Essay On Romeo And Juliet Marriage

Juliet and Lord Capulet at first have a caring relationship but soon after Tybalt’s death this changes. It was planned that she would marry Paris when she was fifteen but after her cousin’s death, the marriage is brought forward. In Shakespearean times, it is not unusual for girls to have marriages arranged by their parents and also to

Centuries ago in Elizabethan England there were many traditions about marriage and the treatment of women. One strong tradition of these times was the practice of marriage between races. Interracial marriages were considered extremely taboo. (High Beam). In this era marriages were arranged by the parents with strong help from the local church. The individuals had little choice as to who they would marry. (Elizabethan England Life). Yet another example of these traditions was the respectable treatment of women. While the husband was in charge of his wife, as was the father, the husband were expected to treat the women right (Elizbethi). In spurning all of these traditions, Shakespeare demonstrates a view of marriage far different from that

tension, the second he lays his eyes on her he says “if I profane with

Marriage is presented in Shakespeare?s play The Taming of the Shrew, in a complex manner allowing readers to view the play literally as a brutal taming or ironically as a subversive manifesto. Yet, Shakespeare intends to present marriage to be full of mutual love where neither male nor female dominate but compliment each other thriving together in a loved filled relationship. The portrayal of a deep understanding, which exists in an analogical relationship and the gentle transformation, which occurs in marriage, clearly outlines marriage in the play to be a celebration of a mutual love relationship within the patriarchal foundations of society.

In this respect, the play is a typical romantic comedy. However, unlike other Shakespearean comedies, The Taming of the Shrew does not conclude its examination of love and marriage with the wedding. Rather, it offers a significant glimpse into the future lives of married couples, one that serves to round out its exploration of the social dimension of love. Unlike in Romeo and Juliet, inner emotional desire plays only a secondary role in The Taming of the Shrew’s exploration of love. Instead, The Taming of the Shrew emphasizes the economic aspects of marriage; specifically, how economic considerations determine who marries whom. The play tends to explore romantic relationships from a social perspective, addressing the institutions of courtship and marriage rather than the inner passions of lovers. Moreover, the play focuses on how courtship affects not just the lovers themselves, but also their parents, their servants, and their

The main difference between marriages now and in the past is that in this case, the marriages were arranged, and there was no choice in who you married ("Elizabethan Wedding Customs" 1).

Shakespeare portrays an outdated look of marriage through his play Romeo and Juliet. He further portrays this through Lord Capulet's character by saying,“She hath not seen the change of fourteen years; Let two more summers wither in their pride Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride”(Shakespeare page 1047). In this scene Paris is asking for Juliet’s hand in marriage while at the time this is a standard age of marrying it is now considered morally wrong and illegal. Today it is very odd for a father to pick the husband of his daughter for her. Even if Juliet had a choice in the matter she is still too young and inexperienced to decided something as permanent as marriage. Divorce was not an option in the 14th century. Shakespeare further stresses the outdated stance on

The preparations taken for an Elizabethan wedding were set in stone almost, because these steps were crucial in making sure everything was ready for the couple. Before a marriage was arranged or not people had to take into account the age of consent, which was twenty-one (William Shakespeare info). However, with parental permission girls could marry at twelve and boys at fourteen, however this wasn’t extremely common (William Shakespeare info). After a couple was engaged, the next step was the betrothal. A betrothal was where a couple would join hands and the man would give his fiancé a ring to be worn on the right hand. At the wedding the ring would be switched to the left ring finger. After all this, the couple would seal their betrothal with a kiss, and then sign their wedding contract (Maggi Ros). A wedding contract was much like a marriage license that we have today. Sometimes a couple would have to “get married hastily” and would just sign

The idea of marriage that is presented in the play differs from what we see marriage as

Many laws of this time and era disallowed woman to have the same opportunities as men. Women belonged to their fathers, and then to their husbands. If a woman came from wealth, often were allowed to marry from the starting age of 12. A reason Queen Elizabeth never married was so she wouldn't lose her power to man. Women were

In the class system of Shakespeare’s time, a noblewoman would generally not sully her reputation by marrying a man of lower social status.

“How would a modern audience view this play in a different way to an audience in Shakespeare’s time, particularly in relation to the role and status of women and attitudes to marriage and courtship?

By examining Shakespeare’s treatment of familial ties in his plays The Life and Death of King John and The Winter’s Tale, we can see how his attitudes and opinions towards family relationships evolved. In King John (written between 1594 and 1596), Shakespeare adopts what was then a fairly conventional attitude towards family relationships: his characters never question the highly patriarchal family hierarchy. They also assume that the majority of wives will be unfaithful, simply because they are female—however, they take the charge of adultery rather lightly. By contrast, in The Winter’s Tale (written between 1610 and 1611), he adopts a much more progressive, feminist view of family

Elizabethan marriages were a very large ordeal involving not only the town but the families of both parties. The large ordeal was not only unnecessary but also very time consuming and stressful. Marriages, birth, and deaths were all the three cycles of life that were dealt with in the church (Evans 6-7). Marriages that were done by law and not church were not registered as there were no witnesses to the betrothal. Church marriages were common and proper as they would be recorded by the pastor (Harrison 1640). Fathers could get rid of their daughters by marrying them off or if he didn’t, when the daughter came of age, the parents would arrange a marriage for the young teenaged girl to a much older man (Evans 6-7). At fourteen, a child had been responsible for all their actions long ago and was now ripe with puberty and at thirty, a man could be financially stable enough to provide for a bride and any children she might bring. All the girl’s possessions would go to the man so wealthy women never remained single for long. If problems in the marriage arose, nothing could be done because the rules of the church stated that marriage lasted until the death of each party. Not only were marriages done without the age of both parties in mind, but marriages were not for love. Families married to carry on the family surname and increase possessions and

This function of marriage endured throughout much of human history, even transcending different cultures, so often, in plays from past centuries, marriage plots function not like a familiar Katherine Heigl romantic comedy but rather like a business deal. This disparity leaves modern audiences who grew up on these movies unable to understand the at times strange, clinical nature of marriage in plays such as Goldoni’s A Servant To Two Masters. Furthermore, without this knowledge of the historical practice of marriage, audiences cannot clearly understand the dynamic between fathers and daughters like Pantaloon and