Romeo And Juliet Gender Roles

The story of Romeo and Juliet is based on the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues thus it is not surprising that Verona is dominated by masculine tension. As well as masculine tension is also sexual domination and violence a part of the life in Verona.(cf.https://underthefallenleaves.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/romeo-and-juliet-an-exploration-of-gender-roles/)

First, Romeo’s kind and calm personalities act as an advantage for many of the possible problems he could have had, such as Capulet hatred towards him and his increase in violence. After Romeo was depressed because he liked Rosaline and she didn’t like him back, his cousin Benvolio helped Romeo sneak into a Capulet party so he could get over Rosaline and pick another woman that he might want. As Romeo was describing how Juliet looked to his cousin, Tybalt, Capulet’s nephew, figured out that Romeo was at the party by his voice. He then confronted Capulet and asked him if he could kill him, but surprisingly Capulet lets him stay at the party and calls Romeo a gentleman and a good man (Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 1 Line 64). Capulet could have captured him or even killed him, but he did not. Capulet stated that Romeo is a well-governed youth and that Romeo is a good man, which shows that Romeo isn’t a person who would cause a commotion and that he causes no threat to the Capulet family. Later on, as Mercutio, the prince's kinsman, is arguing and fighting with Tybalt about him being one of his villain Romeo’s friends, Romeo comes in and says, “Tybalt, the reason I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such greeting. Villain am I none.Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not” (Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 1 Line 58). As Tybalt wants to fight Romeo and bring in violence,

something make it a word and a blow’. Here we can see that he is

In a patriarchal society, women are expected to conform to social restrictions by demonstrating reverence and obedience to the males in their lives. Shakespeare's tragic play, Romeo and Juliet, explores the effects of patriarchal authority exerted over women and how the patriarchal structure left no escape from it, save death. Through Juliet, Lady Capulet, and the Nurse, Shakespeare establishes a common understanding of this type of society, but illuminates three different reactions to the social oppression by portraying the responses of a passionate lover, an idyllic housewife, and an attendant.

Romeo wants revenge and fights with Tybalt. In this fight, Romeo kills Tybalt. When Romeo realizes the consequences of his actions, he says that he is “Fortune’s fool” (3.1.142). He believes that he has no control over the killings of Mercutio and Tybalt. However, these events are caused by his own rashness. Romeo chooses to fight with Tybalt and even starts the fight. Romeo fights to avenge his friend’s death. Romeo’s actions are rash because he does not consider the results of his actions. Romeo could resolve the conflict in some nonviolent way, but his mind is fixed on killing Tybalt. Romeo is exiled from Verona because he kills Tybalt. His rashness causes problems for his own family as well as for the Capulets and for the Prince. Romeo’s rashness in killing Tybalt leads to his killing himself.

Tybalt addresses Mercutio and Benvolio and asks to have a word with them. Mercutio challenges Tybalt to fight “Make is a word and a blow.”(pg 116) Tybalt believes that Mercutio’s offer to fight does not include a reason. Tybalt asks Mercutio if he is an associate of Romeo. Benvolio attempts to calm the men because they are in a public place. Romeo enters, causing Tybalt to forget the fight because Romeo is the man he was waiting for. Tybalt expresses his abhorrence for Romeo when he says “Thou art a villain”(pg 116) Romeo states that he admires Tybalt for reasons that could end their feud and that Tybalt obviously must not know who he truly is because he is not a villain. Tybalt says “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me” (pg 116) This statement confuses Romeo because he believes he never injured Tybalt “I do protest I never injured thee”(pg 116) Mercutio draws his sword on Tybalt and reveals he wants to take his life. Tybalt draws his sword and him and Mercutio begin to fight. In an attempt to stop the fighting, Romeo reminds the men about the Prince’s warning and reaches his arm between the fighting

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.

Spark of patriarchy dominates Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Sadly, this system dictates how the characters embark on their lives in Verona, Italy. Wallia (2012, para.1) defines patriarchy as a system of unequal power relations that give men privileges in all areas of their lives - social, economic, institutional, cultural, political, and spiritual - while women and gender non-conforming people are systematically disadvantaged. Men, in Romeo and Juliet, are endowed with countless prerogatives that allow them to be superior over women. Kahn (1978, p.171) supports this claim by saying that "the play, as persuasively argued by literary critics, is dominated by fathers, whose power over families is mirrored in the organization of the state as a whole."

Both Romeo and Juliet do not represent the typical gender normalites surrounding love and relationships. The character Romeo is known to fall in love impulsively quick. This characteristic is believed to be something that is not relatively “masculine”.

The ways that Romeo and Mercutio behave serve a purpose to point out one another's good and bad attributes.Tybalt, angry at Romeo for attending the Capulet party, demands Romeo fight him. Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt saying his love him instead. Outraged, Mercutio says.” ‘ O calm dishonourable, vile submission! Alla stoccata carries it away, Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?’”(3.1.44-46). Romeo

During the ball the cousin of Juliet, Tybalt, notices Romeo. He wanted to challenge him at the ball, but Lord Capulet forbade him from doing so. Tybalt, still wanting to fight Romeo, he sends out a challenge to fight Romeo. In Act 3, Scene 1, Benvolio and Mercutio are stopped by Tybalt who says: “Gentlemen p, good e’en. A word with one of you?”(III, i, 39). Mercutio responds with: “And but one word and a blow”(III, i, 40-41). Tybalt’s question was obviously about Romeo and how to find him, but Mercutio never gives him a chance. Because of the feud and Mercutio’s rash response, they duel. The duel ends with the death of Mercutio because Romeo attempted to stop the fight. Mercutio’s death caused Romeo to get angry which causes the death of Tybalt and the banishment of Romeo. Mercutio’s hot headed response causes his own death and Tybalt, which then causes Romeo to be

During the Elizabethan times, there were many issues facing common people and William Shakespeare. An important issue that played a part in everyday life for Elizabethans, whether rich or poor, was the difference between men and women. Gender roles have been debated throughout history and are changing everyday. Although modern American gender roles are much more defined and different than Elizabethan times, if Shakespeare were to live today, his writing would have been very different.

    Othello represents a prime example of Shakespeare's ability to develop relationships between the sexes so as to demonstrate those relationships' weaknesses. In Othello, the sexes are divided by misconceptions and ego- centric views of the opposite gender. The men of the play, in particular Othello, maintain a patriarchal, chivalric notion of the sexes, while the women of the play yearn for more involvement in their husbands' affairs. So it is that the thrust of the play emerges from "the opposition of attitudes, viewpoints, and sexes." (Neely 214)

relentlessly to get rid of Romeo and even goes as far to say, ‘tis he,

     Throughout history, men and women have been assigned specific roles to which society prescribes standards and qualifications. There are certain tasks that have been traditionally completed only by men, and others that have been assigned to women; most of which are separated by the realm of the domestic sphere. During the period of the Renaissance, men and women were assigned very different roles within society. The value, social expectations, legal status, and rights of citizenship differed greatly between the sexes as well as among the classes. Many of these gender roles can be identified through careful readings of the literature produced throughout the Renaissance.