The Importance Of Marriage In Romeo And Juliet

In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the young couple gets married when Juliet is fourteen years old. In the fifteen century, during Romeo and Juliet’s time, marriage at a young age was extremely common, whereas in modern times many people get married close to thirty. Age is not the only wedding custom that differs today. Unlike the fifteenth century, in today’s society people are able to marry anyone they choose, people marry for much different reasons, and what is expected from the couple’s families have changed. Romeo and Juliet shows that marriage in the fifteenth century is between a man and women, and must be approved by the two families coming together in matrimony. Today, it is legal for a man to marry a man, a women to marry a women, and a man to marry a women, as of June

From the time Juliet was a baby, her father was searching to find the perfect man to marry her. He had considered, age, last name, and most importantly, social status. He felt his daughter deserved to marry a rich man, of appropriate age, and would not even consider Romeo’s family, the Montagues, because of the families’ feud. Meanwhile, all Juliet wanted to do was marry Romeo, her true love. She even tells her parents in act III, scene v “He shall not make me there a joyful bride…I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo…” In the twenty-first century, society sympathizes with Juliet, because no one could imagine marrying someone they did not choose. However, in the fifteenth century, people were confused why Juliet would want to marry a family enemy, especially when she had a suitable bachelor waiting for her hand, but she was searching for love. A decision that is well ahead of her time, because today people are also searching for companionship and love, similar to what she found in