Examine the role of women in Romeo and Juliet Essay

Shakespe atomic number 18 wrote the bidding Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, a meter in which the role of wo custody was non to be a person in their ingest rights, only to be a wife to their economise and a fuss to their children. Women had a specific place in ordering, and they were anticipate to align to expectations of their positions. Women were testifyed by their husbands, and had little to no plaindom from their spouses or p arnts. In the wager, Shakespeargon depicts this situation through the cause Juliet and her alliances and role in society, a juvenile young womanfriend growing into the expectations of women at that time.The origin of this essay is to exa exploit the role of women in 16th century society i. e. Juliet, and line it to the role of women today. Juliets relationship with her parents is really different to what would be expected today. In the 16th century it was common for squiffy parents to employ a concord to give up their children, to be what a pay back figure is like today. Juliets relationship is characteristic of the period in which the play was set her affluent parents employed the treasure (who had granted birth at the homogeneous time as gentlecleaning lady Capulet) to concern for their lady friend when she was born, and wean her.A char who had lost her own bungle was an holy person source of milk for an propertied babe whose get down preferred not to be troubled with doing her own nursing. This meant that Juliet had a stronger draw together with her Nurse than with her biological spawn, a public situation in the Elizabethan era. However, this did not mean that the Nurse would fetch had any more than(prenominal) say in Juliets up conducting than Capulet and Lady Capulet. Parents have a duty to make certain decisions for their children, as they did in the 16th century, un slight at that time a girl or women would barely ever make her own decisions, these would be do by her parents.I n the play, Shakespeare places the character Juliet into a situation representative of the era arranged marriage. At that time parents al musical modes chose a suitor for their daughter, no matter of her age or class. At this character reference in the play, Juliets mother enquires on her daughters disposition to be married. Here, Juliet behaves rattling uncharacteristically of the Elizabethan era, saying It is an honour that I hallucination not of, avoiding the proposal and demonstrating independent thinking. Lady Capulet has already made the decision for her daughter, and expects her to controvert dutifully as a daughter at that time would.Juliet says .. no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent to make it fly. directly she appears to be a model daughter, however she still acts uncharacteristically because she has not given her mother a straight answer, once again avoiding the subject. Arranged marriage still occurs today, but it is not as common as it was in the Elizabethan era, so although girls are still put into this position they are still expected to conform to tradition and obey their parents decision.Here Juliet seems to feel free to withhold her consent, which is definitely not accustomed of the 16th century. In the Elizabethan era, men had more power, opportunities and influence on society than women did. Women did not have equal rights and were seen as possessions not people. Just as a girls parents controlled her decisions and life, once the girl became and woman and was married, her husband controlled her. Husbands had expectations of their wife as much as parents had of their daughter women were expected to behave accordingly, obeying their husbands.Their role as a wife would be to comply with their husbands decisions and bear him a family. At this time, women knew no other way of life, and so generally women complied with the traditions, unlike today in which women are seen as equal citizens in society. In the play, Juli et was expected to marry genus Paris and become his possession, with no love involved. Juliet would have reacted normally to this idea, as many untested women dreamed of the idea of love, and when proposed to, would create their own form of love for their husbands, usually respect. many a(prenominal) marriages were arranged by parents and were base on suitability, not love. Nowadays marriage is based on love alone, and parents have less influence over choosing a husband for their daughter. Lady Capulets role as a woman in the play is exactly what an upper class mother of that time would have been like. Lady Capulet was obligate into marriage when still only newborn And too soon marred are those so early made. After great(p) birth to Juliet at a very young age, she chose to employ someone else to nurse her child, which was also usual of a woman of that status.In the Elizabethan era it was familiar to have a Nurse bring up the child, as a mother would today. The character of th e nurse would have been a recognizable type to Shakespeares sense of hearing. A woman who had lost her own baby was an ideal source of milk for an upper-class infant whose mother preferred not to be troubled with doing her own nursing. Babies were deprive by having a foul-tasting salve smeared on the nipple laid wormwood to my dug. The material intimacy in the midst of Juliet and the nurse creates a close motherly bond between them.The character of Juliet was not a typical 16th century girl, as although she was approach with the same situations as a girl of that time, she reacted otherwise and did not conform to the traditions and expectations made of her. Shakespeare chose not to make the character Juliet conform because his play was a dramatic tragedy, written to entertain audiences. Juliet would interest an Elizabethan audience to watch as she was uncharacteristic of that time, and she reacted differently to what was expected.Shakespeare chose to develop the female charact ers roles in the way he did so that the audience could furbish up and recognise these characters, making the play more interesting for them to watch.Bibliography http//www. beyondbooks. com/sha91/5c. asp http//www. wsu. edu8080/brians/love-in-the-arts/romeo. hypertext mark-up language http//www. englishbiz. co. uk/mainguides/shakespeare. html http//web. uvic. ca/shakespeare/Library/SLT/intro/introsubj. html.