The Role Of Feminism In Romeo And Juliet

Would you be willing to risk losing your social standing and everything that provides you with security; financial assistance, respect of society, and the acceptance of your family, to be authentic to yourself and your true beliefs? In Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, a young woman defies her parents to marry the man she loves, even when she knows that she will lose her parent’s affection due their enmity of his family. The two fall instantly in love, and are wed by the next day. Then, all hope is demolished when Romeo kills Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, and is banished from the city, and the star-crossed lovers hastily get assistance to run away from Verona and start a new life together. Their hurried plan does not operate as predicted, and the tragic play concludes

Juliet dismisses propriety and coyness and is instead direct, and tells Romeo that if his intentions of love are true, then they should be married the next day. Her initiating the marriage is indubitably an act of feminism, and throughout the scene, Juliet is on her balcony, which also indicates that she is higher than her lover who is stood on the ground. “Do thou love me? I know thou wilt say “ay”, and I will take thy word. Yet if thou swear’st, thou mayst prove false.” (Act 2, Scene 2) In this quote, Juliet questions the love Romeo holds for her, and craves for him to confess his adoration truly. “I should have been more strange, I must confess, but that thou overheard’st, ere I was 'ware, my true love’s passion.” (Act 2, Scene 2) In the scene, Juliet admits that she should have been more standoffish, but that she will prove herself more faithful than girls who act coy. This represents feminism by her being bold and straightforward and stating what she wants, not what she should want, and her being genuine with herself and her