The masculine honor and gender roles Shakespeare displays in this quote aids in helping set the time period of the play.The beginning of scene one when there is a brawl, Sampson expresses his hatred toward the Montagues threatens to “thrust his maids to the wall” this word choice of “thrust” implies that the maids are simply ignorant and will just be handled aggressively at the will of the men without resistance as the word Shakespeare chose is more violent and controlling.. This also shows that men consider women belongings, as observed when Sampson stated that they are “his maids” referring to Montague. Sampson also states that women are the “weaker vessels” suggesting that they are the insignificant gender and are not as entitled to a purpose
