Inequality In Romeo And Juliet

There are many conflicts in the world that stem from judging a person based on something that they have no control over. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and many other world issues are based on a belief of inequality. People are treated poorly because they are believed to be “less than” other people because of their race, gender, and sexual orientation. Although these are external qualities, people judge others as if people have control over something determined when they were born. The issue of inequality stemming from pre-determined characteristics is shown throughout history. In older societies, there was a social scale/caste system that put people into categories based on their families that they could not change. Whatever social class a person

It is expected that all Montagues need to hate Capulets and all Capulets need to hate Montagues because they are born into a rival family. When Romeo and Juliet fall in love, they are not allowed to be together because they are of rival families. Their family names determine whether or not they are allowed to be together. When Juliet meets Romeo, she is able to open her eyes to the issue because she is able to see Romeo for himself, not who his family is. She states that “'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague”(II.ii.41-43). She sees that Romeo is what she assumed he would be like. He is different than his family and had no control over being a Montague. Juliet understands that the true enemy is the Montague name, not Romeo. Names are the enemy because they are external features that determine how people are treated. She continues asking “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet”(II.ii.43-48). Juliet realizes that a name does not define a man. A name is just a classification determined at birth that does not show who you are as a person. She uses a rose as a metaphor to show that the classification of something does not