Male Pride And Honor In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

In William Shakespeare’s, “Romeo and Juliet,” the play expresses love, pride, and honor in a feud between two households. While the play primarily focuses on the disastrous love story of its so-called characters, it also seeks into the presentation of male pride and honor. Shakespeare masterfully creates male characters who exhibit a complex interaction between their sense of pride and glory, leading to tragic consequences. Shakespeare utilizes the portrayal of male pride and honor in “Romeo and Juliet,” highlighting how these qualities form the characters’ actions and contribute to the tragedies that occur in the play.

One of the primary manifestations of male pride in Romeo and Juliet can be visualized through Tybalt, Juliet’s fiery cousin. When Tybalt discovers Romeo’s presence at the

Romeo’s initial infatuation with Rosaline and his eagerness for her love indicate his desire to prove his worthiness as a man. However, when he stumbles upon Juliet and falls deeply in love, his sense of pride intertwines with his search for honor. After Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, is stabbed to death by Tybalt, Romeo proclaims, “Either thou or I, or both, must go with him” (III.3, 120). Romeo’s actions are driven by a desire to protect Juliet’s honor and retaliate against Mercutio’s death. His deluded sense of honor leads to the tragic climax of the play when Romeo kills Tybalt and is later banished from Verona due to his emotional state. Immediately after, Romeo exclaims after killing Tybalt, “O, I am fortune’s fool” (III.1, 127), portraying his realization of the consequences his actions will soon lead to. This line from the play displays the tragic irony of Romeo’s honor, as his poor choices have led to his downfall. Shakespeare cleverly portrays Romeo’s struggle with male pride and honor, emphasizing the complexities that can arise when these traits are conflicted with intense