In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we see people that either keep stereotypical gender roles or break those roles. A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating the types of behaviors which are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their sex. An example of a character who keeps the gender role is Capulet, who is arguably the character that keeps the strongest gender role by leading his household with a strong manner and wanting to protect his family, deciding what is best for his daughter without her input, and expecting everyone to be grateful for everything he does for them. We will also be looking at Juliet, who does not keep her gender role by rebelling against her family, expressing her own opinions, and standing up for herself and deciding what she thinks is best for herself. Finally, we will be looking at Romeo, who takes the submissive role multiple times throughout the play, down to drinking the poison to kill himself, which is viewed as a more feminine way of killing yourself. …show more content…
Another example is in Act III Scene V when he tells Juliet she’s being ungrateful for all he’s done for her, being the man of the house. The final example is in Act I Scene I, when Capulet wants to fight the Montagues to display his “masculinity”.
Juliet is our second character. Our first example of her breaking her feminine gender role is in Act I Scene V, when she defies her family and kisses a known rival. Our second example is found in Act III Scene V, when she, a girl, expresses her own opinions and wants to her father about not wanting to marry Paris. The third example is in the final Scene of Act V where Juliet decides it’s best for her to die rather than live without