Romeo And Juliet Women Essay

With a kiss on the hand, the lives of Romeo and Juliet were changed forever and their destinies were put in motion. Romeo and Juliet is a play about two impulsive people that marry in secret against their families’ wishes. In the end they suffer through tragedy and miscommunication, eventually leading to their deaths. The interactions and the absence of women being able to hold power was a huge contributing factor to the devastation.

To begin with the obvious, Juliet Capulet’s identity and power made a great impact on the ending of this story. Juliet is much younger than Romeo, as told by Lord Capulet when he says “My child is yet a stranger in the world. She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. (1.2.8-9)” Age affects maturity,

Lady Capulet was kept sheltered, and led the “ideal” life that Juliet’s father meant for her to have. In act one Lady Capulet tells Juliet “By my count, I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid. (1.3.73-75)” proving that she married Lord Capulet before she was fourteen. If Lady Capulet had the opportunity to choose when and whom she would marry she may have sympathized with her daughter so that Juliet would not have to go to such desperate measures. The Nurse was hired to breastfeed Juliet as a baby, so that Lady Capulet could maintain her role as Lord Capulet’s wife. In act one the Nurse says “For I had then laid wormwood to my dug, sitting in the sun under the dovehouse wall. My lord and you were then at Mantua. (1.3.28-30)” explaining how she got Juliet to stop breastfeeding while Lady Capulet and Lord Capulet were out of town. This implies that Lady Capulet was not there for her daughter as a baby, and instead relied on hiring another woman to care for her. The last way that Lady Capulet failed to prevent the death of her daughter was her inability to deeply converse with Juliet. In act one Lady Capulet says “Nurse, give leave awhile. We must talk in secret.—Nurse, come back again. (1.3.8-9)” This quotation conveys how uncomfortable Lady Capulet felt speaking with Juliet one on one about such serious topics. If Lady Capulet had

The nurse has some immature qualities, and does not set the best example for Juliet. In act one the Nurse has an entire monologue while in a conversation with Juliet and Lady Capulet, where she jokes about her deceased husband making inappropriate remarks towards Juliet when she was a young child. Lady Capulet does not find her anecdote amusing and says “Enough of this. I pray thee, hold thy peace. (1.3.51)” to which the nurse responds with another joke referring to the story again, at which point Lady Capulet repeats herself in annoyance. If the Nurse had shown more class in discussions of important matters, then a preferable point could have gotten across. The Nurse suffered from losing her own child, Susan. While talking about Juliet’s birth she says “Susan and she—God rest all Christian souls! —Were of an age. Well, Susan is with God. She was too good for me.(1.3.20-22)” which is one of the only times that the Nurse opens up about her daughter by saying that she was not the mother Susan deserved. If the Nurse had not endured such a devastating loss and still had Susan, then she may have had a better understanding about guiding Juliet from a mother’s perspective. The Nurse acts as a messenger for Romeo and Juliet, and supports their relationship. Until act three when she gives this suggestion to Juliet “Then, since the case so stands as now it doth, I think it best you