Romeo and Juliet Gender Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the 2008 Norton edition of the play.

Quote #10

NURSE
O, he is even in my mistress' case,
Just in her case. O woeful sympathy!
Piteous predicament! Even so lies she,
Blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubb'ring.—
Stand up, stand up. Stand an you be a man.
For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand.
(3.3.92-97)

Nice to know some things don't change (not): excessive "weeping and blubbering" was considered just as unmanly in the sixteenth century as it is today.

Quote #11

FRIAR LAURENCE
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 a beast.
Unseemly woman in a seeming man,
Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!
(3.3.118-123)

In Romeo and Juliet, boys don't cry. Here, the Friar calls Romeo a "womanish" wimp for crying and threatening suicide. Give the guy a break, okay? Not only has he been in and out of love for the past month, he's just found out that he's going to be exiled without even getting to make love to his thirteen-year-old wife. (Heavy sarcasm.)

Quote #12

CAPULET
Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!
I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,
Or never after look me in the face.
Speak not; reply not; do not answer me. (3.5.166-169)

Juliet's father seriously flips out when Juliet refuses to marry Paris and treats his daughter like a piece of property that he can just give away to another man (Paris). So, what happened to his earlier stance that Juliet should marry for love, when she's ready?