The Acceptance Of Gender Roles In Romeo And Juliet

442 Words2 Pages

Shakespeare’s characters fall victim to death provoked by irrationality as a result of abiding by their gender roles. A conflict between Mercutio, a friend of Romeo, and Tybalt, a member of the Capulet family presents the relevance of gender roles to characters of the Montague and Capulet families. Romeo’s presence at an exclusively Capulet party instigates a subsequent conflict with Tybalt. Tybalt develops a bloodlust for Romeo because he believes that Romeo’s appearance at the party is an act of debilitation to the Capulet’s pride because he is unaware that Romeo is only there because of his love for Rosaline, a Capulet. The dissension involving Romeo and his friends in opposition to Tybalt escalates as a result of impetuous mindsets guided by their respective genders. …show more content…

In winning a fight against Romeo, Tybalt would be able to assert his dominance over the Montagues and defend his family’s pride from Romeo’s presence at the party. Tybalt becomes so consumed by this bellicosity, that he does not consider the possible consequences of his actions such as the perceptibility of losing the battle to Romeo. As a result of acting on his masculine impulses, Tybalt loses his life in his clash with Romeo. Alternatively, Romeo’s susceptibility to his emotions demonstrates how he is condemned by an ancient