1558-1603. The Elizabethan era held some rather extreme and strange gender stereotypes, particularly seen in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the city of Verona, Italy. Men were supposed to be the only brave, strong ones willing to fight anyone to protect their honor. While on the other hand, young women were the soft, fragile ones who had no control over their lives. Gender roles were prominent in everyday life, but in some cases they were not followed. Both Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as going against the stereotypical gender roles, playing a part in their rash decision making. To begin, Romeo does not play the “proper” part as a young man. When Romeo is first introduced, he is saying, “Tut, I have lost myself. I am not here” …show more content…
An obedient, loving daughter would follow everything her parents said and was not able to even think for herself. First, Juliet goes behind her parent’s backs and marries Romeo, displaying an immense amount of strength and bravery. Also, she had the guts to sneak Romeo into her bedroom so they could seal their marriage. While it was normal to consummate the marriage the night of the wedding, it was extremely risky what Juliet did because one, she went behind her parent’s backs and two, Romeo is her sworn enemy. This was Juliet’s first experience of adulthood and it was a huge step considering, unlike young males, she has never had any experience with adult activities or decisions (Kahn). Moreover, Juliet tells her father, Lord Capulet, that she will not marry Paris, “Not proud, but thankful that you have/ Proud can I never be of what I hate,/ But thankful even for hate that is meant love” (III.v.151-153). Given the circumstances, Juliet had to obey everything her father said and a large part of that was Lord Capulet arranging Juliet’s marriage. She decides her own marriage plans and also refuses the plans her father had for her. Throughout the play Juliet is either seen at the Capulet compound or at shrift, the traditional way a young girl would be raised, out of sight from the outside world. According to Hamilton, “She is either at home or at church, and she is subject to [Capulet’s] rule. But she keeps striving for some control.” Even in Juliet’s last few minutes of her life she continues to convey great strength and courage, unlike being the stereotypical “weaker vessel,” when she kills herself with a dagger, a much painful way to go (Kahn). All in all, Juliet does in fact take some control over her life because of her defiance of the teenage girl stereotype and she leans towards the brave, rebellious, and strong personality causing 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
Juliet’s family, the Capulet’s wanted Juliet to marry a charming man named Paris. They thought that he was a very nice man but they wanted him to marry her when she was finally old enough to get married because she was only 13. After a while though her parents were really wanting her to marry Paris she wouldn’t marry him though and her dad had told her if she did not marry him he would disown her. “But, an you will not wed, I’ll pardon you. Graze where you will, you shall not house with me. Look to’t, think on’t; I do not use to jest. Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise: An you be mine. I’ll give you to my friend; An you be not, hand, beg, starve, die in the streets” (3.4 215-220). Second of all her parents and Romeo’s parents and family did not like each other at all, there was no way her parents would approve of her being married to Romeo. In the end her parents are a big part of her death because if they wouldn’t have wanted her and Paris marrying each other she could have just secretly been married to Romeo without them knowing, or pressuring her to marry another person.
Although Act 1, Scene 4 may not appear to be very significant in the development of the story line, it serves very well in giving the foreshadowing of Romeo’s fate. It also exhibits to audience the disparity between what the characters are physically saying compared to what they are figuratively trying to portray.
Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, forces her to marry Prince Paris. He doesn’t ask, or even care, for her opinion on the matter. Lord Capulet says, “I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday, or never look me in the face. Speak not. Reply not. Do not answer me” (Shakespeare 3.5.161-163). Juliet has only 2 options: live a wealthy life being unhappy and distraught with Prince Paris, or get kicked out onto the streets to be with Romeo, who has also been banned. This ultimatum makes Juliet more rebellious and willing to go against her father, after seeing how cruel he can be. Lord Capulet is definitely another factor involved into why Romeo and Juliet killed themselves. However, how much blame can be displaced from the couple that did
For all of Juliet’s life, she has obeyed her parents; however, she could not obey them when it came to marriage. Juliet’s parents want her to marry the Count Paris, but she is in love with Romeo. This causes problems between Juliet and her parents. For example, due to her refusal to marry Paris, Lord Capulet gets very angry. Since he does not know of Juliet’s marriage to Romeo, he tells Juliet she is ungrateful and if she does not marry Paris, then she will be disowned. Lord and Lady Capulet are oblivious to the fact that she has married Romeo, and this is the reason why she is not marrying Paris. Juliet wants to keep her vows to Romeo pure and does not want to break
From the very beginning of the story, the reader can tell that Romeo is immature. Romeo acts like a child. He ignores common sense and directions. For example, when Romeo killed Tybalt he was banished from the town; instead of leaving Romeo goes to Friar Laurence's cell and cries because he will never be able to see Juliet. Romeo should have been more mature about his punishment instead of crying over a girl that he barely knows. Romeo’s immaturity causes many problems in the play, including his own death.
In the start of the play Juliet is portrayed as the innocent and obedient daughter but upon falling in love with romeo we begin to see that she has a loyal nature which while good,does at times work in her detriment. In the play lord Capulet demands his rights as a father to marry her to Paris,threatening her with disinheritance and public shame. Juliet decides to take matters into her own hands and was quick in her decision to die rather than enter a false marriage:”if all else fail,myself have the power
Juliet refuses to marry Paris, saying, “Now, by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too, / He shall not make me there a joyful bride!” (3.5, 121-122). This quote shows that Juliet is disobedient and unreasonable, It is shown because as soon as talk of marrying Paris come up, Juliet breaks down crying and starts raising her voice. A little while after the last scene, the Nurse tries to give Juliet some advice, Juliet’s response is, “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend! / ... I'll to the Friar to know his remedy. / If all else fail, myself have power to die.” (3.5, 248, 254-255). This scene also shows that Juliet is disobedient and unreasonable because, Juliet blatantly goes behind her parents back to make a plan that goes against their wishes. Her actions show that Juliet changes for the worse near the end of the story.
For example when Juliet's father asks her to marry Paris and she refuses. Or when she first meets Romeo and she kisses him on the lips and then had sex with him which is not an act a thirteen year old girl should be doing. These rebellious acts show that Juliet disregards anything that her parents say and does whatever she wants. Romeo’s parents worry about his decisions but they still do
Juliet does not only isolate herself, she also loses trust within her family. During the famous balcony scene, Juliet is talking to herself, unaware that Romeo is listening. She explains that she will “Deny thy father and refuse thy name...And ill no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.36-38). The fact that Juliet will “Deny thy father” means that she will go against what her family thinks is right. Also, not respecting the rules her father has set in place is example of betrayal and respect which readers would agree is a value of the Capulets. Juliet betraying her family is an example of going against the values that her family has set firmly in place. The fact that Juliet is willing to betray her family proves that getting into a relationship too quickly can cause an altering in behavior and a change of beliefs. Later on in the play, as Juliet has returned from Friar Lawrence's cell, she goes to her father begging that he forgives her. She falls to her knees in front of her father and says “Pardon, I beseech you! Henceforth I am ever ruled by you” (4.2.21-22). This quote demonstrates that Juliet is putting her feelings before her family. Since she jumped into a relationship with Romeo so quickly, she had the sudden rush of being in love and forgets about her true values that her family has set in place. She also seems to forget her own personal values. Juliet says that “Henceforth I am ruled by you” meaning she
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.
Brown, Steve. 'The Boyhood of Shakespeare's Heroines: Notes on Gender Ambiguity in The Sixteenth Century.' Studies In English Literature 30 (Spring 1990): 243-264.
Throughout the play Juliet became very disobedient. Even after she knew that her family and her lover's family were enemies, she decided to marry Romeo. When her parents wanted her to marry Paris, a young wealthy man she responded, " I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo."(3.5.136). This proves that she is disobedient because she talked back to her father, and changed from being calm and respectful to disobedient. Even earlier in the play
Romeo started off as humble innocent boy who was black and gay. During the movie you seen the way that Romeo was out casted for being black and gay he even had his head pushed in the lockers by the bullies. Romeo accepted the fact that he was going to be out casted because of the way he was. However, that never changed his love he had for his boyfriend. Even through Romeo boyfriend friends was the one terrorizing him? Romeo never changed his heart and emotions towards his boyfriend. Romeo showed the psychology emotion which is known as “feeling results in physical and psychological changes that influence thought and behavior” (Cannon, W. B. (1927)). Romeo thoughts about his boyfriend was always positive. Romeo never let what people around him
Producers all over the world have tried to create Romeo and Juliet using many different methods. Modernizing this will give the audiences a better way of learning what Shakespeare wanted to express in his piece. For this process, we will be focusing on the scene where Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time. It will be a film production, which highlights the character Juliet at a high school dance. At this school there are distinct popularity groups that say they are not allowed to socialize with people outside their group. Juliet is a geek and Romeo is a popular.Being at a dance the kids are all dressed up making it hard to tell who's who. Juliet goes to the dance looking for Paris the boy her mother said she should look for, but she ends