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Romeo And Juliet's Portrayal Of Women

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The portrayal of women in Romeo and Juliet is complex. On the one hand, the play presents women as passive and submissive, particularly in their relationships with men. Juliet, for example, is expected to obey her father and marry the man he has chosen for her, even though she is in love with Romeo. She tries to defy him so she can be with Romeo but it doesn’t turn out her way. Similarly, Lady Capulet is portrayed as a dutiful wife who defers to her husband's authority and does not challenge him. She never challenges him even when her husband is forcing her daughter to marry a man she does not want to marry. This portrayal of women as submissive and obedient suggests that they are not valued for their intelligence or independence, but rather …show more content…

The Nurse, for example, is a witty and outspoken character who provides emotional support to Juliet and helps her to carry out her plan to be with Romeo. Similarly, Juliet herself is a strong and determined character who defies her father's wishes and risks everything to be with the man she loves. Juliet defies her father, which is a dangerous task because in the play it is portrayed that she is around thirteen. This makes it even more impressive because she is so young and goes through all these plans to be with the man she loves. Whereas the easier option was to agree with her father and marry Paris. She stayed strong and did what she could to marry the person she loved. This portrayal of women as strong and independent suggests that they are capable of making their own decisions and shaping their …show more content…

This is evident in the character of Tybalt, who is quick to resort to violence and aggression to maintain his honor and reputation. Many of the quarrels that are represented in Romeo and Juliet are very violent and are depicted as almost sword fights. Which is very violent to stop these violent fights the police must threaten the Capulet and the Montague boys with death to stop this violence because they were destroying the city. Similarly, Romeo's behavior towards Juliet is often possessive and controlling, as he becomes jealous and angry when he thinks that she might be unfaithful to him. This portrayal of men as violent and controlling suggests that they are threatened by women who assert their agency and

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She is the only person that supports their marriage just because she wants them to be happy. The nurse helps Juliet out of pure love, and is the steady, supporting mother figure in her life. She is the least selfish and most mature character in the play. In Act II, Scene V, Line XXVII,

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Many fables and fairytales like this have shown characters with aggressive behavior. Likewise, the character Tybalt, in Romeo and Juliet, acts pugnaciously and violently throughout the story, not taking a second to ponder the decision he has made. Often times, being one who starts quarrels in the streets of Verona, Tybalt demonstrates numerous times in the play that

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When Benvolio intervenes to calm down the escalating brawl between the Montagues and Capulets, Tybalt's arrival only exacerbates the situation. Tybalt quickly disregards Benvolio's plea for peace and instead chooses to engage in violent behavior, revealing his tendency to assert his dominance through aggression. In contrast to Benvolio's efforts to diffuse the situation, Tybalt's actions increase tensions and perpetuate a cycle of violence. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses Tybalt's character to draw attention to the detrimental impacts of conforming to outdated gender standards that prioritize aggression and violence, as evidenced by the fact that Tybalt's violent argument with Mercutio ultimately results in his demise.

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The two families in this story hate each other with a passion. Juliet, the daughter of Lady Capulet and Romeo the son of Lady Montegue. Since the year of basically 2000, people these days believe that men and women are equal. Many people ask

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This shows the relationship of men and women in a negative manner once again. The narrator was basically forced to listen to the husband instead of her own body, and this hurt her condition. This highlights how the man of the family was seen as the one who got to make decisions on everyone's behalf, even his

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You will notice that throughout the play women’s rights played a huge role in the story, mainly in Juliet’s decision making. In the play Romeo and Juliet, the submissive characteristics of Juliet, show the control men had over women at the time. Juliet allowed Lord Capulet

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In the play Romeo and Juliet, many characters struggle with an emotional instability that leads them to making impulsive decisions that result in chaos. Shakespeare is able to combat certain gender stereotypes by making impulsivity and emotional instability problems within characters who are female and male. The results of these flaws are often either death or an outcome similar to it. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare challenges gender stereotypes by portraying both male and female characters as susceptible to emotional instability and impulsivity, which ultimately leads to chaotic outcomes, including death or similar tragic consequences.

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The nurse and Juliet share an exceptionally genuine bond that is evident right away; in fact, their relationship is so tight that she is one of the few people who is aware of Romeo and Juliet's relationship. However, this bond quickly becomes abandoned to Juliet after it becomes apparent that her nurse agrees with a forced marriage. This encounter leaves Juliet heartbroken and losing a person she really trusts. In turn, this leaves her with only one other source to trust which is Friar Laurence who can be recognized as someone who had to due with Juliet’s tragic fate. Overall, the

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Lady Capulet is respectful towards Capulet showing a power imbalance in their relationship. Capulet refers to Lady Capulet as “wife.” These two terms being used instead of each other's names show a lack of comfort with each other. Conflict between social obligation and free will repeatedly occurs in Romeo and Juliet as the female characters opinions are undermined and considered

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The play Romeo and Juliet is about two star-crossed lovers that would die for each other. It might seem romantic, but it is an example of an unhealthy relationship because it shows sex discrimination, violence, and codependency. Sexism shows up multiple times in the play Romeo and Juliet. The stereotype of women being weaker than men is portrayed throughout the play.

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Today, in the 21st century, most women are fairly respected and have the freedom to make their own choices; but when reading Romeo and Juliet, from the Shakespearean age, I have learned that women were viewed very differently. Using clues provided by this book, it is clear that whether women were housewives, royalty, nurses, or children, they didn’t have equal rights to men. Men were very masculine; they ordered their wives around and expected women to obey. Whereas women were very obedient and unfortunately were often taken advantage of. In this paper, will be examining the stereotypical role of a woman in the Shakespearean age.

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Male Aggression in Romeo and Juliet ; Shakespeare in his tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, presents aggressive male behaviour as a key element of the play's conflict and tragedy. He portrays male characters as aggressive and violent and as means of asserting power and dominance over each other and as a way of creating conflict and tension in his plays. Shakespeare presents the aggression of male behaviour through the creation of conflict and tension in his tragedy through the characters who are involved in violence and toxic masculinity, and the consequences they face such as banishment, imprisonment and ultimately death. Through the culture of toxic masculinity, where men are expected to be aggressive, violent and honour-bound, Shakespere establishes the futility of violence. The play shows that resorting to violence and aggression to solve problems is ultimately futile.

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Their tough archetypes were always present in many plays and reinforced the idea of male superiority. This fact held true, especially for a certain tragic classic by William Shakespeare. There was a misogynistic mentality towards women in Romeo and Juliet, evident through the way women were shown as objects, portrayed as weak, and made to seem unable to dictate their own lives. Men in Romeo and Juliet could be seen acting like owners towards women. Women were seen as nothing more than possessions, as illustrated when Romeo first described Juliet as, “My lady…/my love” (II.ii.10).

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1408 Words | 6 Pages

Within this play, there are many conflicts between feuding families and even individuals. Since societal expectations were so great of both genders, much pent-up frustration for those who did not perfectly conform was frequently released in the form of violence or aggression. It also went the other way around, where those who did not fit all of the standards were shamed and embarrassed for the way they were. Two characters in which the gender traits were partially switched are Romeo and Juliet. In their relationship, Juliet is more dominant, and Romeo is more submissive.

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Lastly, Shakespeare uses Romeo and Juliet to show true love. Nurse shows parental love to Juliet throughout the play. Despite being a servant to the Capulet household, she has a role equivalent to that of Juliet’s mothers and regards Juliet as her own. Even with the fact that Nurse is not the birth mother of Juliet, she still treats Juliet like a daughter. Nurse cares about Juliet and wants her to be happy and find success.”

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