The Value of Sex in Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure

1251 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The renaissance in england esaay pdf

Renaissance England often treats female sex and virginity as a commodity. Shakespeare recognizes this belief system in Measure for Measure and Romeo and Juliet.

In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's virginity acts as a commodity. However, it is not her commodity; rather, it belongs to her father. Capulet uses it as a bartering tool. In act three, scene four, he makes a marriage agreement with Paris. He says, "Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender / Of my child's love. I think she will be ruled / In all respects by me. Nay, more, I doubt it not" (12-14). The first definition in the Oxford English Dictionary defines tender as "to offer or advance (a plea, issue, averment; evidence, etc.) in due and formal terms; spec. to offer (money, etc.) in discharge of debt or liability" (def. 1). The OED cites Littleton's Tenures in 1544 as an example of this definition: "The Lorde maye tender a conuenient mariage wythout deperagyng of such an heir female." Subsequent definitions also define tender as "to make (physically) tender, soft, or weak" (def. 2d). These definitions prove the ecconomic value of Juliet's body. Capulet weakens Juliet physically in 3.5 by ordering her to marry Paris or "beg, starve, die in the streets" (192). In many productions, Capulet strikes Juliet, emphasizing her "tender" state. He has full control over Juliet's life and consequently, her body. Her virginity is a bartering tool, something he can sell on a whim to the highest bidder. Within this system of arranged marriages, sex functions as a commodity.

Measure for Measure also speaks to the commodification of sex by highlighting female virginity, those who are and those who aren't. In this play, female virginity functions as a...

... middle of paper ...

...odity, desperately sought after by men. Their commodity places them in a double bind: "To be sexually active is to be suspect, to be a virgin is to be desirable and therefore potentially sexually active and potentially suspect. Either way women lose. Either way they are sexualised" (Macfarlane 78).

Works Cited:

Carlson, Susan. "'Fond Fathers' and Sweet Sisters: Alternative Sexualities in Measure for Measure." Essays in Literature 16:1 (1989): 13-31.

MacFarlane, Linda. "Heads You Win Tails I Lose." Critical Survey 5:1 (1993): 77-82.

Riefer, Marcia. "'Instruments of Some More Mightier Member': The Construction of Female Power in

Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Quarterly 35:2 (1984): 157-169.

Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. Greenblatt 2021-2090.

---. Romeo and Juliet. Greenblatt 865-941.

Show More
Related

  • The Black Plague and Its Impact on Medicine in Medieval Society

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death (also called the "plague" or the "pestilence", the bacteria that causes it is Yersinia Pestis) was a devastating pandemic causing the death of over one-third of Europe's population in its major wave of 1348-1349. Yersinia Pestis had two major strains: the first, the Bubonic form, was carried by fleas on rodents and caused swelling of the lymph nodes, or "buboes", and lesions under the skin, with a fifty-percent mortality rate; the second, the pneumonic form, was airborne after the bacteria had mutated and caused fluids to build up in the lungs and other areas, causing suffocation and a seventy-percent mortality rate.

    Read More

  • Lust In Romeo And Juliet

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lust or Love: An Essay Analyzing the Relationship of Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet

    Read More

  • Native Americans: The Pequot Tribe

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like other Indian tribes the Pequot tribe of Connecticut has a rich history. The present, past and future aspects of Pequot tribe have been discussed by various writers, websites and magazines. Modern society considers the Pequot tribe with sympathy because of their history. The tribe is considered as an American heritage and various platforms represent Pequot people from cultural and historical aspects. The American society has an overall positive view about the Pequot tribe and is mainly interested in understanding their culture and historical background. According to Pequot Indian fact sheet presented by biggorin website , the modern Pequot tribe contains mixed heritage from both the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes. The website describes past cultural heritage and living style of the Pequot tribe’s people which includes the tribe’s language, religion, food, past time and other basic activities. It holds general information regarding the importance of Pequot’s culture and defines the cultural importance of Pequot people in a very positive manner. The people of the United States and the economy both benefits from the tribe and have a positive prospect about tribe. Pequot t...

    Read More

  • Attitudes Toward Love and Marriage in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    to be a quite romantic person, as, to start with, he is in love with

    Read More

  • The Various Perceptions of Love in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    ' Here's much to do with hate, but more with love.' Act 1 scene 1.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Romeo And Juliet

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Summative Assessment

    67 Words  | 1 Pages

    To show your understanding of Romeo and Juliet, your summative assessment is to write a formal essay answering your essential question. Consider what you learned from the play, along with your personal understanding of life and people to answer the question. This will then become the thesis statement that you prove in this formal essay. Below is a sample outline that shows what your essay should

    Read More

  • Should Middle Ages Be Called The Dark Ages Essay

    322 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Black Death, or Bubonic Plague is a highly contagious disease that was spread by rats and other rodents that killed more than one third of the population in Europe. This disease is called the Black Plague because its symptoms produced black, skin around its swellings. This started in Europe in 1328 and lasted till 1351, although it still had prevalent outbreaks. Some of the symptoms are high fever, bleeding in the lungs, vomiting and painful swellings (buboes) of the lymph nodes. These would appear throughout would appear in various parts of the body. The colors of the buboes would start off red, and over time turn turn black. Victims in the Middle Ages and doctors had no idea what caused these disease. Doctors used various herbs to try to heal its victims, but sadly, there was no cure.

    Read More

  • Pornography: Exploitation or Expression?

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    During this time, sex between those who are not married, was strongly looked down upon. Also, sex was strictly for pro-creation, never for pleasure. Therefore, Victorian pornography highlighted many negative and frightening possibilities of sex such as bodily decay and suffering (Joudrey, 2015). This makes it seem as though both the man and woman would have harm done to them for engaging in intercourse. However, in other categories of Victorian pornography, the perspective that it is God’s will to forcefully take a woman’s virginity takes place. According to scholar Joudrey, there are vivid explanations of doing so in short stories such as Venus in India (1890). Even supposing this view was acceptable in the Victorian Era, it is not a man’s duty to take a woman’s virginity to form her into a “real woman”. Today, this would presumably appear as rape especially because the women had no say in the matter and surely depict the women as objects rather than

    Read More

  • Love In Romeo And Juliet: The Consequences Of Love

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although love is interpreted as a wonderful thing it can also ruin someone's life, “Love is a trap. When is appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.” (Paulo Coelho) Love doesn’t fix people it breaks them asunder. It waits and waits for its next target to make a mistake and ruin everything they worked for. As seen in various works including; “The Raven” , Romeo and Juliet, and “The Gift of the Magi”. Romantic love is a force that inflicts pain upon those who believe in it or those who have been through it.

    Read More

  • The Black Death

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    The plague is believed to have originated from central Asia in 1331, when the wild rats moved to live around the people, probably due to flooding and earthquakes. From central Asia, the plague spread to China and India before moving west to Iran. By 1345, the disease had spread along the trading routes to Europe. It is thought that Italian trading ships that were at Caffa also brought the plague to Constantinople, the capital of Turkey, and then to Eastern and Western Europe. The plague was then spread from person to person by bad hygiene and because the sick and dying weren’t isolated from the rest of the world. It affected more people in cities that in rural areas. This is because people in cities people are in closer proximity to each other than people in rural areas, so the germs have more people to get to than in the...

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Modern Day Analysis

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Analysis

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet had many issues leading towards Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide towards the end of the play. When blaming someone it means responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure. Accordingly, Friar Lawrence is openly accountable for Romeo and Juliet’s death. With this intention, he does not make one, but three faults that direct to their death. In particular, he marries Romeo and Juliet, he depended upon Friar John with a letter of essential information to be delivered to Romeo, and he took off when Juliet was in jeopardy at the tomb. On balance, without these critical misshapes, Romeo and Juliet would still be alive.

    Read More

  • The Presentation of Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    be in love. Mercutio treats love as a game; he thinks that if you are

    Read More

  • Pepsi Co

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Dehli, said aerated waters produced by soft drinks manufacturers in India, including multinational giants PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company, contained toxins including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos — pesticides that can contribute to cancer, a breakdown of the immune system and cause birth defects. Tested products included Coke, Pepsi, 7 Up, Mirinda, Fanta, Thums Up, Limca, and Sprite. CSE found that the Indian-produced Pepsi's soft drink products had 36 times the level of pesticide residues permitted under European Union regulations; Coca Cola's 30 times. [3]CSE said it had tested the same products in the US and found no such residues. However, this was the European standard for water, not for other drinks. No law bans the presence of pesticides in drinks in India.

    Read More

More about The Value of Sex in Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure

Open Document