The Tragedy of Distorted Love From birth, man is taught to strictly adhere to the ethical, philosophical, and institutional criteria set forth by society. Although susceptible to change over extended periods of time, immediate and permanent change to society’s principles comes with fierce opposition and resistance. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the medieval community in Verona forbids the romance between two lovers, solely for its disparity from the expected nature of sexual relationships. Shakespeare suggests that a rigid alignment to societal expectations can distort one’s perception of love. The overuse of radical stereotyping: developed, encouraged and adjusted by society, can also encourage people to fashion their actions and …show more content…
Mercutio imparts a painful connotation with his ‘pricking’ suggesting that men indulge in love, simply for it sexual gratification. ‘Beating’ may even be taken literally to denote domestic abuse, connecting back to the sexually disturbing opening scene of the play, particularly certain remarks such as “They must take [in] what sense that feel it,” (1.1.28) (translates to - the women must be the ones who feel what I do to them). Mercutio perfects his jest with the sexual scorn on intercourse, representing the selection of a woman to empty his passions into. Similarly, Juliet, aiming to please her mother, describes the game-like formation of the idyllic doting: “I’ll look to like, if looking …show more content…
He references such examples to the point of overuse, immediately forming a link of matrimonial expectations, and its skewed perceptions among the Veronan families, which became a major factor in the development of the disaster central to the play. At the Capulet party, as Juliet asks for Romeo’s identity, she declares, “My grave is like to be my wedding bed,” (1.5.149) comparing burial rites to the sacrament of matrimony. Juliet challenges the ritualistic and meaningless constraints placed on the shoulders of young lovers in the 13th century society, lamenting over the necessary changes for matrimonial processes. Shakespeare takes this idea beyond the confines of the Capulet hall, suggesting that societal restrictions transform romantic relationships to resemble something as solemn and antithetical as death, challenging the reality of amorous relationships in this time period. He envisions Capulet as the epitome of this immensely exaggerated canonical guidelines; the perfect character to effectively illustrate the concerning atmosphere of this time period. He rants on “God’s bread!” fuming that “It makes me mad,” (3.5.187). Although ‘God’s bread’ literally refers to Communion, it further references marriage in this context, with ‘bread’ denoting a product, giving marriage an artificial tone and signifying that marriage is so limited - barred behind
In Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio gives a long speech about a tiny fairy named Queen Mab. After Romeo and Mercutio trade insults and a bit of naughty talk about love, in particular, what to do when “love pricks like a thorn”. Mercutio's solution? "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.
To start with, Mercutio brought Romeo to the dance where he met and fell in love with Juliet. A quote said by Mercutio Romeo and Juliet states, "If love be rough with you, be rough with love/Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down," (Shakespeare I.iv 27-28). This quote reveals that Mercutio is encouraging Romeo to get
Stereotyping is a normal part of every one’s life. Humans, by nature, classify things. We name animals and classify them by common characteristics but stereotyping can have negative repercussions, and everyone does it. In a recent study it was proven that everyone has an unconscious need to stereotype (Paul). In Junteenth and The Invisible man, Ralph Ellison argues that stereotyping can cause mayhem by making the people become something they are not.
In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will
The Merriam-Webster definition of the word stereotype is, “ To believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same.” Some synonyms of the word stereotype are conventionalize, label, and tag. Human nature is to typify someone you have never met because it “...Reduce[s] the amount of processing (i.e. thinking) we have to do when we meet a new person.”1 In “Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexi (2003), the author uses characterization and setting to show us that stereotyping has become such a huge and yet mostly ignored part of the modern American way of thinking that most people do not even realize that they themselves, are profiling the very people that they resent for conventionalizing them.
The love story Romeo and Juliet is regarded worldwide as the pinnacle of western literature, but were the two in deep love, or were they hormonal teenagers infatuated with each other? William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet has attracted debate from opposition sides for centuries. Some claim that Romeo and Juliet were nothing but two melodramatic teenagers while others believed that everyone should aspire to their level of love. When utilizing Ann Lander’s article “Love and Infatuation” for definitions on love and infatuation, it becomes clearly apparent that the two were nothing but infatuated teenagers. Thus, it is irrefutable that the love story of Romeo and Juliet was actually
Stereotypes are socially constructed, over-generalized views regarding a particular group of persons with certain characteristics that are widely accepted, and usually expected, in a society. The dominant group of a certain society, which in this case is probably Caucasians and men, usually creates these social constructions. Claude M. Steele, a researcher from Stanford University, performed multiple research studies on the idea and psychological effects of stereotypes on its victims. In his studies, he coins the term “stereotype threat” as the “social-psychological predicament that can arise from widely-known negative stereotypes about one's group,” which implies that “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one's features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one's own eyes” (Steele 797).
He sees it as nothing deeper than the skin and he takes it as a joke. Shakespeare gave Mercutio these character traits in order to represent how most men in the Elizabethan Era saw love. The men seeing the play could relate to Mercutio in his actions and understand that there are other ways of going about things. “You are a lover. Borrow cupid's wings | And soar with them above a common bound” (Act 1 Scene 4 Lines 17 and 18). Here, Mercutio is being sarcastic with Romeo. Romeo feels that he is too heartbroken over Rosaline to go to the party, and Mercutio is mocking him for it. He does not see love as anything greater than physical need. “Throughout lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love” (Act 1 Scene 4 Line 76). Mercutio believes that love is brought on by a fairy called Queen Mab that goes into people's heads as they sleep. Mercutio does not believe in emotional love, simply a physical feeling. Mercutio’s view on love had no attachment, similarly to how men in Shakespeare's time period
In Act I, Scene IV, Romeo and friends are about to crash the party that the Capulets are hosting, but Romeo is still sad from the heartbreak he experienced with Rosaline. As a good friend would, Mercutio tries to look out for and convince Romeo that there are many fish in the sea. “You are a lover. Borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them above a common bound.” This means that Romeo should try and fly to find someone else instead of Rosaline. As well as this, he gives advice to Romeo for getting over Rosaline and himself. “If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” This means that if love plays rough with you, you must play rough back. Once you prick love, you will get over your heartbreak and love. Thus, Mercutio looks out for Romeo’s best interests and gives him advice, which aligns him as a good friend to
and he says 'the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon'
Passion. Something that many think they have, when in reality do not. Best described as an incontrollable emotion, passion is often seen as taking a huge role in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Although characters show the qualities associated with being passionate, their true attitudes can be summed up by a different word: obsessive. In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare develops the idea that trying to force passion can lead to obsession. In other words, when people deceive themselves into thinking they have passion, they can become obsessive. This is shown repeatedly in Romeo’s character. First through his immediate change of love from Rosaline to Juliet; secondly when he tries to kill
Paragraph 1 Topic Sentence: Mercutio’s spontaneous remarks and instinctive actions while interacting with others reflect his impulsive character. Evidence 1: When Romeo tells Mercutio that Rosaline’s vow of chastity is “Too rough,/ Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like a thorn” (1.4. 25-26), Mercutio responds, “If love be rough with you, be rough with love;/ Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down” (1.4. 27-28).
A story about arranged marriage, death, and feuding families leaves little to no room for lightheartedness, but Mercutio embraces a humorous approach to bad situations. Even amidst Romeo’s sulking and sadness about his love life, Mercutio pokes fun and commands that “If love be rough with you, be rough with love; prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” (I.iiii.27-28). Mercutio is telling Romeo to be equally as hurtful
Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” By saying this, it is clear how much Capulet cherishes Juliet. He is risking a rich suitor, to let Juliet become more mature before she marries. By speaking in prose Shakespeare shows Capulet’s class and authority, nevertheless, it also shows the sincerity of his love for Juliet. However the nurse also shows the love of a parent, she
The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.