Introduction
The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare that revolves around young ill-fated lovers whose death brings peace between two squabbling families. The two clashing families are the Capulets and Montagues. During a masked ball in Capulets, Romeo and Juliet set eyes on each and fall in love instantaneously. The two love birds later get married secretly with the assistance of Friar Laurence. Romeo dearest friend Mercutio is caught in between the scuffle of Romeo and Tybalt, a Capulet, and is killed. Romeo then decides to avenge Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt, which leads to his banishment from Verona. Juliet's father is not aware of the marriage between her daughter and Romeo. He thus organizes for her daughter's marriage to Count Paris. Juliet seeks assistance from Friar Laurence, who gives her a potion which will make her look dead as she waits for Romeo to save her. The problem is that Romeo does not get the letter and is unaware of the plan between Juliet and Friar. Later Romeo kills Count Paris and takes poison and kills himself. When Juliet wakes up, she sees Romeo dead and kills herself. The objective of the paper is to show what we learn from reading the play.
Summary
Firstly, we learn that girls are married in their early teens. That is why Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet, talks about her coming of age (Collins, 2017). Here she means Juliet, who is just thirteen years of age, has almost reached the age of marriage, which is fourteen years. Lady Capulet then further ask her daughter his sentiments about marriage. Juliet, with her innocence and naivety, says he has never thought about it. Lady Capulet herself also got married when she was a teenager meaning it is the norm. To stress her point, she tells Juliet that girls her age are getting married in Verona.
Juliet’s nurse had a daughter almost the same age as Juliet. Which means she also got married and had a baby when she was a young teenager as per the customs of that era. Consequently, without a doubt, we can say it is the custom and practice of girls to get married at that young age in Verona. As such, society expects when a girl reaches that age, he prepares herself for marriage.
Secondly, we also learn that women are treated as second class citizens and have no say to matters that concern them. Juliet is in love with Romeo, but nobody cares about her feelings. The decision for Juliet to get married to Count of Paris was of his father. The mother then went and broke the "good news" to Juliet, who immediately started sobbing (Collins, 2017). If only they knew she loved Romeo. Her father also came into the room, and the first thing he asked Lady Capulet was, "I have told her about my decision." A young teenager is unimportant, and thus Juliet should appreciate that the father has found a count of Paris to be her husband. Were it not for Lady Capulet; his father would have slapped her for being ungrateful. Capulet then orders her daughter that there will be a wedding on Friday, whether he likes it or not. As seen from the actions of Capulet and Lady Capulet, a young lady has no right as to who she gets married to. The fact that Lady Capulet goes along with the idea means she might have also undergone the same fate.
Thirdly, a patriarchal system is seen in the play, a patriarchal system; the men are the ones who control all the aspects of society, from political to the social aspect. At the beginning of the play at the piazza, a feud erupts between the servants of Capulet and Montagues. The fight escalates, turning the whole Piazza into disarray. Capulet and Montague themselves join the fight. It takes the authority of the prince to calm the place down and stop the fight. The prince, who is a man's action, shows his authority by stopping the fight. Capulet and Montague are also the authoritative figures in their household, and everybody from the servants, children, and wives should abide by their orders.
Lastly, there is violence in the streets, which starts as trivial, but their repercussions are grave. The first street violence started as a joke when two serving-men, Gregory and Sampson of the Capulet mansion, started taunting Montague servants without provocation (Tavares, 2018). Initially, the two men were boasting the way they will beat up Montague men and take away their women. Without provocation Sampiazzatarted biting his thumb, which was a sign of disrespect to the Montague servants. After that, a fight ensued, which brought all the activities at the piazza to a standstill. A lot of property was destroyed, and some people were injured. The reason was for the fight was feeble, but each party wanted to show their masculinity. In another incident, Benvolio, Mercutio, and friends had just finished dinner and passed by a fountain near the Capulet mansion, where they started splashing water at each other (Tavares, 2018). They all acknowledged that if a Capulet would come to a fight would ensue, but they still went on to play. Mercutio, on the other hand, started taunting Tybalt for a fight, maybe to show his masculinity. Romeo joins the melee, which leads to the death of Tybalt and Mercutio (Santibáñez, 2003). Both the fights could have been prevented had the young men refrained, but their masculinity took the better of them.
Conclusion
All the above occurrences are the drivers of the play. Was it not for the male chauvinism shown through the play? Capulet sees it like she is doing Juliet as a big favor, and that is why he can understand Juliet's refusal to marry the Count of Paris. He knows what is best for her daughter disregarding her feelings. Male masculinity is the cause of all the violence and death at the play. All the men want to prove they are the strongest despite the consequences. Lastly, we have also seen the way women are seen as objects to be concurred and used to please men.
