Outline context on the difference between men and women at the Elizabethan time: men controlling everything (money, property, wife and children) whilst women were inferior and had control over nothing at all (didn’t work, had no property and was expected only to be the “wife”)

Bring back to Romeo and Juliet: sort of “battle” between the opposing sides of masculinity = causes the death of many of the young male figures in the play

PEE:

Masculinity during Shakespeare’s time had two different and opposing sides: violent with their father and family name or choose self control, a woman to love = Romeo and Juliet attempts these two sides. 

Men have more sexual freedom than women = a lot of sexual  puns from tybalt. Masculine power over women who are represented as weak / sexual figures (exception for Romeo)

Comparison of Mercutio,Romeo and Tybalt: 

Mercutio one of the most memorable characters in Shakespeare’s work —> constructs ideal of masculinity

Not a romantic and thinks more like a man / a lot of sexual innuendos 

Does not care for women  

Romeo= gentle, unpredictable and very romantic 

Romeo is dead because the conflicts of his masculinity= he cannot have both he needs to choose one.

Romeo dies in suicide= =manner of death sinful/ effeminate

Juliet's love made him effeminate = Romeo died quietly/ escape the masculine regime 

Tybalt is volatile and violent 

Mercutio has a lot of pride (challenges Tybalt) = negative (ends up in his death) 

If Mercutio hadn’t challenged Tybalt and walked away from the fight, he would have lived. 

Romeo is romantic and thinks a lot about his feelings

often mocked by friends because of being a hopeless romantic 

=less masculine character

=more submissive personality/opposed to the original idea of masculinity of the Elizabethan era

……different role when in presence of Juliet= seems weaker because of his love for her 

Fate = this side of him (weak because of his feelings and the decisions of his heart) are what attract Juliet and ends up in his death 

Tybalt loves to fight (very important trait of personality) 

…hate for the Montagues

tough,hot-headed ,arrogant and a violent character that is always looking for conflict 

Tybalt is loyal and forever honours the family rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues

=protects Capulet name 

Hates to be not respected: pride 

……rage and will to fight = his death + Mercutio’s death 

Mercutio is the ideal representation of a perfect male character of the Elizabethan era

Conclusion:

Shakespeare proved gender to be both part of “common errors of our life” and “ulcers” that are covered and yet may be painful and uncertain.

 Shakespeare decided to add irony to mock the gender rules. 

His style mixes different genres and reinventes them in order to abolish the distinction between masculine and feminine

His female characters speak for themselves=  they are lovers

This defence of women helps not to perceive them as a category but as individuals

Shakespeare describes character both masculine and feminine qualities= prove that they coexist within everyone instead of being assigned to one sex

Feminine and masculine= subject to the same emotions and feelings, regardless of our sex, but that we may also have different points of view and undergo different struggles depending on our gender.

Shakespeare male characters impersonate feminine virtues and his female characters embody masculine ones (Romeo= emotional and Juliet rational…)

 Patriarchal society surrounding Romeo and juliets affects their union= Prince Escales is the figure of masculinity 

Capulet and Montague are ineffective in controlling their children 

Romeo and Juliet =seeks love despite losing family honour

 Masculinity = can be seen as an educative element via influence on the audience with an aim to form the modern concept of masculinity

In Romeo and Juliet, masculinity is represented through violence over women consequently it is being criticised. This is seen in the following quote by Sampson “‘Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall”. We can observe the use of a violent lexical field “thrust” and “push”, this shows sexuality is paired with violence. Women are described as a “weaker vessel”, objects to be used and victims of sexual violence because of the feud. These lines are delivered by Sampson after Gregory has teased him about his weakness. Violence against women is not only a way of asserting dominance over the other family but also a way of proving masculinity. Shakespeare is criticising masculinity, sexual violence is used to uphold masculinity.  

In Romeo and Juliet, sassociate masculinity is associated with dominance through violence. This can be seen through the quote “O calm, dishonourable submission! / [...][draws] / Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?”, in which Mercutio challenges Tybalt because Romeo refused to do so and tried to make peace. In this phrase, by using the lexical field of docility and abandonment, Mercutio is deprecating the ability to make peace and is associating dominance with violence. Moreover, Mercutio is not part of the Montague family nor of the Capulet’s : he’s only fighting to show off his friends, showing that the capacity to renounce one's honour for the sake of peace is viewed as a sign of weakness by several male characters. But we can see that the part of masculinity is being criticised by Shakepeare, as Mercutio dies at the end of the fight.

 

Point: Romeo is the opposite of masculinity norms. 

Evidence: “To be consorted with the humourous nights” said by Benvolio

Explanation: the night is personified as romeo’s close confidante. Benvolio is referring to romeo's melancholy over Rosaline, he has made a connection with the dark night. This highlights romeo's reluctance to disengage himself from rosaline. He is sad and obsessing over a woman. These emotions contrast with the intense sexual vocabulary used by Gregory and Sampson.

In conclusion, masculinity is portrayed as violence and dominance, especially over women. However, Romeo contrasts with these descriptions, he is a romantic and doesn’t resort to violence over women. Shakespeare is criticising the norms of society by showing these masculine qualities only lead to death.