Both genders have different expectations at different ages. They determine the choices that are made which effects their future. The expectations that are set today are not the same as a couple years ago. In the play Romeo and Juliet, the gender expectations effect the choices that they make. The gender roles and expectations in the Renaissance era pressures the characters to feel more mature than they truly are which leads them to make terrible decisions in the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare.
In the Renaissance era, people expect that females wed a man who is in their twenties and raise kids all while they are at a young age. Juliet is expected to marry and she does not have a say in who she is going to marry. She does not have a lot of freedom and cannot argue with her parents. However, the concept of her marrying leads her to believe that she is mature enough to make important decisions for herself. This expectation impacts her actions because she starts to rebel against her parents and go against their word and
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However, in the play, Romeo is young and does not have many responsibilities or the pressure of having a family. This impacts the decisions that he makes because he is lenient with his choices and they negatively affect him. Romeo is having a bad feeling about “going into this masque” but he still attends anyway and ends up almost risking his life (I.IV.50). Romeo is also immature because he encounters Juliet at the balcony, he goes straight to Friar Lawrence to request permission to “combine by holy marriage” (II.III.64-65). He requested to marry Juliet, who he has only known for a little bit and taking into consideration he is not even old enough to get married. He also moves from “Rosaline, that [Romeo] didst love so dear” as soon as he sees Juliet(II.III.70). This proves that he is