Romeo and Juliet Sexism and Gender Roles Quotes

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.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. When Sampson says this to fellow Capulet servant Gregory, it illustrates the themes of violence, sex and gender roles found throughout the play. Men view women as the "weaker" sex, while the word "thrust" has both a violent and sexual meaning. Sampson boasts about attacking the Montague men and assaulting their women, including sexually. He demonstrates a sexist and misogynistic mentality.

SAMPSON: I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids, and cut off their heads.
GREGORY: The heads of the maids?
SAMPSON: Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. Capulet servant Sampson boasts of how he will murder the Montague maids and forcefully take their virginity. When he says "cut off their heads" and "their maidenheads," that is a pun for taking their virginity. Sampson is equating fighting the Montague men to raping their women, believing this to be the manly thing to do. Sampson’s disturbing joke about what he will do with the Montague women shows a worrying level of misogyny in his attitude towards the female gender.

GREGORY: Draw thy tool…
SAMPSON: My naked weapon is out: quarrel, I will back thee.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. As two from the house of the Montagues approach, Sampson draws his sword and asks Gregory to start a quarrel and provoke a fight. The pair exchange bawdy puns, with Gregory inviting the other to: "Draw thy tool." Sampson continues with the phallus imagery and also personification to describe unsheathing his sword – "my naked weapon is out." Comparing the sword to a penis is an example of the misogynistic mentality in a play where men like to exercise dominance over women. In this scene Sampson tends to talk big but is something of a boastful coward, wanting Gregory to pick the fight.

Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I’ll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2. Juliet says that if Romeo’s love is honorable and his purpose marriage, he needs to send word to her tomorrow and tell her where and when they will be wed. She promises to give him her fortune and follow him wherever he goes. Juliet is the first to mention marriage, and to a young man she has only just met. Defying traditional gender roles in courtship, Juliet is striking a blow for feminism by essentially proposing to Romeo. Her headlong rush into marriage hours shows that it’s not just Romeo who is impulsive and immature, but Juliet as well.

A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! so ho!

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 4. When Benvolio says that Juliet’s Nurse is inviting Romeo to supper, Mercutio makes fun of her by crying this out. A "bawd" is a word that hunters use for a hare or rabbit and "so ho" is a hunter’s call on spotting a hare. But "bawd is also a pimp or a madam, someone who gets clients for prostitutes. There is irony here in that the Nurse is a kind of go between, facilitating a meeting between two young lovers which will end up in sex and marriage. Mercutio’s crude and nasty remark also displays his sexism and a certain level of misogyny.

No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 4. This is Mercutio’s bawdy reply and wordplay, when asked by Romeo what has he seen as Juliet’s Nurse approaches Romeo. The literal meaning of the passage is: not a hare, except a hare in a lenten pie that would be stale and moldy before it is eaten – a person wasn’t meant to eat meat during Lent. But the passage is also full of double entendres and "hare" can also mean prostitute. So taking the bawdy meaning, Mercutio is saying that the Nurse is a prostitute who has grown too old and moldy.

An old hare hoar,
And an old hare hoar,
Is very good meat in lent
But a hare that is hoar
Is too much for a score,
When it hoars ere it be spent.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 4. Mercutio sings this bawdy song making sexual jokes about the Nurse. It is full of double meanings and puns, with "hare" also meaning prostitute. "Hoar" means grey with age and sounds the same as "whore." The misogynistic Mercutio is taunting the Nurse by calling her an unattractive old whore who is a waste of money.

Hold thy desperate hand:
Art thou a man? thy form cries out thou art:
Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote
The unreasonable fury of a beast:
Unseemly woman in a seeming man!

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 3. Exhorting a suicidal Romeo to man up, Friar Laurence tells him that his tears make him look womanish. Romeo has reacted to his banishment from Verona by throwing himself to the floor weeping, then drawing his sword to kill himself. Rather than be happy with a sentence less than death, Romeo descends into melodramatic behavior wailing that his banishment is worse than death.

O heavens! O wife, look how our daughter bleeds!
This dagger hath mista’en – for, lo, his house
Is empty on the back of Montague, –
And it mis-sheathed in my daughter’s bosom!

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3. Lord Capulet describes his daughter’s death as some kind of terrible mistake, Romeo’s dagger somehow sheathing itself in Juliet’s bosom instead of Romeo’s scabbard. The dagger is personified by Capulet, who gives it a male gender and metaphorocally likens Romeo’s empty scabbard to "his house."
Close