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Bros before Ladies: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

How many girls does it take one guy to leave his friends? How many guys does it take for
a girl to leave her family? Aarently! the answer is only one" #hakeseare$s Romeo and Juliet
takes the meaning of the %ommon hrase! bros &and' or family and friends( before )ladies$ to
its slang e*tent" +omeo and ,uliet$s love tears aart the relationshi between them and everyone
else" The woman is suosed to be a weak! deendent lady" -n the %ontrary! the man is suosed
to be the strong! emotion. less ro%k for the woman" /hereas the baffling behavioral mismat%h
between dainty +omeo$s and ma%ho ,uliet$s non%onforming nature have %reated an unkemt
attitude emanating from the bros of 0erona" #hakeseare$s tragedy ortrays both mas%uline
attitudes and feminine %hara%teristi%s as e1ually in%aable in the %onfli%ts between the star.
%rossed lovers and their family! friends! and mentors by %hanging their behavior! whi%h
demonstrates the tragedy when humanity$s feebleness destroys their understanding of their own
gender ersonas"
#hakeseare imlores the reader to favor no side" The way he e*resses the motives and
%hara%teristi%s of ea%h gender hyerboli2es the %onfli%ts and being of ea%h gender" +omeo and
,uliet have e*ressed traits of ea%h gender and rea%hed the %onfines of ea%h individual$s
mentality" #hakeseare notes that! /omen may fall when there$s no strength in men"
&33"iii"45(" 6y ro%laiming their fall! #hakeseare seems to 1uell the women of the time! but
,uliet is a%tually +omeo$s ro%k as demonstrated by her astute behavior towards her family and
+omeo$s need for emotions and %ondolen%e" -n the other hand +omeo$s sentimental behavior
gives him a human! relatable trait" He even goes to rant! Ay me7 sad hours seem long" &3"i"189("
+omeo$s melan%holy %ondu%t is reresentative of his womanly %hara%ter" Both +omeo and ,uliet
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have searate tragi% flaws that instill how they %onne%t to readers and other %hara%ters in this
tragedy"
;otably! ,uliet$s relationshi with her family has gone downhill be%ause of her oosing!
rebellious in%lination" ,uliet$s negle%t to marry <aris is evident of her irritability and mis%ondu%t"
3n this ,uliet even dismisses her arents! in regard to their wishes! de%laring <roud %an 3 never
be of what 3 hate! &333"v"19=(" This disregard to her la%e in life with <aris %aused 1uite the
nuisan%e to her guardians" >urthermore! ,uliet$s sear%h for her true love has %aused her to
ronoun%e things as simle as! 3t shall be +omeo! whom you know 3 hate! &333"v"1::( to
something as dis%reet as! >eeling so the loss! 3 %annot %hoose but ever wee the friend!
&333"v"=8.=?(" These %rafty resonses to Lady @aulet$s 1uestions resemble her own hidden
agenda" ,uliet$s ability to think as an individual was un%ommon in #hakesearean times and
eventually gave way to ,uliet$s indeendent relationshi with +omeo" #hakeseare$s way of
maniulating ,uliet$s attitude to %reate an attitude of a mas%ulinity identity is unrivaled"
3n addition! +omeo has to %hoose between his friends or his love in aid of 1uen%hing his
feminine nature" His dominant tragi% flaw is in his imulsiveness or following his heart without
thinking" +omeo$s nature ooses 6er%utio and Benvolio$s advi%e by his de%laration! He Aests
at s%ars that never felt a wound" &33"ii"1(" His resonse to his friends badgering %onveys! he has
feminine instin%ts that are very emotional and how his heart feels" This behavior %auses lots of
bullying to +omeo be%ause of his non.%ogni2ant attitude of everything around him" Likewise! the
;urse$s %omment! #tand! an you be a man" shows his inability to re%ogni2e what goes on
around him &333"iii"44(" He is too wraed in his emotional state of being banished to be knowing
of the other situations en%ir%ling him" The ;urse$s remark is one of the e*amles of +omeo$s
tragi% flaw illustrated in #hakeseare$s tragedy"
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As a matter of fa%t! both +omeo and ,uliet aggravate their mentors be%ause of their
flied attitudes" +omeo$s in%onstan%y with >riar Lauren%e is be%ause of his feminine emotions
and abrut %omulsion" The friar even de%ides that enough is enough and resonds with! -!
then 3 see that madmen have no ears" &333"iii"?1(" +omeo %hose not to aid no heed to the >riar$s
wisdom and traed himself" +omeo$s la%k of attention e*hibits how the rest of the world! his
mentor! resonds to his thought ro%ess" By the same token! ,uliet$s behavior towards the ;urse
is of the rebellious nature" Her one word rely to the ;urse$s beshrewing! Amen7 &333"v"::C(
is 1uite the anomaly in #hakesearean times" #he is a%tually agreeing to the ;urse %ursing her
heart and soul" This %al%ulated behavior has not thrown off the nurse! but she is still
dumbfounded in the assage" #he is wary that something is off" This isn$t of #hakesearean
female nature to mouth off like this" #hakeseare has written the lay in a way that both +omeo
and ,uliet shed light on some hidden feelings mi*ed inside their mentors"
+omeo$s and ,uliet$s traits are reresentative of human nature$s in%aability to reali2e
what they are a%tually feeling" This blo%k in the brains of eole for%e +omeo and ,uliet to mi*
mat%h the general stereotyes of their given gender" They %ombine their %hara%teristi%s! be%ause
of their inability to resond to their environment" This gray area is %ommonly reresented by
modern day and #hakesearean era %ulture" Take the %ase of the >riar and +omeo" +omeo breaks
down and in an effort to %alm him the >riar e*%laims! Thou fond mad man! let me a little
seak" &333"iii"8:(" The >riar is getting e*aserated at +omeo$s borderline sentimentality" The
same is with @aulet and ,uliet$s relationshi when @aulet asked for ,uliet to marry <aris"
@aulet resonds to her disobedien%e violently threatening! -r 3 will drag thee on a hurdle
thither" &333"vi"188(" This warning is of 1uite the nerve. ra%king sense in resonse to reAe%ting a
man of wa*" Her rebellious attitude even %aused this emotional brawl with her father"
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#hakeseare gives a gray line between the genders showing humanity$s weakness in determining
what they feel"
3n %on%lusion! #hakeseare$s view on gender has definitely been ut in a different
er%etion in Romeo and Juliet. +omeo$s a%tions are mainly based on a softer behavior" The way
,uliet takes on her erse%tive is established as redominantly manly" The gender line has been
blurred by #hakeseare$s reresentation of ea%h se* when illustrated by the star %rossed lovers
intera%tions with their family! friends! and mentors"