Romeo and Juliet

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Interpret what the following lines mean in regards to the role of men in the th​
16​ century. “Are you a man? You look like a man. But your tears are womanly. Your wildness is like the irrational fury of a beast. You’re like an inappropriate woman hiding within a man, or, even worse, a shameful beast hiding within a half-man, half-woman! You amaze me. By my holy order, I swear I thought you were stronger and more stable than this.” (III.iii.114-119) Find another line where Romeo refers to his manhood in III.i.

act 3 scene 3 lines 114-119

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Last updated by Aslan
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Friar Lawrence is scolding Romeo about his crying over being banished. Gender roles were pretty narrow in the Elizabethan age. Men were to be "masculine" and women were to be "feminine". To show emotion like sadness and to cry were considered "womanly". I think this is true to a certain extent even today.