Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ELISABETH MARSELLA
Student Number : 064214025
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
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AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ELISABETH MARSELLA
Student Number : 064214025
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
It is better to light one candle than
to curse the darkness
(Chinese Proverb)
Optimism is like a vitamin to all your
attempts at success. Make sure you
have your daily dose.
(Vikas Malkani)
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For my beloved family and friends
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blessing in every single day, especially for guiding me in completing this thesis. Secondly, I would like to thank my advisor Modesta Luluk Artika Windrasti, S. S., my co-advisor Adventina Putranti, S. S., M. Hum.,and Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. for the guidance, patience, advice, and support. Those mean a lot to me.
I owe great gratitude to Urbanus Daruendro and Maria Sunarti for being wonderful parents. I thank them very much for magnificent love, guidance, and prayers. I feel very lucky to have them always beside me. I also would like to thank my brothers Martinus Aryaseta, Mario Puntodewo, Bernardinus Wijanarko, and Michael Wisnu Adi for the love, support, and laughter. How lucky I am for having precious treasure in life.
I would like to thank all my best friends: Arum, Marcel, Elok, and Bela. I thank them for great moments, love, laughter, help, and support that are too many to mention. I will never regret all the time we have shared together. I also would like to thank “BFI Footsal team” and my friends of English Letters 2006 Class A: Nana, Lusi, Sansan, Yuniar, Vina, Fin, Juli, Denal, and others. I thank them for cheering up my days. I am so glad to be a part of them.
For those who always give me support but not mentioned, I would like to give my biggest thanks. God knows all their kindness and, I believe, God will give them greater blessing than my thanks. God bless us all.
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MOTTO PAGE... iv
DEDICATION PAGE... v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... vii
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW... 5
A. Review of Related Studies ... 5
B. Review of Related Theories ... 8
1. Theories of Characterization ... 8
2. Theories of Patriarchal Society ... 11
3. Theory of Feminism ... 17
C. Theoretical Framework ... 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 22
A. Object of the Study... 22
B. Approach of the Study... 23
C. Method of the Study ... 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS... 26
A. The Characterization of Female and Male Characters ... 26
1. Characterization of Juliet ... 26
2. Characterization of Nurse ... 32
3. Characterization of Lady Capulet ... 34
4. Characterization of Lady Montague... 36
5. Characterization of Rosaline ... 36
6. Characterization of Romeo ... 37
7. Characterization of Capulet... 39
8. Characterization of Friar Lawrence... 42
9. Characterization of Mercutio ... 43
10. Characterization of County Paris ... 43
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C. The Reflection of Ideas of Feminism in Juliet’s Struggle... 56
1. Woman can become Intellectuals, Members of Vanguard of Change for Women ... 58
2. Woman can Work toward a Socialist Transformation of the Society 62 3. Woman can Refuse to Internalize her Otherness ... 65
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION... 68
BIBLIOGRAPHY... 71
APPENDICES... 73
Appendix 1: The Summary of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet ... 73
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Shakespeare’s work is always interesting to analyze, not only because of his great name but also because of the content of the work itself. Besides, Shakespeare usually describes the female characters in his works as a strong character that has lively minds. One of them is Juliet in his Romeo and Juliet. She fulfils the quality because she is aware of the discrimination over women and reacts against it. Although feminism has not emerged yet at her time, she reflects the ideas of feminism by struggling to determine her destiny.
There are three objectives of analyzing this thesis. First, the writer intends to reveal the characterization of female and male characters. The second objective is to see how patriarchal society is depicted in the play. The third objective is to see how Juliet reflects the idea of feminism in her struggle.
The object of the study is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The play is taken from William Shakespeare: Complete Works that is edited by Peter Alexander and published by Random House in 1952. The play is divided into five acts, which each act consists of three to six acts. To show Juliet’s feminist struggle, the approach used to analyze is feminist approach. The method used in the study is library-research method by employing the play as the primary source and books related to the theory, approach, related studies and criticisms, and internet source as secondary sources. After reading the play for several times and understanding the points of the story, the writer focuses on the female and male characters. Then, the writer uses secondary sources and formulates the problems. The last step is to apply the secondary source to the primary source to answer the problem formulation.
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Karya Shakespeare selalu menarik untuk dianalisis, bukan hanya karena nama besar Shakespeare tetapi juga karena isi karya itu sendiri. Selain itu, Shakespeare sering menggambarkan karater wanita dalam karyanya sebagai karakter yang kuat yang memiliki pikiran yang hidup. Salah satunya adalah Juliet dalam Romeo and Juliet. Ia memenuhi kualitas tersebeut karena ia menyadari penindasan terhadap wanita dan bereaksi melawan penindasan itu. Walaupun feminisme belum muncul pada jamannya, ia merefleksikan pemikiran feminisme dengan berusaha menentukan jalan hidupnya.
Terdapat tiga tujuan analisis skripsi ini. Pertama, penulis bermaksud untuk menunjukkan penokohan karakter wanita dan pria. Tujuan yang kedua adalah untuk melihat penggambaran masyarakat yang patriarkal. Tujuan yang ketiga adalah untuk melihat cara Juliet merefleksikan perjuangannya yang feminis.
Objek penelitian ini adalah drama Romeo and Juliet karya Shakespeare. Drama ini diambil dari buku William Shakespeare: Complete Works yang diedit oleh Peter Alexander dan diterbitkan oleh Random House pada tahun 1952. Drama ini terbagi dalam lima babak, yang tiap babaknya terdiri dari tiga hingga enam adegan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian pustaka dengan menggunakan drama sebagai sumber utama, dan buku-buku yang berkaitan dengan teori, pendekatan, kajian dan kritik yang berhubungan, serta internet sebagai sumber pendukung. Setelah beberapa kali membaca drama ini dan mengerti inti ceritanya, penulis fokus pada karakter-karakter wanita dan pria. Setelah itu, penulis menggunakan sumber-sumber pendukung dan merumuskan masalah-masalah yang akan dibahas dalam analisis. Langkah terakhir adalah menerapkan sumber pendukung pada sumber utama untuk menjawab rumusan masalah.
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A. Background of the Study
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s popular plays, not only for those who learn literature but also for people who do not deal with literature. This play is popularly known as a romantic story of star-crossed lovers namely Romeo and Juliet. They cannot unite their love since their families are deadly feuds. Reaske and Knott, Jr say that this play is one of Shakespeare’s popular plays that forms part of daily vocabulary, and a reference, for thinking about men and women (1988:59).
Although this play was written years ago, euphoria of this play can still be felt in the recent time. This play has been filmed for several times. It also has become an inspirational love story like the creation of Best Picture Oscar winner Shakespeare’s in Love. Bernard Weinraub’s cynical statement about the reason of the winning was because “‘Shakespeare’ perhaps was able to convince women voters to vote for it.” Then, Warner says that this film is a woman’s film (Werner 2001,10). Although Shakespeare’s in Love is not straightforward performance of Romeo and Juliet, but what Warner said that this is a woman’s film directs us to claim that Romeo and Juliet is also a woman’s drama. What Weinraub said implies that nothing related to woman deserves to get appreciation.
of their own, lively minds, and strong characters such as Portia, Rosalind, etc (Boulton, 1968: 166). In this play, the character who possesses those characteristics is Juliet. She bravely takes decision of what she is going to do although it might risk her life. Degradation is one that always shadows her. How great courage that she has, people always doubt her endurance. Therefore, she tries hard to against the underestimation and people’s thought about being a woman.
When this play was written, feminism had not appeared yet. Feminism emerged in early 1900s although a faint voice against the patriarchy had arisen in the early 1700s (Bressler, 1999:181). However, the patriarchy had been established since centuries ago before the time of Shakespeare. Before the feminism emerges, many feminist agents must have struggled to get equality. What makes it different is that the struggles have not yet known as feminism.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How are female and male characters characterized in the play? 2. How is the patriarchal society depicted in the story?
3. How do Juliet’s struggles reflect the ideas of feminism?
C.Objective of the Study
The first objective of this study is to see the characterization of the female and male characters in this play. By analyzing the characterization, it can be seen the role of female and male characters in this play and how they face their lives. From the characterization, it can be seen which characters bear the idea of feminism and which one is not. Besides, it will reveal how the male characters treat and view the female characters.
The second objective is to see the patriarchal society depicted in the play. From this part, how the female characters are treated or how they view themselves as the result of social construction can be seen. As the idea of feminism is to fight the discrimination of society towards women, the patriarchal society is described in order to see how the female characters face the subordination in their society.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Feminism
According to Maggie Humm, feminism is generally the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that woman suffers injustice because of the sex (1995:94).
2. Struggle
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A.Review of Related Studies
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet love is never easy for Romeo and Juliet. These star-crossed lovers face big obstacles in their relationship, primary is due to the deadly feud between their parents, between Capulet and Montague. However, the obstacles cannot stop their passion to be together. They do many efforts that are hidden from their parents. They even endanger their own lives and in the end, they decide to commit suicide.
In the era of Shakespeare, feminism had not emerged yet but the history says that the oppression toward women has lasted since long time ago. Therefore, it is true that women have tried to liberate themselves before the feminism itself emerges. Women have actually tried to stand on their own feet. Unfortunately, the root of patriarchy has planted in society.
This condition can be seen from the classic Greek play, Antigone. From the studies done by Setyarini Santosa Putri in her thesis The Emergence of Feminist Ideas In Sophocles’s Antigone, woman inferiority is described thoroughly. Antigone, the agent of feminism in the play, shows how she should fight against the law in order to bury her brother. She insists to bury her brother properly although she knows that she will face the final punishment if she does it.
care of her brother’s corpse to be buried properly. ... Second, Creon’s mew law about the improper burial defies the law of the gods. (2002:54-55)
For those reasons, Antigone bravely faces the risk that Creon will punish her. However, she has set her mind that she will not let her brother’s body unburied properly.
Antigone’s actions influence the people to view the rule differently. Her suicide influences many characters in the play and convinces them to defend the truth. She leads the men and women to react differently toward injustice made by Creon (Putri,2002:79). In other words, Antigone brings the feminist’s idea that is to influence women, and even men, to react against social injustice that is controlled by the patriarchal power.
Juliet in the Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet also brings the similar idea. The spirit of feminism has encouraged women to rebel against the patriarchal society which tends to discriminate women. Yayoi Miyashita in her Juliet’s Acquisition of Independence and Patriarchy in Romeo and Juliet, an annual report on cultural science, says that
It is Juliet not Romeo who shows conspicuous development from the first step of adolescence to the young adult who can act out her own decision. It is accepted idea that in this play gender roles changes between Romeo and Juliet, and the Juliet shows masculine decisive power when she receives the sleeping potion and when she stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger, whereas Romeo condemns his own effeminacy at Mercutio’s death, and remains effeminate when he commits suicide by taking poison. (2002:19)
She also prepares a dagger and ready to stab it, if the potion does not work as she expects.
There might be a question whether feminists agree with suicide. This notion may lead readers to a question toward Juliet’s decision to suicide because it can be seen as a frustration because of the oppression. Lisa Hopkins, as Molly Cooper wrote in her thesis Bad Girls: Romantic Feminine Rebellion in Renaissance Drama, sees the suicide in different way. She says in her thesis that
She[Lisa Hopkins] sees suicide, such as that found in Romeo and Juliet and The Spanish Tragedy, as a result of the mechanism in which the dominant power structure acts upon powerless women. She writes, “In sharp contrast to this passivity and victimhood, the majority of the female characters in the plays (that she examines) neither seek nor welcome death” and of the ones who do meet their end in her selected plays, they “eventually accept death, but only on their own terms and only because this is clearly a more dignified attitude than continuing to resist”
The writer agrees with Miyashita’s statements because Juliet does more things for their love rather than Romeo. Juliet is not depicted as passive character who is waiting for her destiny, but she actively finds a way to get her rights. The image that women are passive is not suitable for Juliet. She acts contrarily to the patriarchal construction of women.
Since the patriarchy oppression is very great, not all female characters do or agree to what Juliet is doing. Other female characters in this play are Nurse, Lady Capulet, and Lady Montague. Women around her, the Nurse and her mother often obstruct Juliet’s struggle. They actually do not understand Juliet, because they have different ideas of being women. Lady Capulet and Nurse can be said as the product of patriarchy. This can be seen from the way their obedience to the social construction. As woman, some of them are trying to get their independence, while others are choosing to be good women that will lead them to peace and prosperity.
B. Review on Related Theories
1. Theory of Characterization
Characterization can be seen from several ways. According to Murphy in Understanding Unseens, there are nine ways to see the characterization of characters in literary works. Among the nine, seven are used in the analysis of the play. Those are as follows
a. Character as seen by another. Instead of describing character directly, the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another. The reader gets, as it were, a reflected image.
c. Conversation of others. The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People do talk about other people and things they say of often give as a clue to the character of the person spoken about.
d. Reactions. The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events. e. Direct comment. The author can describe or comment on person’s
character directly.
f. Thoughts. The author can give us direct knowledge of what person is thinking about. In this respect he is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell us what different people are thinking.
g. Mannerisms. The author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habit or idiosyncrastes which may also tell us something about his character.
(Murphy, 1972: 161-173) In play, the characterization mostly reveals from the dialogues. From the dialogues, the characteristic of the characters in the play can be derived. Readers can draw several ideas from short dialogues since the playwright usually has certain purpose in employing certain dialogues. The dialogues may be in the form of speech, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment. Of course, other points may also be used to see the characterization but the characterization formed in dialogues is the easiest way.
Character in drama is little bit different with character in the prose. Unlike prose that is possible to describe the characters in detail, character in drama is limited by the dialogues. Description like in the prose may be still found in the drama, but it is not as detailed as in the prose. What drama has as the substitution of the description is the stage director. However, there are still other clues in order to understand the character in the drama.
According to Barranger’s Understanding Drama, there are several ways in understanding the characters. They are as follows
First, we observe what playwrights say about them [characters] in the stage directions and, second, we hear or read what characters say about one another in dialogue. Third, we note general types – physical and psychological. Fourth, we construe the moral and ethical choices that determine their destinies. (1994:339)
Robert Stanton in his An Introduction to Fiction says that character is usually used in two ways. First, it shows the individuals who appear in the story. Second, “... it refers to the mixture of interest, desires, emotions, and moral principles that makes up each of these individuals (1965:17).” He then continues
Most of stories contain a central character, who is relevant to every event in the story; usually the events cause some change either in him or in our attitude toward him. ... A character’s reason for behaving as he does is his motivation. His specific motivation is his immediate reason, perhaps unconscious, for any particular speech or act. His basic motivation is an aspect of his general character; it is the continuing desire or intention that governs him throughout the story, the direction toward which almost of his specific motivation. (1965:17)
misinterpretation. It is due to the condition that there might be changes in the development of the character. Stanton (1965:17-18) proposes the evidence may include the characters’ name, the author’s description of and comment upon the character, the evidence provided by other character, and the character’s own dialogue and action.
Based on his description, Stanton thinks that the most important evidence is the last evidence he has mentioned. That is the character’s own dialogue. He says that the dialogue and action are “a manifestation of character (1965:18)”. From the dialogue and action, reader will know exactly the implied meaning that lies in the story. In other words, to know the character in the play, the readers need to understand the action.
2. Theories on Patriarchal Society
There are two definitions of patriarchy used in this study. First, based on Cultural Theory: The Key Concept, patriarchy is a literary term that means ‘the rule of the father’. It is used in the feminist theory to refer the way in which societies are structured through male domination over, and oppression, women (1999:270). Second, Johnson says in his Human Arrangements: An Introduction to Sociology that “a patriarchy is a society that in which power resides in the eldest male in the family, who passes it on through his eldest son (1986:409).”
also be applied to the relation between men and women in the society. Since men are the people who have power to rule, they tend to see women as being less value. Therefore, men tend to dominate the society and control the society based on their preference, although it causes oppression for women.
Tong says in her Feminist Thought that “the men named ‘man’ the self and ‘woman’ the other. If the other is threat to the self, then woman is threat to a man (1998:179).” If man refers to be free, he must subordinate the woman. By doing this, woman will not be threat to him because they can control the woman. Since man holds the control over woman, man becomes superior while woman inferior.
In her The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir includes two figures who say that women are inferior to men. They are Aristotle and St Thomas.
He [man] thinks of his body as a direct and normal connection with the world, which he believes he apprehends objectively, whereas he regards the body of woman as a hindrance, a prison, weighed down by everything peculiar to it. ‘The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities,’ said Aristotle; ‘we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness.’ And St Thomas for his part pronounced woman to be an ‘imperfect man’, an ‘incidental’ being. This is symbolized in Genesis where Eve is depicted as made from what Bossuet called ‘a supernumerary bone’ of Adam.
inferiority from his ideology. According to the Genesis, Eve, believed as the first woman, is made from a bone of Adam who believed as the first man made by God. St Thomas simply interprets Genesis as the basis to distinguish the position of woman and man.
These two important figures may influence in viewing woman in the society. Genesis is a part of Christianity, a religion that many Europeans hold. Although, this is not the root of patriarchy itself, but this belief seems to justify the inferiority of woman and strengthen the patriarchy in the society.
Woman is degraded by employing binary opposition. To compare the masculinity and femininity de Beauvoir says that the distinction is like “Good and evil, lucky and unlucky auspices, right and left, God and Lucifer (de Beauvoir, 1989: xxiii)”. Masculinity is used to evoke positive connotation, while femininity is to evoke negative connotation. Therefore, man believes that he is in the right in being a man and woman is in the wrong.
such as marrying, having children, devoting themselves to being wives and mothers (Johnson, 1986:411).
In the Shakespearean era, the patriarchy can be seen through the structure of the society; men are the breadwinners and women have to be obedient housewives and mothers (Ekici, 2009). In order to make the role allocation, women are supposed to represent values like obedience, silence, sexual chastity, piety, humility, constancy, and patience. (Almasy, 1996). Because they are expected to be obedient, they have to accept what the authority says.
In a family, father or husband is the ‘head’. He is the decision maker that must be obeyed by the wife and children. He can control his wife and children without considering their opinion.
Individual families were normally set up on a patriarchal basis, with the husband and father determining fundamental conditions and making the key decisions, and with humble obedience owed to this male authority. Patriarchal family structure rested on men's control of most or all property, starting with land itself; marriage was based on property relationships and it was assumed that marriage, and therefore subordination to men, was the normal condition for the vast majority of women. ...
Characteristic patriarchal conditions developed in Mesopotamian civilization. Marriages were arranged for women by their parents, with a formal contract being drawn up. The husband served as authority over his wife and children just as he did over his slaves.
For the case of marriage and motherhood, de Beauvoir has her own opinion. de Beauvoir says “the otherness of woman is cemented in institution of marriage and motherhood (Tong, 1998:183).” She believes that the role of wife and mother robs woman’s freedom. If she should play the role of wife and mother, she will be a passive, lacking of ambition and passion. She will undergo aimless days indefinitely repeated and like waiting for the death coming without having any life purposes, doing the same activities all day until she gets old (Tong, 1998: 184).
Woman’s otherness has pervaded in the society not only in the family. According to Sandra Bartky, woman’s otherness in the society can be seen through the catcalling or whistle. This behaviour shows that woman is seen as object. Wherever she goes, man will always watch her so she cannot escape from man’s eyes. This creates the idea of fashion-beauty complex (Tong, 1998: 188). Woman will be regarded as beauty if the society says that she is beautiful, she is fulfilling the fashion in the society. How she looks will always be observed by man, even into detailed of her body (Tong: 1998, 186).
Sheffield proposes a different terms to figure out patriarchy, that is sexual terrorism. She calls it so “because it is a system by which males frighten and, by frightening, control and dominates females” (1984:3). She explains further that there are some components of sexual terrorism (1984:5-6), as the following
masculine/warrior ideal. Masculinity must include not only a proclivity for violence but all those characteristics necessary for survival: aggression, control, emotional reverse, rationality, sexual potency, etc.
b. Propaganda; it is the methodical dissemination of information for the purpose of promoting a particular ideology. Its purpose is to present one point of view on a subject and to discredit opposing point of view.
c. Indiscriminateness, unpredictability, arbitrariness, ruthless destructiveness and amorality.
d. Voluntary compliance; the institutionalization of a system of terror requires the development of mechanisms other than sustained violence to achieve its goal. The strategy to develop it is to maintain the sexual terrorism largely. This will be done by an elaborate system of sex-role socialization that in effect instructs men to be terrorists in the name of masculinity and women to be victims in the name of femininity.
3. Theories on Feminism
According to Maggie Humm, feminism is generally the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that woman suffers injustice because of the sex (1995:94). There are some important figures in the development of feminism. One of them is Simone de Beauvoir, who is known as the architect of second-wave feminist criticism.
In The Second Sex, de Beauvoir says that society sets up man as the positive and woman as the negative, second sex or ‘Other’ (Humm, 1994:36). In order to find the answer of the claim that women are the other, she explains the relation of woman and man from several points of view. She describes the nature of human biologically, psychologically, and historically. However, the biological point of view fails to explain the inferiority of women. By taking de Beauvoir’s idea, Humm says that
“...utilising autobiographies as well as psychological The Second Sex begins with the facts and the myths drawn from psychosocial studies to focus on how women themselves experience social ‘reality’. De Beauvoir concludes that woman is constructed ‘differently’, by man, history and biology as well as from the literature. For de Beauvoir, physical distinctions between women and men have meaning only in social arrangements, so that biological characteristics can explain, but never determine, differences between women and men.” (1994:37)
Psychological point of view also fails to explain the inferiority of women Therefore, de Beauvoir states in her The Second Sex that
Woman is shown to us as enticed by two modes of alienation. Evidently to play at being a man will be for her a source of frustration; but to play at being a woman is also a delusion: to be a woman would mean to be the object, the Other – and the Other nevertheless remains subject in the midst of her resignation.
possibilities are opened up for her through what are called the virile and the feminine attitudes. ... To paint, to write, to engage in politics – these are not merely ‘sublimations’; here we have aims that are willed for their own sakes. To deny it is to falsify all human history.
(1953: 51) It is not easy for women to liberate themselves from the oppression of men because of the condition in the society. From the passage above, women face a dilemma. They cannot play the role of a man, and they cannot be a ‘woman’. There is no place for them in the group of the two sexes, that is why they are called as The Other.
Therefore, de Beauvoir says that the true problem of women is that they are seemingly to escape from such condition which then perpetuates their inferiority. This attitude will not overcome their problem. What they need to do is to find any possibilities to liberate themselves. They should break the idea of woman’s inferiority by being active in devaluing themselves as equal human to men. She, then, affirms her idea by saying “It is useless to apportion blame and excuses justice can never be done in the midst of injustice (de Beauvoir, 1989: 723)”. It is not blaming that is expected to liberate themselves, but valuing themselves based on what they believe.
There are four things, according to de Beauvoir, to escape from the otherness.
b. Woman can become intellectuals, members of the vanguard of change for women. Intellectual activity is to think, look, and define. It means that woman should actively think, look, and define herself according to her own. They should not depend on what men are thinking, looking, or defining.
c. Woman can work toward a socialist transformation of society. If woman wants to be everything she wants, she must help create the kind of society that will provide her with the material support to transcend her present limits. d. Woman can refuse to internalize her otherness–that is, to identify themselves
through the eyes of the dominant group in the society.
(Tong, 1998: 187-188) De Beauvoir thinks that woman and man are, indeed, different biologically, but it cannot determine the life of two. Beauvoir insists that women should reject the construction that men are the subject of the absolute and women are The Other. In other words, women must not accept the social construction for granted. They need to determine their own life and reject the label as The Other (Bresslers, 1999: 182).
C. Theoretical Framework
play, Juliet. Here, Juliet’s idea suits to the idea of de Beauvoir, that she refuses to internalize the otherness. Moreover, in this play the patriarchy is depicted by making the female characters to be the other, which matches to the idea of de Beauvoir’s otherness.
Theory of characterization is used in order to find out the characteristic of female and male characters in the play. Play consists of dialogues. In this analysis, dialogue is the main source to identify the characters in the play. Therefore, the theory will be applied to the dialogues female and male characters’ words. Among several characters in the play, there should be a character that bears the ideas of feminism. This theory is needed because it can figure out the character bearing the ideas of feminism.
To apply the theory, firstly the female and male characters are chosen to observe. Since there are seven points taken from the theory, the points are going to be applied one by one. Therefore, the characteristic of the characters can be figured out in order to decide whether they have the ideas of feminism or not.
The second theory is the theory on patriarchal society. The theory will show how patriarchal society is structured. The theory will also be derived from the perspective of feminism. Action, dialogues or mindset of the male characters will be observed in order to find the patriarchy that they employ.
the social condition. In other word, it will describe their acceptance toward the male’s control over the female characters.
Third, theory of feminism is very important in viewing this play since the title of this play clearly mentions feminism. Feminism theory is varied. Therefore, it is important to make it specific. In this analysis, the theory used is the theory of existentialist feminism. The focus of this theory is to see how women refuse to internalize themselves as the other.
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A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a play entitled Romeo and Juliet. This play is written by the icon of English literature of Elizabethan era, William Shakespeare. Since this play has been edited and published many times, the Romeo and Juliet used in this study is the one that is edited by Peter Alexander, and put together with other Shakespeare’s plays in William Shakespeare: Complete Works published by Random House in 1952. This play is divided into 5 acts, which acts consist of three to six scenes. Act I, III, and IV are parted into 5 scenes. Act II is parted into 6 six, while Act V consists of three scenes only.
In accordance with the title of the play, this play is telling about Romeo and Juliet, a young couple who struggles for their love. Romeo’s family, the Montagues, is a deadly feud of Juliet’s family, the Capulets. This is the hindrance of their will to be together. However, this situation cannot stop their love. They get married secretly. The situation is becoming more difficult when Romeo is exiled to Mantua because he has broken the law made for the feud families. He kills a Capulet who has killed his best friend.
his advice. She decides to drink the potion, as Friar Lawrence suggests, so everyone will think that she is dead. Unfortunately, Romeo’s servant tells him that Juliet dies. Romeo is desperate and decides to drink poison. Juliet who saw her husband dies beside her stabs the dagger brought by Romeo into her heart. The lovers die.
Most of Shakespeare’s writings have been published for many times, including Romeo and Juliet that has been translated into many languages. Romeo and Juliet is a very popular play. From http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Romeo_and_Juliet_-_Adaptations/id/, this play is performed in plays, opera, movies, etc. Not only in English, but it also adapts to other languages. That is why Shakespeare’s writing will always be interesting to analyze.
B. Approach of the Study
As the writer is trying to see the play from the perspective of feminism, the approach of feminism is mainly used to analyze the play. Based on Meriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, feminist approach is “any variety of approaches to literary criticism that attempt to examine the ways in which literature has been shaped according to issues of gender (1995:409).”
Feminism’s goal is to change this degrading view of women so that all women will realize that they are not a ‘nonsignificant Other,’ but each woman is valuable person possessing the same privilege and rights as every man.
In this study, the women do not have equality to the men. It can be seen from one of the female characters, Juliet who cannot determine who she will marry. She has done many efforts in order to live with her lover. However, it is almost impossible to do that since there are many obstacles she faces. The condition is difficult for her, but she fights against the condition.
C. Method of the Study
The method used in this study is library-research method. Two sources are used, primary and secondary sources. The main source is the play Romeo and Juliet edited by Peter Alexander and published by Random House in 1952. The secondary sources are taken from other books related to the theory, approach, related studies and criticisms, and internet sources.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
There will be three parts in this chapter since there are three questions need to answer. The first part is the characterization of female and male characters. The second part is trying to describe the patriarchal society depicted in this play. Last, the third part is about how Juliet reflects the feminist struggle against the patriarchy.
A. Characterizations of the Female and Male Characters
According to Murphy in his Understanding Unseens, there are nine points to understand the character. In this analysis, there will be seven points used to analyse the characters. The seven points are character seen by others, speech, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism (1972:161-173). This theory is mostly used to analyse the characterization of the characters.
Five female characters and four male characters are going to be analysed. The female characters are Juliet, Nurse, Lady Capulet, Lady Montague, and Rosaline. The male characters are Old Capulet, Friar Lawrence, Mercutio, and County Paris. The following is the characterization of the characters:
1. Juliet
event in the story (1965:17). Juliet is the central character in this play since she is relevant to the story.
She is a fourteen-year-old Capulet. She lives with her parents and Nurse. According to Nurse, her maid who always accompanies her, Juliet is a hard-headed girl. Her obstinacy can be seen from Nurse’s frustration as follows
NURSE. Well, Sir. My mistress is the sweetest lady – Lord, Lord! when ‘twas a little prating thing! O, there is a nobleman in town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife abroad; but she, good soul, had as lief to see a toad, a very toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes, and tell her that Paris is the properer man; ...
(Shakespeare, 1952:917) She is a woman with a strong principle. Nurse sometimes angers her because she prefers to do anything she thinks, and not listen to other’s idea.
Juliet often behaves that way, which makes her father angry. He calls her “headstrong” (Shakespeare, 1952:930) when she refused to marry County Paris. Moreover, she holds her idea so strongly that no one can move her. This behaviour is frustrating Old Capulet which then makes him to call her “young baggage, disobedient wretch” (Shakespeare, 1952:927). However, Juliet’s obstinacy more tends to be her persistence. She is persistent, from the beginning until the end of the story she does not think that County Paris is good for her.
marry that way; her family chooses the man to be her husband. It is not about what things she gets from the marriage, but getting married is her decision.
Until the end of her life, Juliet is holding her principle. She prefers to die beside her husband, Romeo. She knows if she remains alive, her father will force her to marry County Paris. Therefore, she chooses to stab herself using a dagger although she has an opportunity to live.
Montague and Capulet, who are enemy of each other, also admit Juliet’s persistent struggles. He regards her efforts to maintain her love as a great effort. They say
CAPULET. O brother Montague, give me thy hand. This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more can I demand.
MONTAGUE. But I can give thee more; For I will raise her statue in pure gold, that whiles Verona by that name is known, there shall no figure at such rate be set as that of true and faithful Juliet.
(Shakespeare, 1952: 938) They recognize Juliet’s faith to stand on her choice, although there is greater authority hampered in front of her. They who never regard women’s opinion eventually admit her idea is ‘true and faithful’. Here, Juliet teaches them to live in peace, not becoming feuds anymore.
Juliet’s bravery can be seen from her actions in the play. She is taking risk to drink the sleeping potion, which Friar Lawrence gives to her. It is a big decision to undergo Friar Lawrence’s plan to drink the sleeping potion because he is not sure that she is brave enough to do the plan. She then bravely says “Give me, give me! O, tell not me of fear!” (Shakespeare, 1952:930). Although she doubts to drink the potion at first, eventually she drinks it. By consciousness, she takes the risks she might get.
Although she is brave enough to against her father, she knows that her efforts will not work out easily. For that reason, when she knows that Romeo dies, she decides to stab herself using Romeo’s dagger. Stanton says that specific motivation is the immediate reason for any particular speech or act. In this notion, Juliet’s action is committing suicide. Her reason is that Romeo death after drinking poison. For that reason, her motivation is Romeo’s death. She loves him and promises to be with him. If she remains alive, she may break her promise. Thus, she chooses to die.
Juliet is also brave enough to offer Romeo to ‘put off’ their family name. Juliet is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague. Therefore, Juliet will put off her Capulet name, and Romeo will put off his Montague name. It is clear from Juliet’s words as follows:
JULIET. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
honoured family in the society. If Romeo and Juliet refuse their family name, the risk they got is that they lose legacy from their parents, prestige, and social honour. Juliet’s question is a kind of challenge. If Romeo is not brave enough to put off Montague name, Juliet says it bravely that she will be the one that is going to do that. She is not afraid that she will lose the legacy, title, prestige, and honour from the society.
Her tricks show that she is clever. She is trying to solve problems using strategy. She is trying to be rational. If she only argues, nobody will listen. If she proves that she can handle her own life by action, people will consider that. She actively tries to find out the best way for her problems, not only waiting for others to overcome it. Moreover, she is trying to be critical. Not only taking anything happens to her for granted, but also she needs a moment to question and considers what she is going to do. She also refuses Romeo’s flirting by saying “O, swear not by the moon, th’inconstant moon, that montly changes in her circle orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.” She continues “ ..., if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, ...” (Shakespeare, 1952:913).
Juliet’s fight is mostly done on purpose. She intentionally arranges the plan to achieve what she thinks is good for her. She is not waiting for other to give her commands. In other words, she is an active character who voices her opinion, fights for her idea, and maintains her idea. She actively tries to solve problems happening to her.
2. Nurse
Nurse is Juliet’s closest person. Nurse has nursed Juliet since she was a baby. Nurse’s role is Juliet’s assistant as Juliet grows up. She is always beside Juliet. Only when Juliet asks her to leave, she leaves. Due to the fact that she always accompanies her mistress, she knows Juliet well. Lady Capulet herself says that
LADY CAPULET. ... Thou knowest my daughter’s of a pretty age NURSE. Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour
(Shakespeare, 1952:906) Not only does Nurse know Juliet well, she also can tell Juliet’s mother about Juliet’s life in an hour. It shows how well she knows Juliet. It also says that Nurse knows Juliet’s life much better than Lady Capulet knows Juliet.
Nurse is a reliable person for Juliet. She is the first person to whom Juliet comes, and who knows anything about Juliet, even she knows Juliet’s secrets. She knows the big secret of Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. She is also the one that delivers all messages from Juliet to Romeo, and in reverse, from Romeo to Juliet.
Nurse is also Juliet’s messenger. Besides delivering information to and from Romeo, she also delivers any information that she gets, including the information of Tybalt’s death. Not only that, she also delivers message from Friar Lawrence who plans Juliet’s marriage with Romeo and appointment for uniting Juliet and Romeo using sleeping potion.
marries is one of her wish. She thinks that “women grow by men” (Shakespeare, 1952:907). She believes that by marrying County Paris Juliet will grow to, since County Paris is a royal family. Therefore, Nurse keeps urging Juliet to marry with him and leave Romeo who has been banished.
Nurse is a religious woman. It can be seen from her speech, which sometimes includes God and saints, as follows
NURSE. Marry, that I think be young Petruchio.
(Shakespeare, 1952:911) NURSE. Jesu, what haste? Can you not stay a while? Do you not see that
I am out of breath?
(Shakespeare, 1952:918) Her belief is so strong that she tries to implement it in her life. She differentiates people from their deeds, whether it is good and bad. When Mercutio and Benvolio mock her while Romeo welcomes her, she then concludes that Romeo is a good-hearted man, although it is the first time they met. She also
prays him “Now God in heaven bless thee! – Hark you, sir.” (Shakespeare, 1952: 917).
She is also a brave woman. Her bravery appears in the end part of the story after she sees Juliet fighting for her ideal. She becomes brave when her beloved mistress is being degraded Nurse is offended and says “God in heaven bless her! You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.” Although she is a servant, she bravely interrupts her lord and blames him. As the response for blaming her
3. Lady Capulet
Looking at the name of the character, Lady Capulet, it is obvious that she is a part of Capulet family. She is Old Capulet’s wife, as written in the stage direction “Enter Old Capulet in his gown, and his Wife” (Shakespeare, 1952:903). As a wife of a nobleman, Lady Capulet usually accompanies her husband whenever he goes around. Some stage directions show readers that she mostly appears with Old Capulet.
Lady Capulet is Juliet’s mother. In bearing up her daughter, a nurse assisted her to take care Juliet. It causes the relationship between a mother and daughter loose, and the relation between Juliet and the nurse is closer. As the result, the nurse knows Juliet better than Lady Capulet.
Although Lady Capulet is not close enough to her daughter, she wants her daughter to have a proper life. She wants to make sure that her daughter’s husband can fulfil her needs. Therefore, she is so excited when she knows her that Juliet is going to get married with a nobleman, County Paris. As a mother, she likes to give advices to her daughter to attract a man when she says
LADY CAPULET. What say you? Can you love the gentleman? This night you must behold him at our feast; Read o’er the volume of young Paris’s face, and find delight writ there with beauty’s pen ; Examine every married lineament, and see how one another lends content; Find written in the margent of his eyes. This precious book of love, this unbound lover, to beautify him, only lacks a cover. The fish lives in the sea, and ‘tis much pride for fair without the fair within to hide. That book in many’s eyes doth share the glory that in gold clasps locks in the golden story; so shall you share all that he doth posses, by having him making yourself no less.
Lady Capulet is an obedient wife. Her obedience to her husband can be seen when, first, she always accompanies her husband and second, she is a kind of medium who delivers message from her husband to her daughter. She just repeats her husband’s word and agrees to all he says. Thus, she tells Juliet about the marriage.
Marriage is a kind of gift that a father can give to his daughter. What a daughter needs to do is just accepting her father’s decision. Therefore, Lady Capulet expects Juliet to be like her and everything will always be fine. It is reflected through Lady Capulet’s words
LADY CAPULET. Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child; One who, to put thee from thy heaviness, hath sorted out a sudden day of joy that thou expect not, nor I look’d not for.
(Shakespeare, 1952:927) Lady Capulet is so excited when she tells Juliet about her daughter’s arranged marriage, ignoring the condition that Capulet has just lost Tybalt. Getting married is an important moment for Lady Capulet that can release sadness. She is very disappointed when hearing Juliet refusing to marry County Paris. Her reaction to Juliet’s refusal shows that getting married with a nobleman should be a woman’s pride. Because Juliet does not agree with that idea and she cannot make Juliet obey her, she tells Old Capulet to make Juliet do what he has planned.
delivers the message to Juliet. Moreover, Old Capulet never asks her opinion about the marriage.
4. Lady Montague
It is obvious that Lady Montague is part of Montague family. She is the wife of Old Montague. Therefore, her name is Lady Montague. However, her real name is never mentioned in the play. In the stage direction, her name is written as Lady Montague or wife (of Montague), and Old Montague calls her “madam” (Shakespeare, 1952:904).
Like any other lady, Lady Montague always accompanies her husband. She is always besides her husband, Old Montague. Her appearance in the play is to accompany her husband. There is not any scene showing her without Old Montague. This shows that she is an obedient wife.
Lady Montague is also quiet person. She does not talk too much and she does not have many conversations with Old Montague, Romeo, or other characters.
5. Rosaline
Among the female characters in the play, Rosaline is the one that never appears in the stage that means she has neither dialogue nor action. The only way to know her existence is from the description given by other characters.
By using Barranger’s idea, it can be seen that Rosaline is a noble woman whom Romeo is crazy about. Friar Lawrence says that Romeo has been suffering for Rosaline (Shakespeare, 1952:915). Therefore, she must have attractiveness that can ruin Romeo’s days. That might be Rosaline is beautiful which means having good physical appearance as Mercutio describes as follows:
MERCUTIO. ... I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes, by her high forehead and her scarlet lip, by her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, and the demesnes that there adjacent lie, that in thy likeness thou appear to us.
(Shakespeare, 1952:911) From the Mercutio’s words, she has physical beauty that can attract men. Not only does Romeo who notice the physical beauty but also Mercutio as he says the dialogue above. No wonder then a man like Romeo adores her so much. Not only does Mercutio but also Benvolio who thinks that Rosaline is beautiful. At least, there are three men admiring Rosaline’s beauty; Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio. Using Benvolio’s words, Rosaline is “admired beauty of Verona” (Shakespeare, 1952:906).
6. Romeo
night” (Shakespeare, 1952: 910). His love always begins from the outside beauty of the women.
He is described as a brave person. It can be seen from when he breaks into Capulet’s feast. The feast is held for Capulet’s relatives. Mercutio is one of Capulet’s relatives. Therefore, he is invited. The Montagues are not invited since they are feuds of The Capulets. However, Romeo breaks into the feast in order to meet Rosaline, who is also invited by The Capulets. Romeo’s bravery can also be seen when he trespasses Capulet’s garden to meet Juliet. What he does is very risky that he can be punished. Juliet says “The orchard walls are high and hard to climb; and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here”( Shakespeare, 1952:912). Considering him as a Montague, he can die if any of the relatives find him in the Capulet’s house. He risks himself to see Juliet. However, he easily gets desperate when he encounters difficulties. He is so desperate when his love for Rosaline is out of her favour. He stays away from his family and friends. He laments his rejected love alone. It can be seen from his father’s dialogue that shows his deep desperation for being out of Rosaline’s favour.
MONTAGUE. Many morning hath he there been seen, with tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, adding to the clouds more clouds with his deep sighs; But all so soon as the all cheering-up sun should in the farthest east begin to draw the shady curtains from Aurora’s bed, away from light steals home my heavy son, and in his chamber pens himself, shuts up the windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself artificial night. Black and portentous must this humour prove, unless good counsel may the cause remove.
Moreover, he is desperate when he is banished to Mantua. He thinks that banishment is same as death. He comes to Friar Lawrence for a counsel and cries. He intends to “sack the hateful mansion.” (Shakespeare, 1952:924), but Friar Lawrence stops him.
Romeo is also described as a vengeful person. He is so mad when he knows Tybalt murders his best friend, Mercutio. He ignores the Prince’s law that Montague and Capulet must not fight in Verona streets. Although at first he tries to stop Mercutio and Tybalt fighting, he then fights with Tybalt. Before fighting, he says as follows
ROMEO. Alive in triumph and Mercutio slain! Away to heaven respective lenity, and fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now! Now, Tybalt take the ‘villain’ back again that late thou gav’st me; for Mercutio’s soul is but a little way above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company. Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.
(Shakespeare, 1952:920)
7. Old Capulet
Old Capulet is one of noblemen in Verona. As a man, he has a big authority over people around him, especially over Lady Capulet and Juliet. He is the decision maker of his family. He never asks for his wife’s or his daughter’s opinion. It can be seen from the marriage that he plans for his daughter, Juliet. Capulet plans the marriage with County Paris, he says
CAPULET. Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love. I think she will be rul’d in all respects by me; nay, more, I doubt it not. Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed; Acquaint her here of my son Paris’s love and bid her, mark you me, on Wednesday next – But, soft! What day is this?
From the citation above, it can be seen that Old Capulet is an
authoritarian. He decides the marriage day by himself, without asking for any consideration from either his wife or his daughter. He makes sure County Paris that Juliet will agree because he will rule her. He also asks his wife to tell Juliet. It shows that Old Capulet has power to control everyone, even County Paris who agrees to all Old Capulet says.
Besides making decision by his own, Old Capulet also forces Juliet to marry County Paris. He is very angry when he knows that Juliet refuses to fulfil his plan. He does not listen to Juliet’s explanation why she refuses to marry County Paris, and his rage explodes through his words as follows
CAPULET. Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what – get thee to church a Thursday, or never look me in the face. Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest That God had lent us but this only child; But now I see this one too much, and that we have a curse in having her. Out on her, hilding!
(Shakespeare, 1952:927) Not only does he shout to Juliet, he also shouts to Nurse who interrupts him. He says “And why, Lady Wisdom? Hold your tongue, good prudence; smatter with your gossips, go” (Shakespeare, 1952:928). He does not like to hear anyone’s opinion, and believes that his words are absolute.
CAPULET. God’s bread! It makes me mad: day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play, alone, in company, still my care hath been to have her match’d; and having now provided a gentleman of noble parentage, of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train’d, stuff’d, as they say, with honourable parts, proportion’d as one’s thought would wish a man – And then too have a wretched pulling fool, a whining mammet, in her fortune’s tender, to answer ‘I’ll not wed, I cannot love, I am too young, I pray you pardon me’! Graze where you will, you shall not house with me. Look to’t, think on’t; I do not use to jest. Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise: An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend; An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, for by my soul, I’ll never acknowledge thee, Nor what is mine shall never do thee good. Trust to’t, bethink you, I’ll not be forsworn.
(Shakespeare, 1952: 928) From the long quotation, it shows that Capulet is an arrogant person. Besides considering his deed important by telling all that he has done, he also thinks that he has greater authority. Since he holds the authority, he can condemn Juliet if she is not obedient. He will let Juliet live starving, begging, and even dying in the street.
Capulet is also a bad-tempered person. He shouts a lot. He likes to shout to his wife, Juliet, and Nurse. He often gets mad when he feels that things do not go as he wants. His rage to Nurse is one of the evidence that he is bad tempered. He says, “Hold your tongue!” (Shakespeare, 1952:927). Not only shouting, he also threatens the person whom he is mad to. He threatens to condemn Juliet if she does not marry to County Paris.
who get less authority over him. He disregards them by calling them as ‘wretch’ or ‘fool’.
8. Friar Lawrence
Friar Lawrence is a priest in Verona. As a Christian, he is trusted to give absolution to people’s sins, since he listens to their confession. Romeo and Juliet may be two of people of Verona who trust Friar Lawrence. Not only do they confess their sins, they also share their problem to him expecting that he will give solution. It shows that he is a reliable person. They trust him to keep their secret and he keeps it well.
As a man who lives in Christian clergy, he holds his religion faithfully. He is like a consultant. He is one who often gives advices to his people, including Romeo and Juliet. He advises Romeo a lot, especially when Romeo falls in desperation. He says that “Pronounce this sentence, then: Women may fall, when there’s no strength in men (Shakespeare, 1952: 915),” and he advises Romeo as follows
FRIAR LAWRENCE. 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 beast. Unseemly woman in a seeming man! And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!
(Shakespeare, 1952:924) Friar Lawrence also gives his advice to Juliet when she is sad of the Romeo banishment. He says to her,
FRIAR LAWRENCE. “If, rather than to marry County Paris, thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself, then is it likely thou wilt undertake a thing like death to chide away this shame, that cop’st with death himself to scape from it; And, if thou dar’st, I’ll give thee remedy.”
After offering his help to Juliet escaping from County Paris, Friar Lawrence ensures that Juliet is brave to take the risk. He says, “... And this shall free thee from this present shame, If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear abate thy valour in the acting it” (Shakespeare, 1952:930).
9. Mercutio
Mercutio is a relative of Prince Escalus and Romeo’s friend. He is one among the noblemen in this novel. As a high-class family member, he tends to do everything as he wants. He is disobedient that he does not like to obey rule. It can be seen when he crashes a Capulet’s party. He also breaks the Prince’s rule about Montague and Capulet that they may not fight each other, and he died in the fighting, slain by Tybalt.
As a nobleman who has bigger authority than other people do, he does not give much respect to other, especially low-class people. He likes to mock them. It can be seen from his sung mockery to Nurse, Juliet’s maid, as follows
MERCUTIO. No hare, sir ; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent.
[He walks by them and sings.] An old hare hoar,
Is very good meat in Lent; But a hare that is a hoar Is too much for a score
When it hoars ere it be spent. ...
(Shakespeare, 1952: 916) 10. County Paris
condition. He thinks about his own sake. When he is going to marry Juliet, he does not know what is in Juliet’s mind whether she is happy or sad for it. It can be seen from his dialogue with Friar Lawrence as follows
FRIAR LAWRENCE. You say you do not know the lady’s mind; Uneven the course; I like it not.
PARIS. Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt’s death, and therefore have I little talk’d of love; for Venus smiles not in a house of tears. Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous that she do give her sorrow so much sway, and in his wisdom hastes our marriage, to stop inundation of her tears; Which, too much minded by herself alone, May be put from her by society. Now do you know the reason of this haste.
(Shakespeare, 1952: 928-929)
B. Depiction of Patriarchal Society
Patriarchy can be seen through societies that are structured through male domination over women. According to Johnson in Human Arrangements: An Introduction to Sociology, patriarchy can be seen in the people who control the society. He says, since the men have greater access to the “powerful achieved statuses”, they can control the society based on their ideal. The “powerful achieved statuses” are the control of legislature, governments, courts, labor unions, corporations, religious organization (Johnson, 1986: 400).
the leader of the church in Verona. He can legalize marriage by blessing the couple in the church. The third man is Old Capulet. He is the head of the Capulets. He is also the breadwinner of his family.
Since men hold the control, they see others as being of less value (Johnson, 1984:398-399). They expect women to be obedient, patient, and silent. By having those qualities, women can be controlled easily because they will do what men say. As the result, a father will rule his wife and his children and they must obey what the father says. Father makes the decision for his family, including deciding whom his daughter will marry. He will arrange the marriage for his daughter. The arrangement is based on the property relationship. The condition can also be seen in this play. Old Capulet forces Juliet to marry County Paris. Old Capulet makes the decision by himself without asking his family. His consideration is also property. County Paris is coming from high-class family. He is rich and educated. Considering that The Capulets is also a noble family, Old Capulet thinks that he is the right person for his daughter. Juliet must obey her father or she will be abandoned in street.
1. Ideology
Ideology is an integrated set of believes about the world that explains the way things are and provides vision of how they ought to be. Two characters in this play bear in their mind the patriarchal ideology; they are Friar Lawrence and Old Capulet.
Simone de Beauvoir includes St. Thomas, a figure that is commonly known in Christian belief, in her The Second Sex. de Beauvoir says
“And St Thomas for his part pronounced woman to be an ‘imperfect man’, an ‘incidental’ being. This is symbolized in Genesis where Eve is depicted as made from what Bossuet called ‘a supernumerary bone’ of Adam.”
(1953:xxii) As a figure in Christian belief, this idea may influence everyone who lives in this belief. In this play, Christianity is the ideology that Friar Lawrence holds. The influence of what St Thomas says can be seen through the way Friar Lawrence values woman.
Since Friar Lawrence sees woman as an inferior figure, he does not value women as he values men. This can be seen when he offers his plan to Juliet. First, he says “And, if thou dar’st, I’ll give thee remedy” (Shakespeare, 1954:929), then he says “... And this shall free thee from this present shame, If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear abate thy valour in the acting it” (Shakespeare, 1952:930). It is clear that Friar Lawrence doubts Juliet’s bravery. He says that fear is womanish, which means fear is typical to woman. Bravery is a masculine that may belong to man. Thus, he believes that woman, like Juliet or Eve, may not have any bravery because she is a woman.
Old Capulet also shares his ideology about how a woman should be. He thinks that a woman is gossiper who cannot think deeply and woman should be obedient, loyal to her family, and obeying her parents’ order. Since Old Capulet is an authoritarian, what he says is what should be done. Therefore, Old Capulet arranges his daughter’s marriage by his own without asking any considerations from his wife and daughter. He is sure that his wife and his daughter will not think much about what they undergo, and will only do as he says. His sureness is shown through his approval of County Paris marriage proposal as follows,
CAPULET. Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love. I think she will be rul’d in all respects by me; nay, more, I doubt it not. Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed; Acquaint her here of my son Paris’s love and bid her, mark you me, on Wednesday next – But, soft! What day is this?
arranged. He also orders his wife to tell Juliet about the marriage. He does not give his wife any chance to state her opinion about the marriage. Here, Capulet posits his wife as a ‘messenger’ who delivers information. She is doing what most servants do.
Woman’s subordination is also shown in Capulet’s arrogance. Capulet thinks that a woman should be proud if an aristocrat, like County Paris, proposes her. She will get prosperity, luxury, honour, and prestige. Since he is a nobleman, his daughter should marry to a man with equal or higher status. County Paris fulfils the requirement that he expects from Juliet’s husband. Therefore, he does not listen to Juliet’s argument when she refuses the marriage. He thinks that her opinion is not needed, because he is the decision maker in his family.
While he sees woman as an inferior, he shows what he has done for Juliet. He assumes his deed more important than what others have done, so he wants everyone notices that. This implies that man’s doing is more valuable than woman’s doing. Simone de Beauvoir’s idea about the otherness goes with the condition. Men are the self, while women are the other.
does not marry with County Paris. He will condemn her in the street and let her die there. Here, he uses threats to oppress Juliet. Here Juliet and Nurse are the other. If the other becomes threat to the self, so women become threat to men (Tong, 1998:179). Before the women become more threatening, the men should subordinate first by threatening the women, like Old Capulet does to the Juliet and Nurse.
Capulet’s authoritarianism, arrogance, threat, and rough behaviour confirm the control and aggression that support the patriarchy. Aggression is depicted through his threat and rude behaviour. By threatening the women, he will be able to control them; he becomes the superior so he can give order to them. Masculinity includes control and aggression as two types of the characteristics necessary for survival (Shiefield,1984:5).
2. Propaganda
Propaganda is methodical dissemination of information for the purpose of promoting a particular ideology (Shiefield,1984:5). The one who is doing the propaganda in this play is Friar Lawrence. The propaganda is not apparently done. It is covered by his ideology that is then tunnelled through his advice that he gives to people asking for it.
