William Shakespeare 's Romeo And Juliet

This does not allow Juliet to make her own decision. An example of this is when Lady Capulet reinforces the plan in which Paris would be Juliet's husband, rather than letting Juliet choose who she marries. Lady Capulet speaks for Juliet when she says “marry, my child, early next Thursday morn.” Having little to no knowledge aforetime about this news, Juliet is utterly astonished. Lady Capulet continues by saying “[the] young and noble gentleman, the county Paris... shall happily make thee there a joyful bride” (III.v.112-115). After having already prepared her life with Romeo, Juliet is in disbelief that her mother would not attempt to step into her father's plan. Juliet lashes back at her mother by saying “I will not marry yet” and threatening that she would marry Romeo “whom you know I hate” rather than Paris (III.v.115-122). The lack of communication between the two characters makes them distant from one another, and the little effort provided by Lady Capulet to approach her daughter is the main reason for this occurrence. The control Lady Capulet has over different characters and her

Namely, Capulet plays a huge role in how much pressure Romeo and Juliet have to endure in order to follow their family’s wishes. If Capulet had just agreed to Juliet originally marrying Paris and not said “My child is yet a stranger in the world,/She hath not seen the change of

Capulet treats Juliet well and appreciates her wishes, not wanting to marry her off too soon because he wants her to be ready in mind and body, unlike Paris, who says ‘Younger than she are happy mothers made’, which suggests that Paris is quite forceful about marrying Juliet and having children with her, and has no regard for her youth. Young women could also be harmed if they were not ready to bear children, which shows that the treatment of women was harsh and that their ability to produce children was more important than their health.

The relationship shown in Act 3 Scene 5 between Juliet and Lady Capulet is portrayed as poor. Lady Capulet is shown as a very distant mother, though this is to be expected when there is a Nurse taking care of the child from the early stages of the child’s life.

The father-child relationship between Lord Capulet and Juliet is a very strong one; during the beginning of the play Capulet is seen as a caring and protective father who wants what is best for his daughter. Shakespeare uses many techniques to present the relationship between Capulet and Juliet; the most common technique he uses is dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is utilized to develop tension within the audience; this tension builds up to the climax in Act 3 Scene 5 which is a turning point in their relationship.

For example, in Scene V, Juliet is being forced into a marriage or she risks losing her nobility and family. Now, women have a lot more freedom and are allowed to choose. In Elizabethan times, the people would not have been surprised at Lord Capulets reaction or the situation. To them, it would've been commonplace to see children forced to marry to much older men to benefit their family. It would not have been abnormal and would have changed their perspective on the scene. We see Juliet as the victim because of how she is being married. They would see Lord Capulet as the victim because Juliet is disgracing the family. It was taboo to be unmarried and people would think the family was unworthy because they had a witch in the family. No one wanted to risk that so they would've seen his reaction as understandable and would not have been as surprised as we

This shows that Juliet is desperately trying to tell her father what she wants but men didn't really care about women's opinions. Lord Capulet replies with more threats and saying that if Juliet doesn't go to marry Paris next Thursday he will disown her.

In Act 1 Scene 2, Shakespeare employs the metaphor 'let two more summers wither in their pride / ere we may think her ripe to be a bride'. In this metaphor, Shakespeare describes Juliet as a fruit. This reference to the natural world presents Juliet as beautiful while verb such as 'wither' and 'ripe' present Juliet as immature and naïve, not ready for the serious event of marriage. Furthermore, like a fruit can easily be bruised, Shakespeare shows how Juliet can easily be damaged and how Juliet is powerless in her choices and will be chosen by a man, like how a man picks a fruit from a tree, mirrored in the Elizabethan Patriarchal society when women were powerless and it was the men who possessed all the power. However, a contemporary audience would react very different to this, possibly outraged due to Juliet's lack of choice in her life. In addition, it is possible to say that Shakespeare choosing to rhyme 'bride' and 'pride' reflects Lord Capulet's feelings towards Juliet marrying.

Furthermore, in the Elizabethan era, it was expected that a father would protect but also control his daughter.

Juliet, along with the other women in the story, struggle to assert themselves in a world where men held all the power. Elizabethan men treated women

Women and men’s role in Elizabethan society is completely different to modern society. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare shows exactly what the attitudes were like. For example, the scene when Katherina is fighting with her sister because Bianca has a number of suitors waiting for her but she refuses to tell Katherina which one she prefers. Katherina gets angry and aggressive towards Bianca because she doesn’t give her an answer, Katherina starts to attack Bianca. Their father enters into the room and says “For shame, thou hilding of a devilish spirit! Why dost thou wrong her that did ne’er wrong thee? When did she cross thee with a bitter word? Baptista is expressing why Katherina would

Poems and plays often have to deal with the theme of power and control. In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” Capulet wields the authority. Shakespeare portrays Capulet as a patriarchal ruler who is not afraid to show his controlling side. His aggression is key aspect in the play and becomes a catalyst for the outcome of our “star crossed lovers”. I will also examine the exertion of power in the poems “My Last Duchess”, “Hawk Roosting” and “Human Interest”. Firstly, I will begin with examining the theme of force in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

A large part of William Shakespeare's life occurred during the Elizabethan period when England was ruled by a woman. However, the whole power belonged to men and women were considered as weak sex. Silence, mortification, bearing, obedience are the most important virtues, which needed to represent in relation to men. Daughters crossed from father to husband to forge alliances with other powerful families through arranged marriages; as soon as they become wife, new mission appeared — childbirth.

The foundation of patriarchy within a family has been the father for hundreds of years. The role of the father was to make decisions for the betterment and security of the family. It was this position as the head of the household that was supported by religious beliefs and political statute. Oftentimes, fathers decided who their daughters would marry to gain contracts solely intended economic advancement (Chamberlain, 2011). In literary works composed by William Shakespeare, he confronted many of these standing beliefs through the rebellion of daughters. In both plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Othello, Hermia and Desdemona purposefully disobeyed their father’s authority when marrying suitors. Although the disobedience of patriarchy established uncertainty of father’s dominance within the family system, the acts of defiance turned out to be shifting authority to their new husbands (Frey, 1978). The transfer of dominance between father and suitor was often established to benefit both parties financially; however, Shakespeare demonstrated that women had the ability to make their own decisions without sacrificing the relationship with their fathers.

Shakespeare’s plays consistently reflect the social norms of the Elizabethan era; we witness the banishment of Cordelia in King Lear when she refuses to soothe her father’s ego by perpetuating over exaggerated compliments to gain her father’s love and fortune. The play opens up with an atmosphere of male and paternal dominance where the females or daughters are expected to conform to the gender role expectation and submit to male authority. In response to King Lear’s question of who loves him most, Cordelia replies; “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave/My heart into my mouth: I love your Majesty/According to my bond; no more no less” (1.1.90-93). By refusing to add to her sisters fabricated lies of love and respect for her father, she is shunned for deflating herself from adapting the prescribed female gender role of doing and saying anything to please the masculine gender. Cordelia’s refusal to compliment can be seen as an act of resistance against Lear’s preconceived notion of love. Cordelia’s lack of words when describing her love for her father, hints at the silence that women during Shakespeare era were subjected to in terms of expressing displeasure. King Lear then vents his disapproval by stating;