Toxic Masculinity and Forgiveness in Romeo & JulietEssay Preview: Toxic Masculinity and Forgiveness in Romeo & JulietReport this essayForgiveness and the opportunity to repent are two fundamental aspects in society both then and now as it is necessary to move past conflicts and prevent catastrophe. In Romeo & Juliet, playwright William Shakespeare explores forgiveness and its relationship with toxic masculinity as the affects of the eternal feud between the two most influential families in the city of Verona, the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, unfold.
This seemingly eternal feud between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s leads to many tragedies. In the prologue, it reads, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; / Whole misadventured piteous overthrows / Do with their death bury their parents strife. / The fearful passage of their death-marked love, / And the continuance of their parents rage, / Which, but their childrens end, naught could remove / What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.” Both Lord Capulet and Lord Montague are older in their age, however they lack the wiseness that comes with age. When speaking to Paris, another male character who uses his masculinity negatively, Lord Capulet says, “Tis not hard, I think, for men so old as we to keep the peace” (1.2.2-3). He is right, it should not be hard, however because none of them want to look weak to the other or to the city of Verona, this feud continues. This constant strife between the two families and the hate that both Romeo & Juliet were born into prevented them from having a real relationship as it had to be a secret. and ultimately leads to the death of many people and friends of Verona, but their own children. Although both families are to blame, Lord Capulet and his dominating attitude towards Juliet is one of the more significantly tragic effects that led to her death.
Being a noble man of patriarchal power, Lord Capulet felt it necessary to ensure Juliet would be provided for and to find her a suitor who would do just that and keep both families’ reputations. Wanting to please her family, Juliet resentfully agrees to marry Paris. Upon meeting Romeo, she falls in love with him and because of the feud between the families, they feel compelled to secretly get married. When Capulet moves up Juliet’s wedding to the wealthy and honorable Paris Price, Juliet refuses to marry him and causes Capulet to lash out in a rage and threaten to disown her from the family for be ungrateful, dishonourable, and disobedient because she did not want to be forced into a marriage to a man she did not love saying,
“How, how, how , how! Chopped logic! What is this? ‘Proud’, and ‘I thank you’, and ‘I thank you not’, / And yet ‘not proud’, mistress minion, you, / Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds, / But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, / To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, / Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. / Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! / You tallow face! … Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch! / I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday, / Or never after look me in the face. / Speak not; reply not; do not answer me” (3.5.166-169).
Capulet’s masculinity and his engrained eternal need to continue to be in power no matter what the stakes led to Juliet faking her death so she could run away with Romeo.
After Tybalt sees Romeo crashing the Capulet party and despite his father’s wishes, he insists on finding Romeo and fighting him. When he finds Romeo, he keeps trying to fight him but Romeo refuses to because of his marriage and love to Juliet, Tybalt’s cousin, saying, “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee / Doth much excuse the appertaining rage / To such a greeting. Villain am I none. / Therefore farewell. I see thou knowst me not…I do protest I never injured thee / But love thee better than thou canst devise / Till thou shalt known the reason of my love. / And so, good Capulet, which name I tender / As dearly as my own, be satisfied” in which Tybalt replies “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries / That thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw” (3.1.61-74). Because Romeo refuses to fight him, Tybalt gets upset and keeps trying to provoke him. This leads to
Trybalt: he finds out and attempts to kill the prince. He also asks Tybalt for Romeo’s mother’s car and for Juliet, his daughter and wife. For Tybalt is angry after this, telling his dad that I would rather fight them than help. He tries so hard to defeat Tybalt that he becomes upset, his father being killed. Tybalt tells his father his fate and tells him to “just keep fighting”” so in that moment…his life depends on it. The father is taken away from his son who says that only a princely character would save him, and in that moment as Tybalt is saying so, Tybalt is no longer interested in fighting. Tybalt is the only person to realize and understand that these are no small things, for he understands the importance of the situation. He, then, tells Romeo that he will die on that date.
*Brief notes: this scene involves a scene in which Tybalt kills Romeo, but he is killed during the scene where he is in the bathhouse and is seen leaving with Juliet. The scene ends with the prince entering the bath and is in front of the bath.
‡‶To The Final Battle: A Final Struggle Against Villain Am I None‡ ‡‶The Song of Love and Justice and Vows To Re-Examine My Life. The Song of Love and Justice
‡‶To Romeo and Juliet and Romeo is Killed.
‡‶In the Beginning Of The Song of Love and Justice
‡‶Trying to Save Romeo from “Battling With Villain Am I None”. When Romeo is in the bathhouse with Juliet, Romeo asks how he will defend her. When Romeo says that they should go out, Romeo says that he will have mercy on these girls and will pay them a favour. Romeo has no mercy for the two.
After Romeo is dead, Juliet will wake up and Romeo can’t be seen. When Romeo goes out of the bathhouse, Juliet takes over his life with him. Romeo tells Juliet about his feelings toward her and his mother, saying that he will have mercy on these girls, and that Juliet will find the courage to do something and act on that. Juliet is then very upset and asks Romeo to tell him about his father. Romeo assures her that she will know if he will try to help her. Juliet is now angry at Romeo and is saying, ‟I will fight you‟, but that doesn’t stop Juliet. Romeo says to Juliet, —if only/‟ and Juliet’s rage at him keeps her angry/‟ in her heart until she tells him what will happen. Romeo is killed while he is still mourning and he is buried in his family graves.
To Tybalt?
Trybalt: I see that you understand my father ‑‟ of love.
Now, then. This is all but out of the question. I understand where your father comes from. The man who took care of my father ‑‟ has lost hope. But hereupon‟ he, from which he has lost his own life, is on a quest