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 being antagonistic and provocative. We are made aware of this when he bites his thumb at Abraham and Balthasar (Montagues), but then says “No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.” This proves that he is aching for a fight as biting one’s thumb in Shakespeare’s time was an insulting gesture. However, the quote also shows that Sampson does not wish to be blamed for starting the fight and is leaving the Montagues to take the otherwise obvious insult as they wish.
Lord Capulet is a patriarch. He is the head of a large and influential aristocratic family, dedicated to the lifelong task of upholding his family honour. He expects what he says to go and his word is law. He refers to his wishes as a “decree”, a type of law, usually only issued by the monarch. When Juliet refuses to marry the County Paris, he flies into a rage. He says his “fingers itch”, in other words he is restraining himself from hitting Juliet. He is usually obeyed to the letter and therefore being disobeyed by someone younger than himself, let alone his daughter, an inferior woman, really enrages him. He threatens to disown Juliet, “And you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend; And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets…I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee”, unless she goes “to church o’ Thursday”, to get married.
At the ball, Tybalt argues with Capulet over what to do about Romeo’s presence. Tybalt feels that Romeo has come to “fleer and scorn”, in other words to poke fun and dishonour them. He has an immediate violent impulse; “Fetch me my rapier, boy”. He wishes a servant to bring him his sword so that he can kill Romeo on the spot, as “to strike him dead (he) hold it not a sin”. He feels that killing Romeo is not a sin as to him it would avenging the insult - upholding his, Tybalt’s, family honour. He tells Capulet that he, Tybalt, will “not endure him”, Romeo, at the ball. Capulet replies by saying “he shall be endured”, as he is well aware that his, Capulet’s, personal reputation is at stake. If Capulet allowed Tybalt to dispose of Romeo, a “virtuous and well governed youth”, it would appear to outsiders that Capulet had lost control of his family, a circumstance which a patriarch cannot afford to occur.
Men resort to violence often. Tybalt is by far the most violent character. He often calls for his sword with little or no provocation, “Fetch me my rapier boy”. He also looks upon death as always a practical option, “turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death” and always has the intention to kill.
In the play, women are treated differently according to their social status, age, beauty or even all three. The Capulet nurse is subject to much Montague abuse. Romeo likens her dress to a sail, “here’s goodly gear! A sail, a sail!” He does this as her dress is of ample capacity and he feels that there would be enough material in it to make a suite of sails for a yacht. They also make sexual jokes to her about the time, as when she questions whether it is really the afternoon, they reply “Tis no less, I tell ye, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon”. This shows that the young men have no respect for an elderly woman.
On the totally opposite side of the scale, when Romeo talks to Juliet in the garden under the cover of night, he is overly romantic and idolises her. He remarks “it is the east, and Juliet is the sun”. This unlikely metaphor shows that he is being damper than a wet lettuce and is idolising her. He then goes on to say “her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night”. He is saying that her eyes could take place of the stars in the sky if the stars fancied a rest, only the trouble would be that the eyes would emit so much light that the birds would be confused and begin singing, as they would think it were day. He turns her into an object for worship, which is unrealistic and not a suitable basis for reliable communication.
This proves that young women were treated as goddesses, whereas old, working class women were treated as mud and the butt of many sexually orientated jokes.
In the world of Romeo & Juliet, patriarchs have complete control of their families. Their sole purpose in life is to uphold family honour, no matter what, and often resort to dictator-like tactics to do so.
Women are treated totally differently depending on their looks and status. Rich beautiful women were idolised; put on a pillar and worshipped as a goddess whereas lower class women were seen as inferior and subordinate.
Had the play been set in a more modern culture, many of the events taking place would not have happened. For example, Mercutio and Tybalt’s deaths could only occur in a setting where street fighting was a common occurrence.
To sum up, a less violent time, place and culture would have rendered such a tragedy unlikely or even impossible to achieve.