Comparing Tie That Bind And Ties That Break

In history, the responsibility of children in wealthy families has been to marry the right person to maintain the social and political status of the family. For the females particularly, the pressure to marry younger and have children was greater. In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the main female protagonist is pressured by her father to marry Paris, a man of his choosing. In Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka, the young Ailin’s marriage is arranged when she is only five years old. The two stories are culturally different, but aspects make the stories similar such as the idea that the parents just want what’s best for their daughters, even if that isn’t what they want, arranged marriages, and choosing to leave your comfortable …show more content…
“ ‘She means the marriages have been arranged,’ my amah said with a smirk. ‘So it’s time for Little Miss Three’s marriage to be arranged too.’ ” (Namioka 9) When this conversation is had, Ailin is only five years old, and she is already being arranged to marry. Although Juliet is a bit older at age 13, she is still very young to be married by our society standards. “But saying o’er what I have said before. My child is yet a stranger in the world. She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Let two more summers wither in their pride, ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” (I. ii. 7-11) Capulet and Paris are discussing Juliet’s marriage, and although Capulet wishes Paris to wait two years before marrying her, she would still only be fifteen, married to a man. Later in the play Capulet decides to allow Paris to marry her much sooner, in an attempt to do what he thinks will make her happy. Ailin’s mother and grandmother arranged this marriage in hopes that she will have a happy comfortable life, and will honor the family. Though neither engagement ends up working out, and the parents of the girls feel disrespected by their defiance and try to force them to do what they must to keep their