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Gender Roles Of Elizabethan Men And Women

687 Words3 Pages

Social media today, women are pressed to be sexually attractive, while men are represented as being physically desirable, aggressive and violent. Back in the Elizabethan era, when Shakespeare's classic tragic star-crossed love story of Romeo and Juliet was performed, this standard of men and women would have been considered as normal. In Elizabethan times women were considered as objects that could be used to forge alliances with other powerful families through arranged marriages whereas men were of higher rank than women. With the exception if Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare reinforces the stereotypical Elizabethan man and women. But, in Baz Luhrmann, 1996 film of the play, does he follow or challenge the way Shakespeare originally represented males and females? …show more content…

Elizabethan era gender stereotypes were clearly defined, with men reigning superior over women, while women were subservient to men. In Verona men were violent, sexual domination, and conquest. Tybalt is violent and hot-tempered, his notion of honour is all in the masculine code of revenge and doesn't fight back against any insult, then his reputation as a Verona man is in danger. Elizabethan Women were subservient to men, they were expected to know how to govern the household and perform domestic duties so when they were marriages of their husbands would want to support them. Juliet’s father is quick-tempered and impetuous and angrily demands that Juliet obey his wishes to marry Paris. Juliet’s mother, Capulet’s wife, is a woman who married young, she was eager to see her daughter Juliet marry

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