Romeo And Juliet: Gender Roles In The Elizabethan Era

Throughout the play, both Romeo and Juliet are seen opposing the common faiths and patriarchy of Italy’s 16th century society. [ADD ‘ELABORATE’ STEP]. This is particularly evident after Juliet’s first meeting with Romeo, when he sneaks into the Capulet’s Orchid. Explicitly demonstrated in Act 2, Juliet rebels against a higher authority, her parents, by proposing a clandestine marriage with the supposed enemy, “If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow.” (2.144-145). In this scene, Juliet is resisting the typical beliefs related to the women of that time, and assuming a dominant role by being the first to purpose marriage (is usually performed by males). Not only that, but by not consulting her parents,

The role of women constantly change throughout history. In the Elizabethan era, women were not offered female employment and almost no rights. This era fostered a playwright, William Shakespeare, who wrote the play Romeo and Juliet, a play that illustrated the story of two star-crossed lovers from opposing families. Much like the status of women in his society, Shakespeare portrays women in Romeo and Juliet of similar menial roles. Throughout the play, the role of women was to follow men, please others, and to be of a lower and weaker status.

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:

During the time period of Shakespeare, gender roles were a huge part in every woman and man’s life and tell each individual how he or she should behave and exist. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1597), the portrayal of a working class woman is seen through the Nurse, in Verona. The Nurse is an older woman whom works as a trusted servant in the Capulet household, which includes Juliet. The gender roles were strict within the household during Shakespeare’s time and the females were taught to be disciplined and obey by being a lady in a patriarchal family system. The Nurse serves and shows this discipline by playing an important role as a messenger to Romeo to gather all the details to their secret marriage to make Juliet pleased.

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was a popular play in the sixteenth century, and remains a modern classic read by millions. But what might not be clear to readers of Romeo and Juliet is its representation of patriarchal oppression and the female resistance. Through the major male characters in Romeo and Juliet, Old Capulet and Romeo, William Shakespeare explores the objectification of women, suggesting that they are merely property, with no free will or rights of their own. However, Juliet fights against the concept of the patriarchy by taking her own life, showing the power and control that she desires and eventually achieves. Old Capulet, Juliet’s father, acts as her main oppressor throughout Romeo and Juliet.

William Shakespeare, in his play Romeo and Juliet, portrayed two young individuals trapped in the times when freedom to choose personal destinies was highly restricted. They lived in a very patriarchal environment, where women had no chance to experience youth, and men were expected to resolve conflicts with swords instead of words. Romeo and Juliet did not resonate with the expectations pressured upon them. The couple was quite unique compared to the others surrounding them – Romeo was not too interested in proving his manhood, and Juliet was not just a passive female figure accepting everything that was thrown her way. Juliet possessed some masculine characteristics, whereas Romeo was more feminine than it was acceptable back then. Possibly,

Romeo and Juliet is a time-ascending play written by William Shakespeare in the sixteenth century about two feuding families and their children that, against all odds, fall in love. Everyone who has heard of the play is familiar with the ending: the death of the star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. However, Shakespeare incorporates many important themes into his five act play, almost all of them still applicable to today’s modern society and rules, one of them being gender roles. The two’s defiance of society’s gender norms plays a crucial part in ending the feud between the two families. In the eyes of the public, Romeo is supposed to be a man. He is supposed to be above women and the idea of love and work for his family. Instead,

In Romeo and Juliet, the stereotypes of the gender roles are portrayed against the Elizabethan expectations to make Romeo soft while Juliet is strong. This makes Juliet more rebellious and quick to decide. However, this creates the expectations of parent roles especially for the father because they will decide their children’s future. Thus, the stereotypes of genders roles have contributed largely to the tragic end of the tale Romeo and Juliet.

After getting in a fight with Tybalt, Romeo is banished from Verona and Juliet has to find out a plan to avoid getting married to Paris and to be with Romeo: “‘Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off’” (4.1.95-96). Juliet follows a plan to drink a liquor that will knock her out under forty-two hours. During that time Romeo is supposed to get her while she’s in her tomb, however he is misled into thinking she’s dead. Therefore he kills himself.

Representations of women in Romeo and Juliet: Final Copy Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about two star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. This play that was written during the Elizabethan era, a time where men sexually dominated women reinforces and challenges the stereotypical representations of women in society. Shakespeare explores women being portrayed as submissive and having limited roles in society. Women in Romeo and Juliet are also conveyed as sexual objects and objects of transfer. The play also portrays women being constructed as brave and intelligent but are limited by the society in which they exist.

When Lord Capulet tells Juliet of the news that she will be getting married to Paris in a couple of days, Juliet gets upset and tells him that she will not do it. When Juliet tells this to Lord Capulet, he gets very angry at her and tells her that she is not welcome in the family and that he doesn’t want to see her if she doesn't marry Paris. “I tell thee what-- get thee to church a Thursday Or never after look me in the face (Page 1014).” This quote is from Lord Capulet, and it shows that Juliet would have to sacrifice her family if she didn’t marry Paris. This quote also shows that Juliet loves Romeo so much, she would give her family up for him. For the end of the play, we knew it would end in a tragedy, but we didn’t know how. Juliet, Romeo, and Friar Laurence, had come up with a plan for Romeo and Juliet to be together. The Friar, who was also a very skilled herb mixer, made a remedy that put Juliet in a death-like coma, so that everyone will think she is dead, then, in two days Romeo will go to the grave to be with Juliet when she wakes up. Juliet did not know for sure if this remedy was going to kill her or not, but she knew she would rather die than be separated from Romeo, so she went through with the plan and put herself in the coma. Although the coma plan did work, and Juliet did not die, Romeo went to the grave and thought she was really dead because of a miscommunication, and he drinks poison. When Juliet wakes up from her coma, she sees Romeo there dead and kills herself.

Most of us grow up with the classic gender roles imposed upon us; pink is for girls and blue is for boys; girls should like dolls and clothes and boys should like trucks and sports. Kids are taught to act according to these gender roles and they are expected to follow them. Shakespeare’s classic character Juliet also grew up with restricting gender roles that influenced her actions and decisions throughout the play. Juliet is the daughter of one of the two feuding families in 1500’s Verona, Italy, the Capulets, the other being the Montagues. The Montagues have a son named Romeo and the two children fall into a hasty and reckless adolescent love. Throughout Shakespeare’s work Juliet is impaired by gender roles set by society and leaders such as her father and Friar Laurence. These stereotypes are damaging and degrading and compel Juliet to conform to some and revolt against others. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare uses the character of Juliet to portray that the perpetuation of gender roles constricts the victim and forces them to either succumb to the expectations or rebel against them.

During the time period of this story/play women were treated poorly and there concerns weren’t taken into consideration. Women had little to no free will after they were married. In Shakespeare's eyes women were only meant to serve and pleasure men and to take care of their children. Women couldn’t choose who they married the father always chose the time and who the girl would get married to. Most men in this time period considered women as an object that they can keep or release at anytime they want.

Equal rights have always been a major issue and dispute. Analysing the role of women in the Elizabethan Era, through Shakespeare’s representation in Romeo and Juliet, and comparing them to the role of women in the 21st century, will help to demonstrate that equality of the sexes has been achieved, and come a long way in the past 400 years. Three ways in which equality of the sexes has been achieved is the role of a married, and unmarried woman, and roles of women in society.

Throughout the Elizabethan era the roles of women in society were very limited. Men were considered superior and women were considered inferior and significantly dependent on the male figures in their life. In today’s society women have come a long way and have even surpassed their male counterparts in the process. Women are no longer considered property or expected to maintain the household and bear children. For women to have a career at all in the Elizabethan era was unheard of. Meanwhile, today women hold some of the highest positions in government, run their own companies, and can pretty much do anything they set their minds to. A majority of the plays and stories written in this time period portray the female characters as weak and, at times, deceitful. One of the world’s most renown writers, William Shakespeare, expresses these stereotypes through his play “Hamlet.” Shakespeare incorporates misogyny within this play to show the way women were viewed in his time and how women helped drive the madness of many of his characters including Hamlet. The cynical opinion Hamlet develops towards the women around him is similar to the one King Shahzaman has in “The Thousand and One Nights.” In this story, the King is betrayed by his wife and seeks solace in the despair of others. The actions of these two men give us insight to the way women were regarded in that era. William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and “The Thousand and One Nights” illustrate the