Theme 10: Gender Flashcards
- Sampson brags about dominating women (A1S1)
“I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.”
• What: Sexist pun reducing women to conquests
• How:
• Violent sexual innuendo = masculinity tied to aggression
• **Repetition of “push” and “thrust” = domination
• **Tone = crude, performative bravado
• Why: Sets the tone → toxic masculinity embedded in feud culture
• Character: Sampson
• Themes: gender, conflict, honour
- Lady Capulet avoids intimacy with Juliet (A1S3)
“Nurse, where’s my daughter? Call her forth to me.”
• What: Relies on Nurse instead of engaging Juliet directly
• How:
• **Third-person distancing “my daughter” = emotional absence
• **Imperative “call” = command over care
• **Structural dependency on Nurse = maternal role outsourced
• Why: Women are shown as emotionally repressed and socially conditioned
• Character: Lady Capulet
• Themes: gender, generational divide, family loyalty
- Juliet responds to marriage plans (A1S3)
“I’ll look to like if looking liking move.”
• What: Carefully avoids committing to Paris
• How:
• **Polyptoton “look…like…liking” = ambiguity
• **Conditional tone = defers control while appearing obedient
• **Gentle subversion of gender role → clever compliance
• Why: Juliet must perform femininity under patriarchal gaze
• Character: Juliet
• Themes: gender, appearance vs reality, love/relationships
- Mercutio mocks Romeo’s softness (A2S4)
“Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead… shot through the ear with a love song.
• What: Satirises Romeo’s emotional vulnerability
• How:
• **Hyperbolic metaphor = love emasculates
• **Comic tone masks rigid masculinity
• **List of exaggerated injuries = mock-heroic
• Why: Love conflicts with male bravado → emotionality seen as weakness
• Character: Mercutio
• Themes: gender, love/relationships, youth
- Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt (A3S1)
“And so, good Capulet, which name I tender / As dearly as mine own, be satisfied.”
• What: Tries to de-escalate without violence
• How:
• **Emotive diction “tender…dearly” = romantic, not aggressive
• **Formal syntax = dignified masculinity
• **Irony → honour seen as feminine passivity by peers
• Why: Gender norms force him into violence despite moral strength
• Character: Romeo
• Themes: gender, conflict, individuals vs society
- Capulet abuses Juliet (A3S5)
“Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!”
• What: Explodes when Juliet refuses marriage
• How:
• **Dehumanising metaphors “baggage” = worthless burden
• **Plosive sounds = verbal aggression
• **Contrasts fatherly authority with tyrannical rage
• Why: Women expected to obey silently → disobedience punished violently
• Character: Lord Capulet
• Themes: gender, family loyalty, generational divide
- Juliet threatens to kill herself (A4S1)
“With this knife I’ll help it presently.”
• What: Uses the threat of suicide to avoid submission
• How:
• **Irony → weapon of male violence repurposed for female resistance
• **Direct tone = shocking agency
• **Structure = woman forces action in patriarchal world
• Why: Gendered power dynamics inverted through desperation
• Character: Juliet
• Themes: gender, youth, individuals vs society
- Juliet takes her own life (A5S3)
“O happy dagger!”
• What: Romanticises death over submission
• How:
• **Oxymoron “happy dagger” = femininity fused with fatal choice
• **Exclamative tone = liberation through death
• **Metaphor → dagger as substitute for Romeo
• Why: Juliet takes masculine control → self-destruction becomes power
• Character: Juliet
• Themes: gender, love/relationships, death
- Prince’s final judgement (A5S3)
“All are punishèd.”
What: Concludes everyone has suffered
• How:
• **Passive voice = society, not just individuals, condemned
• **Collective pronoun “all” = no exception based on gender
• **Tone = stern, mournful
• Why: Gender roles contributed to downfall → universal grief from fixed roles
• Character: Prince
• Themes: gender, individuals vs society, fate
