The Importance Of Homosexuality In Romeo And Juliet

In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the young couple gets married when Juliet is fourteen years old. In the fifteen century, during Romeo and Juliet’s time, marriage at a young age was extremely common, along with many other marriage customs that differ today. Unlike the fifteenth century, today people are able to marry anyone they choose, people marry for much different reasons, and what is expected from the couple’s families have changed. Romeo and Juliet shows that marriage in the fifteenth century is between a man and women, and must be approved by the two families coming together in matrimony. Today, it is legal for a man to marry a man, a women to marry a women, and a man to marry a women, as of June twenty-sixth, 2015 after it had been banned since the fourth century (Gale Student Resources). The play Romeo and Juliet does not directly say it is against gay marriage, but this story takes place in Verona, Italy, a region that is primarily Catholic. The Catholic Church is against gay marriage, therefore Romeo and Juliet did not explore the topic. The play says phrases such as, “My husband is on earth,” (Juliet, Act III scene v). Clearly showing the relationship Juliet is seeking is with a man. Homosexuality and heterosexuality are both still prevalent in our world today, more so than in the fifteenth century. Not only were Romeo and Juliet unable to marry who they wanted, but they were forced to marry based on status, which was often influenced by money and last