.
Act II scene II, lines 2 to 34 of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most recognized and memorable excerpts in all of Shakespeare’s writings. Romeo’s love for Rosaline is now replaced by Juliet, who is his enemy. Romeo later sneaks into the Capulet’s house and hopes for another glimpse of Juliet. This passage brings out an important theme of love and is significant because of the romantic figurative language that Shakespeare incorporates in the excerpt. This extract reflects on the theme that romantic love can be beautiful and ennobling.
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.
Considerable expectations are placed on Juliet due to her gender. As a female, Juliet is expected to marry the man of her family’s choosing, granting her no control over her future. Capulet and County Paris discuss whether Juliet is fit to be a bride. Although age plays a factor in this decision, Capulet is deciding his daughter’s fate based on the expected gender roles of her being the sole female daughter of the family, “ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;/Let two more summers wither in their pride/ Ere we
In act one scene three of Romeo and Juliet Lord Capulet states “…She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” This means that Juliet is not quite fourteen years old and her father is not sure if she is ready to become a wife and mother. There are many differences between how people marry today, and how they married in the time of Romeo and Juliet. Some of the differences are when the people marry, why people marry, and also the level of maturity people marry at.
Parents are supposed to support their child no matter what happens. When making decisions, their children should have their own opinion and do what they think is best. Parents can’t force their child to do things they want them to do. In the book Romeo and Juliet, Lord Capulet is frustrated with Juliet because she wants to marry Romeo. Romeo is part of the Montague family who are rivals of Juliet’s family, the Capulets. Lord Capulet doesn’t want her to marry Romeo, because he wants her to marry Paris instead. Lord Capulet shows his true colors when Juliet disobeys him and refuses to listen to his commands. Juliet’s father did not truly love Juliet in the story because he just cared for his family’s reputation, he did not focus on Juliet, and he failed to support Juliet.
...er love to Rome freely. In addition, the lovers struggle to uphold on to their Christian faith firmly due to the deep sensation of love they feel toward one another. Finally, both Romeo and Juliet choose to disregard their gender roles in order for them to practice their love without any opposition. The societal expectations of family, religion, and gender place Romeo and Juliet into a vulnerable position, yet they choose to defy place were supposed to abide to AUltimately the two lovers lose hope, end their lives, and
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.
Anna Freud, the founder of child psychoanalysis, once said, “It is only when parental feelings are ineffective or too ambivalent or when the mother's emotions are temporarily engaged elsewhere that children feel lost” (“Anna Freud”). In this case, the children, Romeo and Juliet, get lost and confused, leading to their ultimate deaths. While they cannot live without each other, they also cannot live with each other either, since they end up dying together from all the conflicts piling on top on each other. Since Romeo and Juliet do not really have any parental influence in their lives, they do not know how resolve their conflict of star-crossed love. Due to miscommunication, conflicting viewpoints between parents and adolescents, and a lack of involvement in their children’s lives, Shakespeare shows through Romeo and Juliet that adults are ineffective in saving their children’s lives.
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name;” (Shakespeare, 536). In the book, ‘Romeo and Juliet”, by William Shakespeare there is a deeper meaning that Shakespeare is trying to portray other than parents cannot control their children’s hearts. He is trying to portray that a name is only a name and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and that even with a different name that person will still be the same person they have always been. Shakespeare is using the characters: Juliet, Romeo, Lord Capulet, Friar Lawrence, and the Nurse to get this message across to the reader or the viewer.
In life individuals have responsibility that may have an effect on their future it can be in an exceedingly dangerous approach or in an exceedingly great way. When an individual have the tendency to create a wrong call so we constitute the wrong path we have to require responsibility of our actions and fix our downfall. Responsibility is the state or fact of being accountable and accept the full responsibility for the consequences. Downfall is a fall from prosperity or power. The play romeo and Juliet took place in a city called Verona the play is about a long feud between the Montague and Capulet families. This feud causes tragic results for the most characters within the play, Romeo and Juliet. The events distinction hate and revenge amorously
What makes a piece of literature relevant or irrelevant to a society? There have been many debates on the relevance about particular pieces of literature, especially old literature, in the modern day. Their relevance can be judged by how they address issues happening in society when they were written compared to those same issues today. It can also be judged on whether the themes present can apply to the modern day. And even if a story portrays issues that are either resolved or irrelevant today it can still have value on how it portrays human nature The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a relevant work for a person in modern times due to its themes on suicide, human recklessness, and violence and revenge.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play commonly viewed and known as a true love story; however, after analyzing several hints portrayed by the protagonists, it is evident that Shakespeare did not intend to make Romeo and Juliet seem like a true love story but a criticism of how superficial society’s view on love is.
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. Juliet’s arranged marriage with Paris, as well as the ancient feud between Capulets and Montagues eventually contributes to the deaths of their children.