The deeper-lying undercurrent of patriarchy in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
In this play, Shakespeare continually criticises the patriarchal system; it victimises female characters, and produces conflict, in turn leading to the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
In 1.1, in the streets of Verona it is clear that the aggression of these servants is a product of society’s expectations. Sampson tells his partner to “Quarrel! I will back thee”, a sense of reluctance permeated in his words. He later says “My naked weapon is out”. Through a Freudian lens, the “naked weapon” has heavily phallic connotations, and thus Shakespeare, through “weapon” highlights the destructiveness of the patriarchy. The later action of “thumb-biting”, a toddler-like action, being taken as an insult, points out the ridiculousness of this hyper-aggressive society.
As the scene continues, the detrimental effects of patriarchal control are encapsulated through Old Montague and Capulet. Lady Capulet tells her husband “A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” and Lady Montague is adamant that “Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe.” Through the inherent physical weakness suggested by a “crutch” Shakespeare shows how patriarchal expectations force these old, ageing men to show aggression. In this scene, perhaps more than any other, power is given to the female. Lady Capulet and Montague use mocking, and assertive language, and, in the latter case LM physically “restrains” her husband. Perhaps, Shakespeare comments on the destruction and violence that a patriarchal society induces, as when these women have power, they maintain the peace, and Old Montague and Capulet are restricted from fighting. [The clear weakness of the two, as it would be perceived by an Elizabethian audience, with the latter later saying it should not be difficult “for men as old as we, to keep the peace” seems to undermine the idea of “cankered hate” and the permanence of the feud. This perhaps adds a sense of futility to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, or, even gives the couple a fighting chance by undermining the words of the Prologue]
In 1.3, the audience is first introduced to the Nurse: comical, trustworthy and distinctly likeable, the Nurse has a greater role in this scene beyond pure comic relief. The Nurse is presented, to the Elizabethan audience, as a victim of the patriarchal society around her through her internalised misogyny. The Nurse claims that “Now by maidenhead at 12 years old, I bade her come”. This malapropism, employed humorously, means that instead of swearing on her head, the Nurse swears on her maidenhead, which equivocates it to a source of pride for her, almost like a badge of honour. The loss of one’s virginity at just twelve, and the Nurse’s pride in it, is a shocking demonstration of the Nurse’s internalised misogyny. This also presents her as a victim of the society around her - young marriage is the product of this extremely patriarchal society, where younger women are easier to control, and birth more children.
The Nurse is comical about her late husband’s joke of “Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit?”. The discussion of Juliet’s sexual role at such a young age, shows how a patriarchal society sexualises mere children, disgusting to an Elizabethian reader. Moreover, it draws attention to the upbringing of children, who are raised with the idea of marriage ingrained within them since birth, as a necessity for a woman in this patriarchal society, and asks the audience to be deeply critical of this.
In 1.5, Romeo and Juliet’s relationship repudiates the patriarchal archetype in Verona. There is a contradiction between the Petrarchan structure of the young lovers' shared sonnet and their shared lines, which highlights that Juliet is not a distant object of affection, and gives her greater control, within the sonnet and this relationship. By referring to Juliet as a “saint”, an intermediary of God, and himself as a “pilgrim”, Romeo shifts the balance of power to favour Juliet. In the sonnet itself, Romeo’s initial quatrain is matched, in both rhyme and meter, by Juliet. Juliet interrupts his next quatrain, chiming in with a line of her own, before he concludes the third quatrain. And whilst Romeo ends the rhyming couplet, it is Juliet who says the penultimate line, setting the meter, rhyme and tone. As Romeo says, the young lovers really are “palm to palm” - an egalitarian relationship in a male-dominated world.
