Romeo And Juliet Social Class Essay

The Romeo and Juliet play explores not only teenager’s romantic love but social interactions and stratifications as well. Shakespeare’s writing demonstrates the importance of the social classes held in the Renaissance society and how one’s quality of life and influence are depended on his or her position. In Shakespeare’s work, the higher class consists of the educated, elegant, and secure people, while the lower class consists of the poor and the uneducated ones. Nonetheless, the author emphasizes that human relations do not depend on the social differences between the people, and even the most socially distant individuals can share the strongest friendship, while the equal ones – the pure and blind hatred.

The main focus of Shakespeare's

The difference between the higher class, which consists of aristocrats, and the lower working class, can be traced observing the differences between Balthazar, a servant, and Lord Montague, head of the Montague family, and thus, its most privileged member. Balthazar is poorly dressed, wearing dull and cheap clothes, unlike the Lord, who can afford elegant and ostentatious clothing. However, the appearance is not where the main difference between the Lord and the servant lies. The way they speak is what reflects the social distance between Balthazar and the father of Romeo. The latter one speaks in verse, which proves his education and nobility. On the other hand, Balthazar speaks in prose because he is not educated. The nurse speaks in prose as well. “I’ll lay fourteen of my teeth- And yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four- She’s not fourteen. How long is it now To Lammastide” (“Romeo and Juliet” I. iii. 12-14). Unlike nowadays, in the era of Shakespeare, education was a privilege that only the richest and the most influential ones were able to afford. Therefore, the social difference between an educated individual and non-educated one was tremendous. As follows, the educated members of such noble families as the Montagues or Capulet, are way above their servants in the social pyramid. Nonetheless, Balthazar and Romeo are close and trusted friends who share a