Women In Romeo And Juliet

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Shakespeare’s Views on Female Empowerment Was Shakespeare a feminist? A newer, but nonetheless highly debated, topic regarding his plays, Shakespeare’s writing’s show evidence for both arguments. In Romeo and Juliet, an overall perspective on female empowerment is seen in all of his characters. With Sampson’s remark, Capulet’s ideas, and Friar Lawrence’s opinion, Shakespeare’s own views are shown. Firstly, Sampon remarks, “'Tis true, and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall.” (1.1.17-18) Shakespeare expresses the ideals of the rest of society through one of the servingmen. The belief that women are the weaker sex was accepted by nearly everyone, including the women themselves. Women strived to be married at a young age in the upper classes, and most women were married or soon to be married. However, this does not necessarily reflect Shakespeare’s own views, as shown through what Capulet said.…show more content…
By writing this, it shows how Shakespeare thinks women should be treated, thus showing that he does not necessarily regard women to be weaker, despite having his characters comment earlier about how they are the weaker gender. This shows that Shakespeare, though not a feminist by today’s definition of the term, is more open than others of the time to having women make decisions. This is shown is Friar Lawrence’s beliefs about love as
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