William Shakespeare, a man, used Juliet, a woman, to defy gender norms by making her more masculine. Juliet and Romeo are two people who fall in love, despite their family feud. They get married, but Romeo gets banished from their town. They only get to spend one night together before Romeo has to leave, and he has to leave by daybreak. In the end, they kill themselves. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Juliet challenges societal norms by being controlling and assertive; however, she reinforces a societal norm by being emotional.
Juliet challenges norms of the man in the relationship being controlling by telling Romeo what to do regarding the wedding and telling Romeo when to leave. Juliet controls Romeo when she makes him get their wedding together in less than a day. Juliet is shown to be controlling when she demands, “Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, / By one that I’ll procure to come to thee” (II.ii.151-152). In Shakespeare’s time, male dominance was the norm, as it still for the most part today; however, Shakespeare portrayed Juliet as dominant by making her controlling. While brides usually …show more content…
Juliet challenges norms when she stabs since normally a woman would take a less aggressive route to suicide. Before stabbing herself she says, “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, / This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die”(V.iii.174-175). When Juliet stabs herself, she is challenging a norm of that which is the man usually stabs himself. Throughout the whole play, Shakespeare does a role reversal in Juliet and Romeo, and their death continues that idea. Romeo killed himself with a potion, which is considered to be feminine, yet Juliet killed herself in a masculine way. Therefore, Romeo and Juliet’s death challenged the norms of men and women; however, Juliet also reinforces the norm of women being
Juliet challenges norms of the man in the relationship being controlling by telling Romeo what to do regarding the wedding and telling Romeo when to leave. Juliet controls Romeo when she makes him get their wedding together in less than a day. Juliet is shown to be controlling when she demands, “Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, / By one that I’ll procure to come to thee” (II.ii.151-152). In Shakespeare’s time, male dominance was the norm, as it still for the most part today; however, Shakespeare portrayed Juliet as dominant by making her controlling. While brides usually …show more content…
Juliet challenges norms when she stabs since normally a woman would take a less aggressive route to suicide. Before stabbing herself she says, “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, / This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die”(V.iii.174-175). When Juliet stabs herself, she is challenging a norm of that which is the man usually stabs himself. Throughout the whole play, Shakespeare does a role reversal in Juliet and Romeo, and their death continues that idea. Romeo killed himself with a potion, which is considered to be feminine, yet Juliet killed herself in a masculine way. Therefore, Romeo and Juliet’s death challenged the norms of men and women; however, Juliet also reinforces the norm of women being