How is Masculinity depicted in Romeo and Juliet?

Plan:

Point one- misogyny. ‘Maids to the wall,’ ‘maidenheads,’ ‘siege,’ ‘saint-seducing gold’

Point two- dismissive behaviour to femininity. How Romeo is shown to be feminine.

The concept of Elizabethan Masculinity is vastly different to the ideas we have in the modern day. Masculinity
used to have underpinnings of homophobia, misogyny, the notion of dominance through violence, and
Shakespeare explores these ideas through the different male characters in the play. Romeo and Juliet tackles
the concept of Elizabethan masculinity to different extents, with some characters fitting the mould of what it
meant to be an Elizabethan man, with other pushing the boundaries and stepping foot into what would be
considered ‘feminine’ behaviour.

Shakespeare portrays masculinity as degrading through characters’ use of misogyny. We see this from the very
beginning of the play in Act 1 Scene 1, through Sampson and Gregory and their comments towards the
Montague women. For instance, Sampson openly boasts about his misogynistic behaviour stating, ‘Therefore I
will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall,’ meaning that he is not bothered by
the act of sexually assaulting the Montague ‘maids’, and that it is even something worth showing off. The
violent connotations of the verb ‘thrust’ depicts just how violent the men in Elizabethan times could be, having
no remorse in their actions. In this time, the middle of the streets would be used to throw waste in to be
carried away by the sewage, so the upper class were more inclined to walk by the walls, and the lower class in
the middle of the road. Sampson stating that he ‘will push Montague’s men from the wall’ depicts his violent
and disrespectful behaviour towards to Montague’s but perhaps even worse, he states he will ‘thrust his maids
to the wall’, not out of respect, but to violently harass the Montague ‘maids’, exemplifying his misogynistic
tendencies which were all too common in Elizabethan times. Similarly, Sampson later expresses that he will
‘cut off their heads… the heads of maids, or the maidenheads, take it in what sense thou wilt’ suggesting that
they will either murder the woman or take their virginities, both extremely misogynistic interpretations.
Sampson implies this is a joke by saying ‘take it in what sense thou wilt’ showing that he is not above joking
about murder or sexual assault, a common trait of Elizabethan masculinity. Shakespeare highlights how freely
Sampson and Gregory talk about such a vile topic by using the pun between the ‘heads of maids’ and their
‘maidenheads’ portraying how little they think of woman that they word-play with their comments. It could be
taken that Sampson and Gregory only associate women’s heads with their virginities by stating it is either one
or the other, embodying the objectifying outlook they have on women. Sampson and Gregory are not the only
ones who make misogynistic comments, and Shakespeare extends this to the male lead, Romeo. When talking
about Rosaline, he seems annoyed that ‘She will not stay the siege of loving terms,’ meaning to say that she
does not love for him in the same way he does her. The misogyny is buried in the quote compared to Sampson
and Gregory, but through stating she will not stay ‘siege,’ Romeo suggests that Rosaline is wrong for not loving
him back. A ‘siege’ would be used to conquer and surround a castle so by comparing Rosaline to a castle that
needs to be ‘siege[d],’ he is openly objectifying her and saying there should be no escape from his ‘loving
terms’. Furthermore, Romeo states that she will not ‘ope her lap to saint-seducing gold,’ stating that he is
frustrated Rosaline will not sleep with him. ‘Saint-seducing gold’ could be Romeo referring to his genitalia,
which can ‘seduce’ even the highest beings, boasting that Rosaline should have slept with him since he
believes he is well endowed, further objectifying her to something used only for sexual activities. Alternatively,
it could refer to his wealth as a Montague, which likewise, reduces Rosaline to someone who should sleep with
Romeo simply because he is rich. Both interpretations show how misogynistic even the main character can be.
Perhaps Shakespeare portrayed Sampson and Gregory, and Romeo to show how men of different classes are
still misogynistic. It is shown to be a common trait of Elizabethan masculinity. However, since this was so
common in Elizabethan times, it is unlikely that the audience would have reacted to these comments with the
same disgust and thoughts about misogyny that we do nowadays and would have even found it humorous, a
dark joke of such; it is much more controversial in the modern day but goes to show how masculinity was
depicted at the time of the writing of Romeo and Juliet.