Every year as a 9th grade English teacher, I have to teach Romeo and Juliet. Each time I teach it, I get a little more peeved at the way women are portrayed. This has led me to believe that the misogyny in R&J deserves just as much criticism as rap lyrics.
To start off, in Act I, scene i, two Capulet servants are going back and forth cracking jokes about the Montagues and making a pun of the word “maidenhead.” Sampson mocks, “'Tis 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 . . . Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I /have fought with the men, I will be civil with the maids, and cut off their heads . . . Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; / take it in what sense thou wilt.” Basically Sampson argues that because women are weaker than men, once he finishes fighting the Montagues, he will rape their women. This interchange was meant to be funny; however, I haven’t laughed yet.
In addition, throughout the play, Shakespeare throws in these underhanded comments about women. Romeo blames Juliet’s love for making him “effeminate” when he couldn’t stand up to Tybalt’s challenge. His lack of a will to fight caused the death of Mercutio, one of his close friends. The implication here is that a woman’s love takes away one’s manhood. Later on, Friar Lawrence describes Romeo’s emo breakdown as acting like a woman. At the time, Romeo was going on and on about how being banished from Verona was more like a death sentence because he wouldn’t be near Juliet. He starts wailing about how he would rather die than live without her. So Friar tells him, “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!” So women are just a ball of uncontrollable, irrational emotions? I’m glad Shakespeare told me because I didn’t know before.
On top of all this, Shakespeare further aggravates me in Act IV when Juliet runs to Friar for help after finding out her father has arranged for her to marry Paris. Friar concocts this plan in which Juliet has to drink a potion that will make her appear dead for 42 hours. Mind you, this is the 16th century; who wouldn’t be scared to take some herb mixed potion that will make you “die?” But good ole Friar reassures Juliet when he tells her, “And this shall free thee from this present shame;/If no inconstant toy, nor womanish fear,/Abate thy valour in the acting it.” Or in other words, as long as you don’t get all scary like a little "girl," my crazy plan might just work.
Others might argue that R&J is reflective of the time period in which Shakespeare was writing, but if that works for him then it should work for any rapper. Today’s time period is just as patriarchal, misogynistic as any other. And I don’t think we should let Shakespeare off the hook.
To start off, in Act I, scene i, two Capulet servants are going back and forth cracking jokes about the Montagues and making a pun of the word “maidenhead.” Sampson mocks, “'Tis 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 . . . Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I /have fought with the men, I will be civil with the maids, and cut off their heads . . . Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; / take it in what sense thou wilt.” Basically Sampson argues that because women are weaker than men, once he finishes fighting the Montagues, he will rape their women. This interchange was meant to be funny; however, I haven’t laughed yet.
In addition, throughout the play, Shakespeare throws in these underhanded comments about women. Romeo blames Juliet’s love for making him “effeminate” when he couldn’t stand up to Tybalt’s challenge. His lack of a will to fight caused the death of Mercutio, one of his close friends. The implication here is that a woman’s love takes away one’s manhood. Later on, Friar Lawrence describes Romeo’s emo breakdown as acting like a woman. At the time, Romeo was going on and on about how being banished from Verona was more like a death sentence because he wouldn’t be near Juliet. He starts wailing about how he would rather die than live without her. So Friar tells him, “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!” So women are just a ball of uncontrollable, irrational emotions? I’m glad Shakespeare told me because I didn’t know before.
On top of all this, Shakespeare further aggravates me in Act IV when Juliet runs to Friar for help after finding out her father has arranged for her to marry Paris. Friar concocts this plan in which Juliet has to drink a potion that will make her appear dead for 42 hours. Mind you, this is the 16th century; who wouldn’t be scared to take some herb mixed potion that will make you “die?” But good ole Friar reassures Juliet when he tells her, “And this shall free thee from this present shame;/If no inconstant toy, nor womanish fear,/Abate thy valour in the acting it.” Or in other words, as long as you don’t get all scary like a little "girl," my crazy plan might just work.
Others might argue that R&J is reflective of the time period in which Shakespeare was writing, but if that works for him then it should work for any rapper. Today’s time period is just as patriarchal, misogynistic as any other. And I don’t think we should let Shakespeare off the hook.
