Masculinity

• Peace! I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee.


  Tybalt to Benvolio - A1S1 - this is seen as masculine in Elizabethan England as it is encouraging violence
• Part fool! Put up your swords; you know no what you do- Benvolio


  'Fools' - insult, mean side of Benvolio

  'Part', 'Put'- imperative verb, shows Benvolio is of a higher status, plosive alliteration - shows aggression

  'you know not what you do' insults their intelligence

  '!' - shows he is shouting, seriousness

  Benvolio roughly translates to peacekeeper - religious reference, he is a Christ-like figure who stops fights (prophet tells Romeo to examine other beauties to forget Rosaline - Romeo meets Juliet)

  Not seen as Masculine - he stopped a fight but he was controlling the situation
• 'drawn among these heartless hinds? Turn thee Benvolio look upon thy death.'- Tybalt


  'heartless hinds' - relates to deer - calling Benvolio feminine and questioning his masculinity (with ?)

  'Turn', 'look' - imperative, he's ordering Benvolio around - dominance

  'death' - threatens Benvolio

  this would have been seen as masculine as he is challenging Benvolio and causing fights to protect his family name
• Did my heart love till now? - Romeo 


  shows Romeo's sensitive side, when he first see's Juliet

  'my' - personal pronoun - shows how he is experiencing these feelings

  'love' - verb- strong emotion 'love at first sight'-happened often as people only really lived till about 40 years old

  'now' - Romeo has forgotten about Rosaline - courtly love

  Romeo's romantic side - 'Juliet is the sun' (link to astrology)
• 'let two summers wither in their pride' - Lord Capulet


  Telling Paris to wait two more years to marry Juliet

  'two summers' - wait two more years to marry Juliet

  'wither' - verb - decay could hint at Juliet's death

  this would have been near-enough unheard of in the Elizabethan Era as fathers wanted their daughters to marry quickly, especially to people of high status (Paris is related to the Prince) - this makes Capulet seem like a inspirational father

  this provides false hope that he will let Juliet choose when she wishes to marry
• 'hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!.... Speak not, reply not, do not answer me!' - Capulet


  'hang' - saying she should be killed for disobeying her father

  'disobedient' - insults her for not obeying him

  'baggage' - connotates to being heavy, excess, not needed

  'wretch' - connotates with villains

  'not' - still telling her what to do

  'speak', 'reply' - imperatives

  '!' - shouting

  double standards for men and women
• Tybalt


  in every scene he is in he is seen fighting - dies defending his honour/family name