To whatextent does the society and values of the time the play "Romeo and Juliet" was written influence the outcome of the play?

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To what extent does the society and values of the time the play “Romeo and Juliet” was written influence the outcome of the play?

In the age of Rome and Juliet’s creation, many values of society were different from those we can observe in modern day life. Women did not have equal rights, fathers had a lot more authority over their children and arranged marriages were still practiced. A big factor was people’s Christian faith; it was much stronger in those days so the church played a huge role in society.

There are lots of factors that contribute to the outcome of the play and these can be separated into Generic factors and society and values.

In modern families, parents tend to have control over the household. They do not force the children to marry or force their life decisions upon them but they have a subtle yet firm grasp on their children’s lives. They use this grasp to guide, not to force their children.

However, in the time of Romeo and Juliet, the parents had control over the household, the father more so than the mother. They would tell their children how to live. We see evidence of this in Act III Scene v when Capulet discusses marriage with Juliet. He is very upset to hear that she does not want to go through with her arranged marriage.

Capulet: “Hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church a’ Thursday, Or never after look me in the face... Wife, we scarce thought us blest That God had lent us but this only child, But now I see this one is one too much, And that we have a curse in having her. Out on her, hilding!”

This seems like a very drastic reaction but it shows how much control a father considered himself to have, and just how important he considered it to be. This kind of controlling behaviour added greatly to the tragedy in the end.

The honour of the family name was of great importance during the time of the play. It represented your history and heritage, who you were and your position in society. A person would go to great lengths to uphold the honour in their name, especially Tybalt.

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The Montagues and the Capulets were both high up in the social hierarchy, as is stated in the prologue “Two households, both alike in dignity”. They had a lot to defend but they entangled in an “ancient grudge”. They had had a small argument with each other and this had become very serious by the time Romeo and Juliet had met. The play begins with the two families brawling in the streets and the prince then says “If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

A fight breaks out in Act III ...

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