We all have autonomy when making choices, whether it be with deciding what to eat for lunch, or deciding to spend the rest of your life with that special someone. Through the setting, Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet both convey that although people’s personal choices are affected by the environment in which they are made, they still can defy their physical environment and pursue their own passions. The House on Mango Street shows how Esperanza’s choices are affected by her setting, Romeo and Juliet show how Juliet’s relationship choices are affected by her setting, but eventually Juliet and Esperanza still try to take control of their lives.
In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza faces friends and family who limit her autonomy. When Esperanza wanted to get those boys to leave her friend Sally alone, she takes some sticks and goes to confront them. Once she gets there, “Sally said go home. Those boys said leave us alone” (Cisneros 97). Esperanza would have gone and beaten up those boys with the sticks and brick. However, to have Sally, a close friend of Esperanza’s says “go home” hurt Esperanza, and limited her ability to solve her own issues. In turn, Sally’s words negatively affected Esperanza’s autonomy. Next, when Esperanza talked about having to work, she stated that “It wasn’t as if I didn’t want to work. I did...I needed money. The Catholic high school cost a lot, and Papa said nobody went to public school unless