Oppression Of Children In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

The title characters in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet are not bad children and are simply influenced by their families' dysfunctional behaviours; they are denied certain freedoms and are unable to pursue their desire for one another. This oppression leads them into secrecy and rebellion. The Capulets and the Montagues prevent their children from living the lives they want. These two families oppress their children's freedoms, forcing them to overcome their control through rebellion and secrecy. Consequently, the only way Romeo and Juliet can risk seeing each other is when they are shielded by “night's cloak” (II.II.75) and by fleeing the city (IV.I.117). Romeo and Juliet are deprived of a major right – the freedom to see one another.

The social rule that Montagues and Capulets cannot get along deprives the two young lovers of the opportunity to converse with one another in the open. If their parents had not continued this ancient feud, Romeo and Juliet would not need to sneak around and lie as much as they did. In addition, Capulet does not let Juliet have any sort of freedom of choice or opinion. When told of her arranged marriage with Paris, Juliet wants to express her thoughts on the subject but Capulet refuses to hear anything, telling Juliet to “speak not” and “not answer [him]” (III.V.163). Juliet's reasons are inconsequential to Capulet. He does not seem to care about anything but the fact that Juliet is disobeying him; suggesting that Capulet's greatest concern is the control of his family members. By living in secrecy, the Montague and Capulet children must always watch what they do and where they go. In Act Two, Romeo visits Juliet the night of the banquet to confess his love. However, Juliet begs him to leave in fear that her kinsmen will “murder

The Capulets are a dysfuctional family because they are blindly devoted to hate.When the Nurse notifies Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt and is facing exile for his murderous actions, she cries for Romeo more than she cries for her cousin. To her, the news of Romeo's banishment is equal to the death of “ten thousand Tybalts,” or even the deaths of her father and mother (III.II.114,123). Juliet prioritizes Romeo because she loves him. At this point Juliet only knows Romeo for a day, yet still feels more sorrow for him. This suggests that Juliet does not love Tybalt – her family – as much as one would think. This is likely because Juliet does not only value Tybalt less generally, but because he acts as a direct obstacle between the couple. He continues the feud and fiercely opposes Romeo’s attempt at respecting him simply because he is a Montague. This gives a possible explanation as to why Juliet may rebel against her family when they oppose all her wants. Juliet is not a bad child because the Capulet household is full of dysfunctional family roles. When Capulet tries to force Juliet to marry Paris, she turns to her mother, Lady Capulet, for help. However, Lady Capulet does not concern herself with her daughter’s problems and tells Juliet to “talk not to [her]” (III.V.202). Lady Capulet is practically estranged from her daughter and does not emotionally connect with her. Ideally, a mother should be a role