*Hook/intro
The societal roles and expectations forced upon Juliet regarding her identity impact her actions and decisions. Juliet’s expected contributions to society are based on her gender, her age, and her family name.
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
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It is expected of her to do as her father declares, as the good obedient daughter she is. In this day in age, it was unheard of for the woman to choose the man they wanted to marry. These strict gender roles inhibit Juliet from choosing her own path, and holds an influence in her rebellion against her family. Juliet understands what is unfairly expected of her as a female, but continues to fight a losing battle of breaking free from those stereotypical duties. In a conversation with her mother, she inquires what Juliet’s position is on marriage, “Lady Capulet: Tell me, daughter Juliet,/How stands your disposition to be married? Juliet: It is an honour that I dream not of” (I.iii.64-66). This is one of the first and only times where anyone considered that Juliet may have a say in signing away her future. Perhaps it is Lady Capulet who asks as she too was expected to marry at a young age, so she can best understand what Juliet is going through and the pressures put on her. Juliet realizes that an arranged marriage into a good family is an honour, but it does not seem to be something that she is looking for in life. She does not want to marry a man simply because it is expected of her. Later in the play, Juliet is the …show more content…
Juliet’s age is associated with when she is expected to become a mother. Paris is talking with Capulet, and says that Juliet’s age should not stop her father marrying her off, “Younger than she are happy mothers made” (1.2.12). Paris' argument to not wait for his and Juliet’s marriage is that there are many girls who are even younger than Juliet who are married and have already started a family. Juliet’s age puts her in a place where she is expected to contribute a child. This may be why she was in such a rush to get married to Romeo. Marriage of her choosing to Romeo prevents the marriage against her will to Paris. The influence placed on Juliet by her family is itself shaped by expectations of Juliet’s age group. When Juliet tells her father she does not wish to marry Paris, her father replies harshly commenting on her reasoning being due to her age, “A whining mammot, in her fortune’s tender/To answer I’ll not wed, I cannot love,/I am too young, I pray you pardon me” (3.5.185-187). Juliet’s father lacks empathy for Juliet’s position, and so continues to hold the high expectations that are required of her because of her age. Juliet never told her father she would not wed because of her age or her inability to love, so perhaps her father is projecting his guilt as he knows it is unreasonable to expect marriage and children from her
In Document B, “Think of marriage now”, Juliet tells her mother “ … no more deep will I endart mine eye / Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.” Juliet is telling Lady Capulet that she will only marry the person that her parents approve of. Juliet acts as if she will do what her parents say,which is why they do not take her seriously when Juliet says she does not want to marry Paris and force her to marry him, which drives Juliet to kill herself. Furthermore, Juliet also does not give her parents a reason to why she suddenly changed her mind about marrying paris. Juliet told her parent “ Delay this marriage for a month, a week…” When Juliet says to delay the marriage she does not tell her parents why she wanted to wait, because she did not give a valid reason her parents though she was just being difficult and thought Juliet would get over it and marry Paris. This resulted in Juliet faking her own death, which lead to Romeo and Juliet to take their own lives. Juliet is to blame because she acted as if she had no voice in the decisions that were made for her , causes her parent to overlook her opinion, Juliet also does not communicate why she does not want to marry Paris, which would have resulted in her parents to at least hear her
Gender Roles are norms set by society that dictate what types of behavior would be deemed appropriate and desirable for a person based solely upon their actual or perceived gender. Gender roles have been placed on society since the beginning of humanity and we can find examples of gender roles even in holy texts, such as the Holy Bible. Examples of gender roles found in the Bible are, I Corinthians, 11:14 and 15 which states “Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?”, this quote states the obvious long hair is feminine, you are a man,short hair is masculine, it is wrong to do anything feminine because
Did you know that Romeo and Juliet was one of the biggest love story of all time. Romeo and Juliet is a story of two star-crossed lovers from two families the Capulets and the Montagues. The Capulets and the Montague had a big fight that made the families very angry at each other. Romeo and Juliet decide to get married. The two couple marry and run away. In the process both of them will die. When it comes to Romeo and Juliet who are the top three people that caused the two to die. The two people that are chosen are Friar Lawrence and Lady Capulet. Friar was chosen because he is the one that married Romeo and Juliet. Lady Capulet was chosen because she is forcing Juliet to marry Paris which is making Juliet want Romeo even more. The third thing
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.
One of the standards was that Juliet get married young. At the time, Juliet was in her early to mid teens, which is not really a good time to get married, because you still haven’t experienced life enough to know what qualities are good in a partner. Granted, he dad was going to marry her, but still on qualities he thought was good. Anyway, the marriage probably would not have been good. Also society thought that she should marry someone her dad chose for her, as shown by this quote, said by Lord Capulet, “She shall be married to this noble earl,” (3.5.24) This “noble earl” was Paris. If she had not had to marry Paris, I think that everyone would’ve gotten along a lot easier. Society also considered the Montagues and the Capulets to be enemies. So, they didn’t think that two children of opposing families should express love to each other, rather than
In the play of Romeo and Juliet, the reader is introduced to two young star-crossed lovers who hope to fall in love and have the happily ever after. However, through the twists and turns of the play, the reader finds the story has a twisted ending. For the project, my group chose Juliet as our portrayed character. In our portrayal of Juliet, the character is well summarized as well as the characters role in the play. Beginning at her head, we summarize Juliet’s family life in a discrete but well thought out way. Upon Juliet’s head sits a golden headband to represent being of a higher family. While Juliet is no princess, she is the only child of Lord and Lady Capulet. “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. My fingers itch.—Wife, we scarce thought us blest That God had lent us but this only child, But now I see this one is one too much And that we have a curse in having her. Out on her, hilding!”(3.5.160-168). Because she is the only daughter of the Lord and Lady, one can suspect a life filled with pressure for young Juliet.
Instead it is the wife’s duty to inform her child that she must prepare herself for marriage. Lady Capulet was married at an age younger than Juliet is. She says, "By my count I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid" (1.3.73-75). It is time Juliet leaves her nest and adds to the family’s fortune. The mother is the one to tell Juliet this news because she was put into the same situation as her daughter. During the ...
Considerable expectations are placed on Juliet due to her gender. As a female, Juliet was 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/
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.
Lady Capulet is very materialistic and she wants Juliet to gain wealth and status by marrying Paris ‘’Share all that he doth possess’’. In addition, because she got married at a young age, therefore she thinks it’s right for Juliet to be married at a young age ‘’I was likely your mother at just about your age’’. Moreover, she constantly urges Juliet to marry Paris without any sense of consideration for Juliet’s opinions or feelings, about the alliance of the marriage. Furthermore, this illustrates her cold attitude towards love and marriage as she only talks about Paris Social position and wealth.
Juliet’s arranged marriage with Paris, as well as the ancient feud between Capulets and Montagues, eventually contributed to the deaths of their children. In Act 1 Scene 2, Paris asks Capulet, ‘But now, my lord, what say you to my suit?’ which shows that Capulet and Paris are discussing Juliet’s possible marriage without consulting her, perhaps implying they think she is too nave to decide on her future. They are arranging her marriage for her, which implies that men are very controlling of women’s lives, especially those of their daughters. The scene establishes how Juliet is subject to parental influence, and how she is very constrained since her father can force her to marry whoever he wants. Juliet’s status as a woman leaves her with no power or choice in the decision of whom she should marry.
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.
Considering people during the Renaissance didn’t live as long as they do now, the women in Verona during that time matured much more quickly than women do today. Marrying and having children were jobs that were often completed before the age of eighteen. Juliet’s marriage to Paris was supposed to happen when she was only thirteen years old, and Juliet’s mother tells her that she became a mother “much upon these years” (I.iii.70-72). Women during that time were passed down from their parents to their husbands without much chance of independent thought or action. Juliet had never even considered marriage until her mother brought it up, and seemed somewhat astounded when she did. Because there were arranged marriages at that time, there were likely many instances when the women didn’t love their chosen man. Juliet’s arranged marriage to Paris is an example of this, And because of it, an ample amount of trouble arose.
He did not give much thought on how Juliet feels about the marriage and agrees to marry the two even though Juliet had not given him consent. For example, when Paris asks Capulet if Juliet would love him; Capulet responds, "Of my child 's love: I think she will be ruled. In all respects by me; nay, more, I doubt it not." (4.3.13-14). Capulet’s relationship with Juliet is superficial; he does not understand or know his daughter well. By creating the wedding, he causes Juliet to become desperate as she would be marrying someone she doesn’t love. To add to the matter, instead of trying to understand his daughter’s perspective, he becomes aggressive and gives her with an ultimatum. Capulet shouts, “Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church o 'Thursday, Or never after look me in the face.” (3.5.160-163). By forcing Juliet into marriage, she becomes desperate and causes her to begin considering death as a way out. "I 'll to the friar, to know his remedy; If all else fail, myself have power to die." (3.5.241-242). Capulet’s controlling and aggressive parenting forces Juliet to marry someone she does not love. Furthermore, this causes Juliet to starts considering suicide as a way out. Capulet’s actions to forcefully marry Juliet to Paris brings her death because it results in the Friar’s potion plan which would cause the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. If Capulet did not
The audience is first introduced to Juliet in the exposition of the play. Juliet attracts the attention the Count Paris and her father (Lord Capulet) wisely says that Juliet “is yet a stranger in the world” (Act I.2.8) and should be allowed “two more summers” (Act I.2.10) to grow until she is ready for marriage. This implies that Juliet is young and has not yet matured to level where she is eligible to be married. Lord Capulet’s love for his daughter leads him to protect her from the prospective marriage until she is “ripe to be a bride” (Act I.2.11).