Romeo And Juliet Gender Roles

We commonly see egoistic abuse towards Tybalt, such as at the Capulet’s party when Tybalt informs Lord Capulet of Romeo’s presence (a Montague, and thus was a mortal enemy of the house of Capulet) in his fear of obstruction. Tybalt exclaims that he “would not endure him,”(Shakespeare 57) a good intention to which Lord Capulet responds fiercely. “He shall be endured...Go to. Am I the master here or you?… Be quiet, or- More light, more light!- for shame, I’ll make you quiet” (Shakespeare 57). In the end putting down Tybalt. But, more specifically, narcissism is revealed when the Capulets decide Juliet's life for her and pre-plan her marriage without Juliet’s consent. They convince themselves Juliet “evermore [weeps] for [her] cousin’s death” (Shakespeare 161) therefore deciding “County Paris...shall happily make [her] there a joyful bride”(Shakespeare 165). This shows a quick dismissal and disregard of Tybalt’s death on the parent’s account, and reveals the parent’s underlying selfish desires. Juliet’s mother, who especially thinks that her daughter is exaggerating with devastation, attempts to have her marry Paris, the only suitor the Capulet parents approves of. Since her parents leave no room for Juliet’s opinion, it shows her parents disregard her personal desires and beliefs. As a result, instead of compromising, Juliet comes up with the

Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time where the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arranged their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing into the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love and values social position rather than men themselves.

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.

Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time when the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arranged their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing up within the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love, and values social position rather than men themselves.

Due to the nurse being so unclear, Juliet thinks that both Romeo and Tybalt both have died. Once things clear up, Juliet figures out that Romeo has killed Tybalt, and her first reaction to this is anger toward Romeo. After things cool down, she feels bad that she has said this, and she takes her words back. Once Juliet learns about the punishment Romeo gets she feels the worst she has ever felt. Romeo was given the sentence of exile, which in the time period meant no connection to people, whatsoever. Due to this Juliet knows that she might never ever see the love of her life, at all. To Juliet this meant that there would be no more Romeo, “Juliet feels that Romeo is no longer her lover, and she can’t have him again” (Moffat 139). She started crying a lot after this, so much that her parents had to come to her room and see what was going on. When Lady Capulet inquired as to why Juliet was crying, Juliet right away said that she was crying about the horrible death of Tybalt. Lady Capulet responds to this by saying, “Well, girl thou weep’st not so much for his death, as that the villain lives which slaughtered him” (Romeo and Juliet 3.5.65-66). Juliet had just tricked her mother into thinking that she wasn't crying for Romeo, but rather Tybalt. The dramatic irony in this case is that the reader knows that Juliet is lying to her mother, but Lady Capulet actually believes this, and goes along with it.

In Act 1, scene ii. Capulet appeared to be a kind hearted man and he defers to Juliet’s ability to choose for herself, “My will to her concent is but a part” (I.ii.15). Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet also has an influence over Juliet and her life and puts pressure on Juliet to marry Paris (the suitor that her father picked for her to marry). Juliet admits the power of the influence of her parents when she says of Paris, “I look to like, looking liking move; / But no more deep will I endart mine eye / Than your consent gives strength to fly” (I.iii.100-101). The specter of parental influence is very evident in this scene and it shows the influence of the society that they lived in.

Compare and contrast the presentation of gender in two films we have looked at on the course

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the Montagues and the Capulets have very different relationships with their children. A major reason for this, as well as much of the conflict in the tale, comes from the gender roles that Romeo and Juliet are expected to play into. Adding to that conflict is the fact that both Romeo and Juliet push the boundaries of these roles and struggle to fit into them. Romeo plays the over emotional lover, while Juliet is clever and dominant. Throughout the play we can see that both Romeo and Juliet have to struggle with the people around them because they are not acting within their respective gender roles.

Shakespeare's Juliet completely breaks with convention and culture by assuming female sovereignty. A daughter in Juliet's social class should marry a man of her father's choosing. Juliet refuses to marry Paris, forcing Capulet to give her an ultimatum:

Juliet is expected to be obedient and subservient as she is a women in the Elizabethan Era. She often displays these qualities throughout the play, For example when her mother inquires about Juliet's’ thoughts on marriage, Juliet obediently replies with “I'll look to like .... But no more will I endart my eye than your consent gives strength to make fly”. This demonstrates the fact that women in the Elizabethan era were very inferior to their parents. As the play goes on, Juliet's character changes into a more rebellious character. An example of when she becomes rebellious is when she is disobedient to Lord Capulet when he arranges a marriage for Paris and Juliet. “Not proud you have, but thankful that you have”. Her relationship with the nurse proves that the nurse was the one that took care of her during her childhood instead of Lady Capulet. She is looked down upon by her own parents as they don't even want to take care of her. This conveys the fact that the Capulets were wealthy and of course that in the Elizabethan Era you would force women to work for you and take care of your own

Men have had a more dramatic impact on the audience than women in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”. When one thinks of comic books, it is very likely that the subjects that come to mind are Marvel’s Spiderman or DC’s Batman. Although comic books are stereotypically thought to be mainly about super heroes, there are a wide variety of subject matter they could be written about, such as romance. In the 1950s – 1960s, it was common for these romance comics to exploit the social norms of that time and emphasized the subject of gender roles. While the men in comic books were usually illustrated in a brave heroic manner, the women would be portrayed to be what would now be considered a stereotypical “trophy wife”. As a young child reading these comics and taking in these images, they are slowly molding their ideals to believe that what they are reading and seeing is what is accepted and normal in their society. By coding gender norms into the texts, authors are helping mold the ideology of its readers to believe that it is acceptable for both genders to follow specific rules that accommodate to the believed social norms of the time.

When observing gender in our society, women and men are stereotyped with specific roles. Men have always been seen as the family’s main source of income whereas the women take care of their home and children. However, Shakespeare challenges these gender roles in his play with the three female characters Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. While all three are independent, powerful women and even lead their armies into battle, the men seem to be foolish and weak such as King Lear and Albany. Furthermore, Mira cel Batran makes a point in her essay, “Feminist Reading of William Shakespeare’s King Lear”, that although women are regarded as dependent on men, Shakespeare explains that it can be the exact opposite. The men seem to depend on the women such as King Lear depending on Cordelia and Albany depending on Goneril. Shakespeare, in his play, King Lear, portrays women who are strong and intelligent and men who are weak or overpowered by female characters, challenging the societal belief that women are inherently less than or dependent on men.

When one thinks of art and religion, one may think of gender role defiance and non-conformism. While this may be generally true in present times, it was not always this way. Women and men have had distinctly different places in society, these places often being unequal. Generally most well-known works throughout the ages have adhered to and represented what society regarded as the proper gender roles for men and women. This is represented in three works of art which will be discussed: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Courtier: Book 3 by Baldassare Castiglione, and Luncheon on the Grass by Eduoard Manet. While these three forms of art come from different times and are of different mediums, they are connected in that they follow and represent the gender roles of their time.

    When one considers Shakespeare’s female characters, one has to remember that the plays were written in a time when women were considered weak-minded creatures who were apt to make bad choices if given the freedom.  Shakespeare, for the most