Romeo and Juliet has different roles depending on the genders. During the Shakespearean period, when Shakespeare wrote, most women were expected to marry when they were teenagers, when they were teenagers, or even earlier. However, the men they were marrying were in their late twenties and thirties. In the family where the women lived, the men essentially owned them. Women always followed the word of men that male was the dominant gender in society. Romeo and Juliet reflects this in many ways. Juliet was forced to marry Paris, at the word of her father, who said that if she did not marry Paris, she would go to the streets (Shakespeare, 3.5.154-62). Women were thought to be weaker and less important than men in Romeo and Juliet because men try to be the strongest among everyone, women have lower social status, and men think they own women in Romeo and Juliet. Men in Romeo and Juliet want to be the strongest among all. They think they become stronger because of their attempt to be men. This is called masculinity. According to Appelbaum, masculinity is about achieving a certain goal that one has set for oneself (Appelbaum, 251). In Romeo and Juliet, masculinity is largely prominent. As Romeo is about to commit suicide, Friar Laurence scolds him, saying, “Art thou a man? Your form screams you are. Your tears are feminine; your savage acts denote the mindless fury of a beast. Unseemly woman in apparent man” (Shakespeare, 3.2.18). Basically, Friar Laurence asks Romeo if he is a man and says that he acts like a woman in the form of a man. Friar Laurence is scolding Romeo for not acting like a man, or following masculinity. The men in Romeo and Juliet try to achieve a goal, but sometimes it is impossible... middle of paper... Since masculinity is very important, men thought they had to show strength. Because women were thought to be unaware, women were lower on the social status list. When Capulet says he will throw Juliet away, he is saying that he owns Juliet. The fact that women are less important and weaker is so imprinted in Romeo and Juliet that women seem to accept it. Works Cited Appelbaum, Robert. “'Standing at the Wall': The Pressures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.” Shakespeare Quarterly 48.3 (1997): 251-72. JSTOR. Network. October 27, 2013. Riley, Dick and Pam McAllister. “What if Shakespeare had been born a girl? Women in the Queen's England”. Bedside table, bathtub and armchair, Shakespeare's complement. Np: np, 2001. 91-96. Literary reference center. Network. 27 October 2013.Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. Np: np, nd Print.