Feminism In West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet (Essay Sample)

Let’s go back to Shakespeare’s time, where women were viewed as less important and required to show obedience. They stand in the shadows of the men who rule their civilization and cannot speak their mind. Be that as they may, these classic plays portray the defiance of those rules and demonstrate feminism. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Shulman’s West side story, the leading characters, Juliet and Maria, oppose these standards. By defying the men who control their lives, speaking their thoughts and taking the action necessary, Juliet and Maria proved to be strong feminists of their time.

During that time, women were required to be obedient to the men in their lives. This meant following their rules, and listening to their commands. Juliet and Maria did not follow these expectations by making their own choices, even if they went against the men in their lives. Throughout both plays, both women have people that are intended for them to marry. For Juliet, she is required to marry Count Paris, a nobleman and kinsmen to Prince Escalus. However, she has already fallen for the young Romeo and marries him without her father and mother, Lord and Lady Capulet knowing. When being told that she will marry Paris, Juliet tells her mother “tell my lord and father, madam/ that I will not marry yet”. Here, she is expressing her decision to Lady Capulet, letting her know she has no plan of marrying Paris. Lady Capulet then delivers this message to Lord Capulet, who then reacts angrily, reminding her  “And you be  mine. I’ll give you to my friend; and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, for by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee, nor what is mine shall never do thee good. Trust th’t, bethink you, I’ll not be forsworn” (Ⅲ. ⅴ. 91-95) threatening to disown her and calling her some appalling words. Even with this threat in the air, Juliet came up with a plan to run away and be free with her lover, proving her independence and strong will to not submit to her father. In the West side story, it is a similar situation. Maria, being the sister of the leader of Sharks, is not allowed to be together with Tony, a Jet. After they have danced together, Bernardo angrily asks her if she did not see that he was a Jet. She responds “I saw only him and he's done nothing wrong”, showing that she will not feel the same way as the rest of the gang and defies the expectation of hating Jet men. Both of these female protagonists have demonstrated strong will and action. After all Lord Capulet and Bernardo tried to control Juliet and Maria's decisions, Juliet and Maria defied their will and chose their own fate.

As the daughter of a traditional Puerto Rican family, Maria was expected to be the stereotypical woman and follow certain rules about what she could do, how she could dress and the limitations. Instead of following these expectations, she chooses to break these standards and the stereotypes surrounding women. She makes her own decisions, rather than succumbing to the standards forced upon her despite the fact that she will be judged. She might, for example, wear a short dress with a low collar rather than a traditional long dress with a high collar. She even requests that Anita shorten her dress's neckline, which Anita refuses to do. Throughout the story, Maria also defies the stereotype of a weak woman who is reliant on men by demonstrating her independence by working as a seamstress and providing for herself. Additionally, she demonstrates her usefulness and wit in difficult situations, rescuing herself rather than waiting for help. This is evident when Lieutenant Schrank arrives to question her about the incident at the dance, so Maria fakes a headache and, using double talk, tells Anita “Will you go for me, Anita? Please, otherwise they might close the store?” to go to Doc's to inform Tony that she will be a little late. She is able to get her lover out of trouble by lying and claiming that the quarrel was over “another from my country” (p.153). This is similar to Juliet's deception in telling them she would marry Paris when she is secretly married to Romeo, in that both women exhibit their independence and wit, demonstrating that they rely on no one but themselves.

Juliet and Maria are both strong, unyielding women when it comes to what they think. Both these women are not afraid to speak their thoughts and defend themselves and their lovers, which sets them apart from other women during that time. This is clear when Juliet stands up to her parents about how she feels about Paris. She tells Lady Capulet that she will not marry yet and when Lord Capulet asks his wife why Juliet has said she doesn't want to marry Paris, “How will she none? Doth she not give us thanks?”, Juliet then says “Not proud you have, but thankful that you have:

Proud can I never be of what I hate, But thankful even for hate, that is meant love.”, expressing that she cannot be proud of marrying Paris as she “hates'' him and does not love him. Not only that but Juliet compares Romeo to a rose and reasons that if a rose were given another name, it would still be a rose. If Romeo abandoned his family name, he would still be Romeo. She recognises that a person's name doesn't matter, demonstrating her maturity and logical reasoning. She then calls into the night for Romeo to "refuse thy name" and in return, she will "no longer be a Capulet, stating that she would choose Romeo over her family if he simply confessed. This portrays her as more of an inspiring leader than a follower to her parents. Maria shares this trait as well, prioritizing her beloved over her family and proclaiming her love for Tony despite the fact that no one else does. This is shown in the scene when Anita refers to Maria as a whore for sleeping with Tony after he had murdered her brother which Maria simply responds “I love Tony”, declaring her love for him once more. These examples only further prove their honesty and commitment, two of their many feminist values.

Following these thoughts are the actions of these characters. In face of challenges or danger, Juliet and Maria are not afraid to take action. This fulfills the definition of feminism: an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women. Juliet and Maria both take a stand, a movement out of commitment for their rights and lovers. They are willing to go to great lengths to follow their heart, which Juliet shows when she tells Friar Laurence “Do thou but call my decision wise, And with this knife I'll help it presently” threatening that she will commit suicide if he cannot stop her from marryng Paris. This obliges Friar Laurence to come up with a plan to run away to Mantua and he makes her a poison that will make her appear dead. Juliet obviously should have some concerns about Friar Laurence actually harming her as she does not know if the poison could be real. Juliet’s death would also benefit him but she chooses to trust him and follow through the plan so she could marry who she chose. She chooses to take action and save herself from the marriage instead of accepting her fate with this elaborate plan. Another example of taking action is when Maria forgives Tony for the death of her brother. This may seem unreasonable and rash but it shows that she understands that death was inevitable in this situation and rather chooses to forgive Tony to end the cycle of pain and hate between the two gangs. Juliet shares this similarity when she describes Romeo in oxymorons to show her confliction between hating him and loving him. She calls Romeo a ''beautiful tyrant'' and a ''fiend angelical'', before she eventually realizes that death was inevitable and chooses to forgive him for killing her cousin, Tybalt. Their forgiveness was a large part of ending the hate between their families.

Juliet and Maria, both tragic heroines of the day, broke gendered expectations. They defied the odds and prejudices by being stubborn and outspoken, even when it was frowned upon. Juliet and Maria didn't stop there and took a stand for what they thought was right. While doing so, they remained independent and set themselves apart from other women of the period, demonstrating themselves to be strong feminist characters.