Romeo and Juliet have different roles depending on the sexes. In the Shakespearean era, when Shakespeare wrote, most women were expected to marry when they were teenagers, or even earlier. However, the men they were going to marry were in their twenties. In the household where women lived, men essentially owned it. Women have always followed the words of men that men were the dominant sex in society. Romeo and Juliet reflects this in several ways. Juliet was forced to marry Paris, on the word of her father, who said that if she did not marry Paris, she would go into the streets (Shakespeare, 3.5.154-62). Women were thought to be weaker and less important than men in Romeo and Juliet because men were trying to be the strongest of everyone, women have a lower social status and men thought they had the women in Romeo and Juliet. The men in Romeo and Juliet want to be the strongest of everyone. They think they are becoming stronger through their attempt to become men. This is called masculinity. According to Appelbaum, masculinity means achieving a certain goal that one has set for himself (Appelbaum, 251). In Romeo and Juliet, masculinity is largely predominant. When Romeo is about to commit suicide, Friar Laurence scolds him, saying: “Are you a man? Your form screams that you are. Your tears are feminine; your wild actions denote the unreasonable fury of a beast. An unseemly woman in a seeming man” (Shakespeare, 3.2.18). Essentially, 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 criticizes Romeo for not behaving like a man or not following masculinity. The men in Romeo and Juliet are trying to achieve a goal, but sometimes it's impossible...... middle of paper ...... As masculinity is very important, the men thought they had to do proof of strength. As women were considered unrecognized, they were lower on the social status list. When Capulet says he is going to evict Juliet, he is saying that he owns Juliet. The fact that women are less important and weaker is so etched into Romeo and Juliet that women seem to accept it. Works Cited Appelbaum, Robert. “Standing Against the Wall: The Pressures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.” » Shakespeare Quarterly 48.3 (1997): 251-72. JSTOR. Internet. October 27, 2013. Riley, Dick and Pam McAllister. “What if Shakespeare had been born a girl? Women in the Queen of England. Shakespeare's bedside table, bathtub and companion armchair. Np: np, 2001. 91-96. Literary reference center. Internet. October 27, 2013. Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. Np: np, nd Print.