Discuss how Romeo and Juliet is set in a male-dominated culture

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GCSE English Literature Coursework


In Elizabethan England, males dominated.  Women were entirely dependent on the males in their life, be they a father, husband, or even brother.  Fathers regarded their daughters as possessions and controlled all aspects of their life, from what they did in their spare time to whom they married.  The fathers saw their daughter’s marriage as a means of acquiring wealth and social status.  Women had no choices in life and were not educated unless lessons in how to be a lady counted as education.  Women were not able to inherit property.  They were viewed by society as weak, feeble and inferior to males and, because of this view, they attracted little respect.  Males viewed young women as sex toys around for their, the males’, convenience.  Males, on the other hand, were free to do what ever they wished.  They were most likely to receive an education and were seen as superior in every way.

In the play’s opening scene, we are shown that Romeo & Juliet, thought to be a slushy romance, is in fact a lot more violent.  Sampson and Gregory (Capulet servants) are roaming around a public place, winding each other up.  They are making laddish jokes and generally being young men.  They seem to be looking for a fight and there is a very early mention of the “ancient grudge” [I, i], “a dog of the house of Montague moves me”, showing that the Capulets are obsessed with the Montagues.  The word “moves” means “angers” in this context.

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Sampson has no respect for women.  We know this because he says he will be “cruel” to the Montague women and cut off their heads, “the heads of the maids or their maidenheads - take it in what sense thou wilt”.  The second threat, to remove the women’s “maidenheads”, is to rape them.  Sampson boasts about the size of his penis, “I am a pretty piece of flesh”.  This is also an example of a pun and Sampson and Gregory have been punning all through the scene.  These quotes are also evidence of their enmity towards the Montagues.

Sampson is ...

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