INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM VERSUS SOCIAL VALUES

IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARES ROMEO AND JULIET

A Thesis










by

Yenni Sasmita
Student Number: 99.80.0128




ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
2007
Perpustakaan Unika
i


INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM VERSUS SOCIAL VALUES
IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARES ROMEO AND JULIET



A Thesis Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana
Sastra Degree in the English Letters Study Programme


















By


Yenni Sasmita
Student Number: 99.80.0128









ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
2007
Perpustakaan Unika
ii

A THESIS ON



INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM VERSUS SOCIAL VALUES
IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARES ROMEO AND JULIET






by

Yenni Sasmita
Student Number: 99.80.0128






Approved by,






G.M. Adhyanggono, SS., MA
Major Sponsor






Angelika Riyandari, SS., MA
Co-Sponsor






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iii

A thesis defended in front of the Board of Examiners on July 20, 2007 and declared
acceptable






BOARD OF EXAMINERS





Chairperson : G.M. Adhyanggono, SS., MA ..



Secretary : Angelika Riyandari, SS., MA ..



Member : B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M. Hum ..







Semarang, 20 july, 2007
Faculty of Letters
Soegijapranata Catholic University
Dean,




Heny Hartono, SS., M.PD
058.1.1998.221





Perpustakaan Unika
iv

























O PEN YO UR M O UTH AN D TASTE,
O PEN YO UR EYES AN D SEE
HO W GO O D GO D IS.
(THE M ESSAGE - PSALM 34)

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v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


First of all I would like to give my gratitude to Jesus Christ for all His guide,
guard and blessings in my hard times. You said, Dont run from suffering, embrace it.
Follow Me and Ill show you how.
Secondly, I also would like to give my great gratitude to Mr. G.M. Adhyanggono,
SS., MA as my major sponsor and Mrs. Angelika Riyandari, SS., MA as my co- sponsor.
Thanks for your patience, understanding, support, guidance and suggestions during my
thesis writing process. I thank to Mr. B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M. Hum to his
suggestions in finishing my thesis. Also, I would like to thank the Dean and all the
lectures and staff in Faculty of Letters Soegijapranata Catholic University.
Thirdly my gratitude goes to my beloved mother, father, sister and brothers.
Thank you so much for all the supports, love, patience and prays. Your prayers are my
strength to finish this thesis.
My gratitude goes also to my fianc; ko Theo, thanks for your love, attention, and
patient to remind me finish my thesis. I love you. My appreciation will be sent to my best
friends, Yunni. K.D, Nelly, Santi, Nita, Eneas, Soen Hok, Rany, Mel, thanks for your
support and help. Also, to my friends in my boarding house, Hanna and levy lelep who
waiting me during my final examination, Hany, Yeni bawang merah, Kartika, I in, Vy,
Oc, bebet. God bless you all.
My endless gratitude goes to all of my partners in MERCY magazine, Pdt. Ko
Simson, Pdm. Ci Rhanny, Iwan, Yin2, Joe, Yohan, Untung, Andhri, Hongky, Maya, and
Ronny, thanks for your prayers and support.
Perpustakaan Unika
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS


PAGES OF TITLE___________________________________________________________i
PAGES OF APPROVAL_____________________________________________________ii
BOARD OF EXAMINERS___________________________________________________iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMETS____________________________________________________v
TABLE OF CONTENTS____________________________________________________vi
ABSTRACT_____________________________________________________________viii
ABSTRAK_______________________________________________________________ix
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION_______________________________________________ 1
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY________________________________________________________ 1
1.2. SCOPE OF THE STUDY________________________________________________________________ 4
1.3. PROBLEM FORMULATION____________________________________________________________ 4
1.4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY__________________________________________________________ 5
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY________________________________________________________ 5
1.6. DEFINITION OF TERMS _______________________________________________________________5
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE______________________________________8
2.1. SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH___________________________________________________________8
2.2. SHAKESPEARES ROMEO AND JULIET_________________________________________________ 9
2.3. RENAISSANCE TIMES________________________________________________________________10
2.4. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE______________________________________________________________11
2.5. SOCIAL VALUES/ NORMS IN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE__________________________________ 12
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY_________________________________ 18
CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION_____________________ 20
4.1. THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ROMEO-JULIET AND OTHER CHARACTERS ARE COMPLEX:
CONFLICTS AND HARMONY_________________________________________________________20
4.1.1. CONFLICTS IN BETWEEN ROMEO-JULIET AND OTHER CHARACTERS_______________21
4.1.2. ROMEO-JULIET VERSUS FAMILIES CONFLICT____________________________________22
4.1.3. ROMEO-JULIET VERSUS FRIAR LAURENCE_______________________________________23
4.1.4. ROMEO-JULIET VERSUS SOCIETY_______________________________________________24
4.1.5. HARMONY_____________________________________________________________________26
4.2. THE ANALYSIS OF ROMEO-JULIET COMPLEX SITUATION IN RENAISSANCE VALUES_____27
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4.2.1. THE RELATION BETWEEN ROMEO AND JULIET IN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE_________28
4.2.2. THE MARRIAGE IN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE: ROMEO AND JULIET__________________30
4.2.3. THE OBEDIENCE TO RELIGION RELATED TO THE SOCIAL CONDITION OR
RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND____________________________________________________31
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION_____________________________________________34
BIBLIOGRAPHY_______________________________________________________37
APPENDIX






























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ABSTRACT




The relationship between man and woman is very complicated. There are many
things to consider before they are deciding to be a lover/ a couple and getting
married. The background of the family in the society is the most important thing.
It is true, that people are free to choose a husband or a wife to be with, but the
society and their environment have a big part of it. Romeo and Juliet is an
example of forbidden love because their family backgrounds are always in feud.
The objectives of this study are to find out the complex relationship between
Romeo and Juliet as the major characters in the play in relation to other
characters. This study will continue to find out how their actions and behaviors
were confronted with values of the Elizabethan society. So, to analyze this thesis,
the writer uses sociological approach. The writer used this approach to know the
social condition of Italy at Renaissance times on which the drama was set. Based
on this study, the writer find out that there are many conflict of characters in this
play such as: Romeo vs. Juliet, Romeo family vs. Juliet family, Romeo/ Juliet vs.
Friar, Romeo/Juliet vs. society. The main characters are much influenced by the
Elizabethan era society and their environment because other characters around
them influence their ways of thinking and action. If someone was against the
social norms at that time, he or she would be easily stigmatized punished by
society.


















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ABSTRAK


Hubungan antara pria dan wanita sangat rumit. Ada banyak faktor yang harus
dipertimbangkan sebelum memutuskan untuk menjadi sepasang kekasih dan
kemudian menikah. Latar belakang keluarga dalam suatu masyarakat merupakan
hal yang terpenting. Memang benar, bahwa merupakan kebebasan seseorang
untuk memilih suami atau istri, namun masyarakat dan lingkungan sekitarnya
juga mendapat bagian yang sangat besar bagi kehidupan seseorang. Romeo dan
Juliet merupakan salah satu contoh dari cinta yang terlarang karena latar belakang
keluarga mereka yang selalu dalam permusuhan. Tujuan dari studi ini adalah
untuk mengetahui bagaimana hubungan Romeo dan Juliet sebagai pemeran utama
dalam drama ini dengan hubungannya dengan pemeran yang lain. Studi ini akan
dilanjutkan dengan mencari bagaimana tindakan dan kelakuan mereka dihadapkan
dengan nilai- nilai yang ada dalam masyarakat Elizabeth. Dalam menganalisa
skripsi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosiologi. Penulis menggunakan
pendekatan tersebut untuk mengetahui kondisi social Itali pada saat itu pada
zaman Renaissance yang merupakan seting dari drama tersebut. Berdasarkan studi
tersebut, penulis menemukan bahwa ada banyak sekali konflik yang terjadi dalam
karakter- karakter yang ada dalam drama tersebut, seperti: Romeo- Juliet,
keluarga Romeo-keluarga Juliet, Romeo/ Juliet- Friar, Romeo/ Juliet- masyarakat.
Pemeran utama sangat dipengaruhi oleh masyarakat sosial dan lingkungan di
masa Elizabeth karena karakter- karakter yang lain juga mempengaruhi cara
mereka berfikir dan bertindak. Seseorang yang menentang norma- norma sosial
yang berlaku akan diberi ganjaran oleh masyarakatnya.



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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study
There are many kinds of literary work, for example, novels, short stories,
poems, movies, and plays. In this thesis, the writer is interested to analyze a play
because it can give pleasure and understanding about some moral values in the
society. In the Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams, a play or a drama is
defined as the form of composition designed for performance in the theater, in
which actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated actions, and
utter the written dialogue.
1
Aristotle states that drama is as an imitation of an
action
2
. It means that drama is representation of action through dialogues.
There are many famous names in the history of English drama such as Sir
Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare. The
latest was one of the most popular dramatists of his age. Some of Shakespeares
plays are Romeo and Juliet (1595), As You Like It (1594), Hamlet (1600), Othello
(1604), Macbeth (1606), and many more.
Among Shakespeares drama, Romeo and Juliet (1594) is still considered
one of his best masterpieces. It is a story about a true love between Romeo and
Juliet as the main characters. Their families are in feud and they do not agree with

1
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publisher, 6
th

ed. 1985,48.
2
Aristotle in R.C. Reaske. How to Analyze Drama. London: Monarch Press, 1966, 13.
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2
Romeo and Juliets relationship as a couple. The feud that happens between
Romeo and Juliets family and friends is so deep that it will greatly influence
them. Romeo and Juliet is such a play that is full of acts and dialogues enabling
the reader to imagine how the characters look like, where they live, what kinds of
clothes they wear and what setting frames the play.
In this thesis, the writer uses the sociological approach because this
approach relates the work with the social conditioned narrated in the story.
Therefore, since someones action is judged well according to his or her society,
thus social values are of great importance. The social values may also be
concerned with being good and bad in society, or whether one can comply well or
not with social norms.
Not only is literature learnt to get pleasure but also to gain knowledge and
values. Beside that, literature can lead people to a better understanding of life and
offer some possible solutions, which are concerned with life and death, love and
hate, happiness and tragedy. The importance of moral values in the literary works
makes the readers know how other people live, face their problems and what it is
like to be in their situations. So, it becomes relevant for the writer to interpret the
drama text through its moral values in the society and also relates it to the
religion.
Talking about social norms or values to a certain degree always relates to
good and bad actions and behaviors of an individual in society. Being complied to
such standard need not to be seen from a mere moral perspective; and yet a
total exclusion to discuss that perspective from sociological view point seem to be
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3
unnecessary in this study. Moral itself is concerned with the principals of right
and wrong behavior. Yet it is not as simple as that because to gain a moral lesson,
process and time are needed.
3

In the play, most of people in Verona are Catholics as indicated by the
setting and the presence of a Friar. They believe in God and go to church.
Durkheim argues that morality and religion cannot be separated because morality
is indirectly related to religion.
4
Through religion, the people in Romeo and Juliet
also learn about good and bad things. Yet they kill each other. They live in feud
and have bad behaviors. For instance Tybalt, the nephew of lady Capulet, he does
not like Romeo and he always looks for any kinds of means to mess with Romeo.
Nevertheless, the inclusions of moral and religious values are to be seen from
social values.
There are many conflicts between Romeo and Juliets family and
misunderstanding between Romeo and Juliet in the story, which lead them to
death. They try to deny their families feud as well as the social judgment by
loving each other and marrying secretly in church. Actually, love has a
relationship with morality because it is related with the action and behavior of an
individual, such as the way Romeo and Juliet expresses their love. Morality also
teaches about what should be done or forbidden. For example, when Romeo falls

3
Hornby, A. S. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 5th Ed,
1995,755.
4
Durkheim in Anthony Giddens, Kapitalisme dan teori sosial modern: suatu analisis terhadap karya tulis
Marx, Durkheim dan Max Weber, Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia, 1986, 143.


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in love with Juliet, it is obvious that he loves an enemy. It is an impossible union.
Yet they do it. Romeo and Juliet make a tragic decision. Aristotle mentions,
Tragedy should stimulate the emotions of pity and fear, these being roughly,
sympathy for and empathy with the plight of the protagonist.
5
Regarding this
fact, a reader has to be careful to learn how a moral lesson can be obtained from
such complication (complex situation).
Having considered the aspects above, therefore the writer has decided to
conduct a study entitled Individual Freedom versus Social Values in William
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet.

1.2. Scope of the Study
The scope of the study is the complexity of actions, behaviors and
attitudes of Romeo and Juliet toward each other as well as other characters that
are viewed from Elizabethan values.

1.3. Problem Formulation
The problem formulations are:
1. How do Romeo and Juliets behave themselves upon each other and
upon other characters?
2. How were Romeo and Juliets actions and behaviors viewed from
values of Elizabethan society?


5
Aristotle in Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995, 21-22.

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1.4. Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study are:
1. To describe the complex relationship between Romeo and Juliet in
relation to other characters.
2. To give some assessments on how their action and behaviors were
confronted with values of the Elizabethan society.

1.5. Significance of the Study
The writer hopes that this study will show some significant social values
to its readers. That people should do the good deeds and avoid the bad action or
behavior because they can result in disadvantages. This study will also help the
readers to understand the application of literary criticism, in this case, sociological
approach. It is necessary to the readers to know about the Renaissance Era, the
time the author lived in. Through the play, the readers will learn the social
conditions and values of the Renaissance era.

1.6. Definition of Terms
1. Freedom:
Neufeldt describes freedom as the state or quality of being free
especially:
a. Exemption or liberation from the control of some other person
or some arbitrary power; liberty; independence
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6
b. Exemption from arbitrary restrictions on a special civil right;
civil or political liberty
c. Exemption or immunity from a specified obligation,
discomfort, etc.
d. Exemption or released from imprisonment
e. A being able to act, move, use, etc. without hindrance or
restraint
f. A being able of itself to choose or determine action freely
g. Ease of movement or performance; facility
h. A being free from the usual rules, patterns, etc.
i. Frankness or easiness of manner; sometimes, an excessive
frankness or familiarity
6
.
2. Social Values:
Neufeldt defines social values as the social principles, goals, or
standards held or accepted by an individual, class, society, etc.
7

3. Renaissance:
a. Renaissance means rebirth is the name commonly applied to the
period of European history following the middle Ages; it is usually
said to have begun in Italy in the late fourteenth century and to
have continued, both in Italy and other countries of Western
Europe, through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

6
Neufeldt, Victoria, Websters New World College Dictionary, 3
rd
ed, New York: Simon and Scucter Inc,
1988, 537.
7
Ibid, 1474.
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b. Many attempt have been made to define the Renaissance in a
brief assertion, as though a single essence underlay the complex
features of the intellectual and cultural life of numerous countries
over several hundred years. It has, for example, described as the
birth of the modern world out of the ashes of the Dark Ages; as the
discovery of the world and the discovery of man; and as the era of
untrammeled individualism in life, thought, religion and art.
c. Furthermore, during the span of time called the Renaissance, it i s
possible to identify a number of events and discoveries which,
beginning approximately in the fifteenth century, clearly effected
radical and distinctive changes in the beliefs, productions, and
manner of life of many people, especially in the upper and the
intellectual classes.
8










8
Abrams. M. H, A Glpssary of Literary Terms, 6
th
ed, Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College
Publisher, 1985, 176-177.
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8

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1. Sociological Approach
The writer used this approach to analyze the social condition of Italy at
Renaissance time on which the drama was set. Literature has a function to reflect
the social condition of a society. From literature, people can learn the social
problems of religion, religious values, norms, and social judgment. Wilbur S.
Scott states the definition of the sociological approach:
Sociological criticism starts with a conviction that
arts relations to a society are vitally important, and
that the investigation of these relationships may
organize and deepen ones aesthetic response to a
work of art. Art is not created in vacuum; it is the
work not simply of a person, but of an author fixed
in time and space, answering to a community of
which he is an important, because an articulate part.
The sociological critics, therefore, is interested in
understanding to social milieu and the extent to
which and manner in which the artist responds to
it.
9


Another statement about sociological approach is from Abrams. In his
book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, he states,
Sociological critics treat a work of literature as
inescapably conditions the choice and
development of its subject matter, the ways of
thinking it incorporates, its evaluations of the modes
of life it renders, and even in its form by the
social, political, and economic organization and
forces of its age; they also tend to view the

9
Scott, Wilbur.S. Five Approaches of Literary Criticism.London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1977,123.
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9
interpretation and assessment of a literary work by
any reading public as shaped by the circumstances
specific to that publics time and place.
10


In brief, sociological approach is an approach, which is used to explain the
relation and influence between society, and the citizen who live in there. Because
of that, the historical approach is also used to support the analysis.

2.2. Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare (1594- 1616) was the most popular writer in the
history of English literature of his age. Some of Shakespeares pla ys, such as
Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, are among the most famous literary works of the
world. The themes of Shakespeares plays focus in love, dead, ambition, power,
and tragedy.
His play, Romeo and Juliet was based on real lovers who lived in Verona,
Italy, and died in the year 1303. At that time Capulets and Montagues were
among the inhabitants of the town. Shakespeare found it in Arthur Brookes poem
The tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Ronald Carter and John McRae
state, All Renaissance drama, especially the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare,
is profoundly concerned with shifting power relations within society. In their
books The Routledge History of Literature in English, they state:
The individual was a new force in relation to the
state. The threat of rebellion, of the overturning of
established order, was forcefully brought home to
the Elizabethan public by the revolt of the Earl of
Essex, once the Queens favorite. The contemporary

10
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Forh Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publisher,
1985, 196.
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debate questioned the relationship between
individual life, the power and authority of the state,
and the establishing of moral absolutes.
11



2.3. Renaissance Times
Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595. It means that this play was written
in the Renaissance Era (1485-1660). About Renaissance, Malcom Bradbury as
cited in The Routledge History of Literature in English says, Renaissance is the
rebirth of learning and culture; it is the reformation of the literature. In addition,
Ronald Carter and John McRae also underscore the ideas of rebirth and
reformation as follows:
But where there had been conventional modes of
expression, reflecting ideal modes of behaviors-
religious, heroic, or social- Renaissance writing
explored the geography of the human soul
redefining its relationship with authority, history,
science, and the future.
12

This era was the most exploratory moment of human freedom. This made
English literature move to a new religious, social and moral identity. It could
happen because there are many questions about human and life such as: What is
man? What is life for? Why life is so short? What is good and bad? And what is
love?
13

The story of Romeo and Juliet highlights the ideas of love, romance, social
conflicts and death. The love and romance between Romeo and Juliet show to the

11
Carter, Ronald and John McRae, The Routledge History of Literature in English, London: Routledge,
1997, 93.
12
Ibid, 57-61
13
Ibid.
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readers that it reflects the human freedom, youths soul and spirit but it ends up
with death and tragedy. Those are the characteristics, actions, and behaviors in
Renaissance Era.
14
At that time, MacFarlane visualize the societys judgments as
coming from parents and friends who arranged marriages. The children, in the
society, could not choose their own marriages partner.
15
Romeo and Juliet are
described, as young couple, where Juliet is fourteen and Romeo presumably at the
same age, are not considered old enough to be married. In the story, Juliets
parents arrange the marriage for her, but she is already married with Romeo
without their parents consent. This fact shows to the reader that the freedom to
control ones destiny is still challenged by the social complexity o f the marriage
norm.
2.4. Italian Renaissance
Renaissance began in Italy in the late of fourteenth century. For Italians,
the renaissance was a return to their classical roots. Much of Northern Europe had
been a part of the Roman Empire, Northern Europe did not identify as strongly as
the Italians did with the classical culture of ancient Rome. According to Jacob
Burckhardt,
16
Renaissance Italy did represent a distinctive epoch in the history of
civilization though it is a gross misconception to claim, as has been done, that he
was unaware of the importance of the middle Ages. For him, the Italian of the

14
Bradbury in Carter, Ronald and John McRae, The Routledge History of Literature in English, London:
Routledge, 1997, 60.
15
Alan MacFarlane, Marriage and Love in England 1300-1840, Oxford: Great Britain by Butler and
Tanner Ltd, 1986.
16
Jacob Burckhardt is the great Swiss historian; his book is The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy.
1960.
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12
Renaissance was the first -born among the son of modern Europe. One of the
forces tending to a development of individuality was found in the political
conditions of Renaissance Italy. Burckhardt said in his book, The States as a
Work of Art:
Renaissance Italy was governed by rational
calculation, the conscious adaptation of means to
ends. He also found in the Renaissance a heightened
interest in the world of nature and of man, including
both the outer and inner aspects of human
character.
17

John Addington Symonds has a similar conclusion with Burckhardt about
Italian Renaissance; he examined in detail many aspects of the period politics, art,
literature, and religion. For him, the history of the modern world was a history of
freedom, and the first step in the attainment of this freedom was the
Renaissance.
18

2.5. Social Values/ Norms of English Renaissance
The atmosphere of England was influenced by the spirit of Christianity in
the era of Renaissance when English society suffered severely from the disorders
of the fifteenth century and the domination of the aristocracy was under Henry IV
(1399-1413 A.D.) and ran to mischievous violence at the local level. Control of
government meant only for the political situation and not for the control of society
since the moral had also been influenced by the spirit of Christianity.

17
Jacob Burckhardt in http://www.ku.edu/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/08.html.download on 12 April
2006.
18
Ibid.
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13
This condition, then, changed along with the power of Henry VIII who
had taken the authority of Roman Catholic in England. The Church was run by
himself. It was continued by the daughter of Anne Boleyn, one of his wives, the
next and first to be the queen of England, Elizabeth, who had the responsibility
for steering the country with her policies.
19

Uniformity became the more delicate question than the supremacy. The
government of Elizabeth did not involve the clergy of Queen Mary that were still
sitting to discuss it. The Book of Common Prayer followed the arrangement and
most of the words of the second book of Edward VI was changed and intended to
widen the number of those who could join in Communion in their parish
churches.
It was almost impossible to reconcile sets of words side by side, which
could bring both conscientious Protestants and Catholics to say. The clergy had to
use this book on pain of imprisonment for life at the third offence. There was a
must for common people to go to church every Sunday or being absent with
reasonable excuse. When they were absent without reasonable excuse, the church
would fine them.
Some policies had been made by the new Queen of England for many
cases. Related to a drama of Shakespeare to analyze, there will be some points to
discuss in this analysis; the relation between men and women, the marriage in
renaissance era, and the obedience to religion of Romeo and Juliets complex
situation.

19
Clark, Sir George. Illustrated History of Great Britain.Oxford University Press, 1971, 116.
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14
When the moral condition of Renaissance still under Christian, the
development of Renaissance in England has also influenced the condition of the
society. Pregnant before marriage was uncommon. It can be shown from the
condition of Shakespeares own life.
At that time, London was also violent, especially towards traitors. Plague,
a pestilential epidemic disease, happened to people because they were not clean. It
brought rats that carried the disease to the cities and towns in England. Sewage
was simply thrown in the streets at the time, and people would just live around the
filth.
England itself was apart of the Low Countries which flocked to Italy and
carried the new learning back to its country. English humanists interpreted
Italian ideas about and attitudes toward classical antiquity, individualism, and
humanism in terms of its own traditions
20
.
Comparing the tradition wherein Renaissance influenced, it was more
Christian than those in Italy, which was characterized by a secular and pagan
spirit. Scholars termed it as Christian Humanism, which made the humanists
interested in the development of an ethical way of life. Here, classical ideals and
Christian cultures had to be combined to gain ethical way of life. For example, the
classical ideals of calmness, stoical patience, and broad-mindedness should be
joined in human and conducted with the Christian virtues of love, faith, and hope.
Christian humanists had a more profound faith in the power of the human
intellect to bring about moral and institutional reform and believed that although
human nature had been corrupted by sin, it was basically good and able to

20
European Society in the Age of the Renaissance, The Renaissance in the North, 602-603
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15
improve through education, which finally would lead to piety and an ethical way
of life.
The capital offence at common law was heresy, yet neither Catholics nor
Calvinists became such those to prosecute. There were 200 clergy were dismissed
and no longer any law against clerical marriage. However, some of the former
married clergy came back and the young ones got married. It is important as the
addition of new element to the social life, especially in the country. The sons of
the clergy came in time to make an identifiable strain in the middle classes, and
the whole system became the support and also a restraint for the Church. Anyway,
Henry VIII was the bad example of a leader since he married to many women.
When Elizabeth came to the throne, any legally minded person could question her
title on the grounds that Anne Boleyns marriage was invalid, and so forth.
21

Western Europe, at least since the sixteenth century, described a curious
and possibly unique marriage pattern. The two main characteristics were a very
late age at first marriage for women, which often 25 years old or over and the
large number of never-married females, even up to fifteen per cent or more. It was
viewed as unusual as late age at marriage. Moreover, in Colyton, Devon, the
mean age at the first marriage was fluctuated between 26 and 30 in the period
1560-1750, which means that English womens marriage had been very late.
22

In this respect, England was different from other traditional societies and
other countries in Western Europe at the time. A system of marriage appeared and

21
Clark, Sir George. Illustrated History of Great Britain.Oxford University Press, 1971, 117.
22
Macfarlane, Alan. Marriage and Love in England 1300-1840. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1986, 24-25.
Perpustakaan Unika
16
was named Malthusian Marriage System. Malthus, the one to create this system,
assumed:
monogamy, though most societies at his time practiced
polygamy; a fairly egalitarian relationship between husband
and wife, while most societies assumed male dominance;
unbreakable marriage, though many permitted easy
divorce; permissive remarriage, though the majority either
forbade remarriage or made it mandatory; independent
residence after marriage, though the majority of societies
have been virilocal or uxorilocal;
23
a fairly equal
contribution to the conjugal fund, though the usual situation
was for wealth to flow preponderantly from either brides
or grooms group.
24


A new religious settlement was about the central question for this part and
the era of religious trouble is very suitable for naming the condition of England at
this time. The real condition of England was dominated by Catholics. Elizabeth,
as the new Queen decreased the majority of Catholics for her council, retained the
moderates, and added seven elements of Protestantism. Elizabeth called herself as
Supreme Governor, which gave less offence and might implied that she claimed
no authority to prescribe the doctrine instead of the Head of the Church. To show
the power and the authority as the Head of the Church, even, her government did
not invite and involve the clergy of Queen Mary who were still sitting there in
taking apart of discussing uniformity.
Elizabeth never appointed a vicar-general like Cromwell; yet the act
authorized her to issue commissions for the exercise of jurisdiction over the

23
Virilocal, residence at husbands place ; uxorilocal, at the wifes.
24
. Macfarlane, Alan. Marriage and Love in England 1300-1840. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc.,
1986.p.35.
Perpustakaan Unika
17
Church. England had stopped the authority of Roman allegiance for the second,
yet it had been the significance point to fix her international position.
England was still at war with France, and France still refused to give back
Calais. In term of social condition, an economic tie between England and
Netherlands was made and mutual necessity. Philip II of the Netherlands, who
had been organized round his English marriage, had many reasons for his purpose
of trying to offer his hand to Queen Elizabeth.

























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18

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The writer conducted a library research to collect data by using references
from books, literature, and Internet sites, dealt with the topic while sociological
approach will help the reader understand the action and behavior, social conflicts
and the moral values of the characters.
Romeo and Juliet is a romantic story between young couples in Italy in
Renaissance time. The writer tried to find some information about Renaissance
Era, so the writer could understand the social values, the peoples habits, and the
society in Italian and England at that time to support the study. The writer focuses
on the character actions and behaviors seeing from society values at that time
because it is interesting side to be discussed and moral critics believe that the
basic purpose of literature is to deliver moral message. In conducting this
approach, the writer will ground her method on the following principles:
Romeo and Juliet is the primary source of this research. The
following is the details of the material:

The material of the study is drama.
Title : Romeo and Juliet
Editor : William Aldis Wright
Author : William Shakespeare
Type : Drama
Perpustakaan Unika
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Publisher : Pocket books, Inc
Published year : 1948

POINTS OF ANALYSIS
APPROACH CLAIMS OF THE THEORY
Sociological
Approach
What happened in the story is
to a certain degree a
reflection of social condition
of the era.
Conflict of Characters:
1. Romeo vs. Juliet
2. Romeo family vs.
Juliet family.
3. Romeo/Juliet vs.
Friar.
4. Romeo/Juliet vs.
families.
5. Romeo/Juliet vs.
society.
6. Prince vs.
families.
Romeo Vs Juliet:

1. Free to love.
(The idea of
loving.)
2. Free to decide.
- for marriage
- for suicide

After the writer read, learnt, and understood about the story in
Shakespeares play Romeo and Juliet and got some information that supported the
analysis, the writer proposed a study entitled Individual Freedom versus Social
Values in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet.













Perpustakaan Unika
20

CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter focuses on the points of analysis that have been arranged in
the previous chapter and the problem formulations. To analyze the thesis chapter
clearer, this chapter divided in two sub-chapters. The first chapter discusses the
complex relation between Romeo-Juliet and other characters in connection with
the conflicts and harmony. The second sub-chapter is the analysis of Romeo-
Juliets complex situation related to the social norms/ values of Elizabethan.
However, the ethical way of life in reality was not the same as the
dialogue shared by Romeo and Juliet. It is shown in the act when Romeo and
Juliet meets during the Capulets feast wherein the language and form of the
dialogue shows that their private sphere is totally different from public life.
Basically, Romeo and Juliets relationship develops in a decisive manner
while the action proceeds. A part of the changes in their relationship stem from
their own decisions and behavior, yet the development also involved the events
from the outside. This question of love will concern and bring the readers to a
large part of the whole plot.

4.1. The Relations of Romeo-Juliet and Other Characters are complex:
Conflicts and Harmony.
Many conflicts of characters can be found in Shakespeares Romeo and
Juliet especially those about love and families enmity. Love which meets Romeo
Perpustakaan Unika
21
to Juliet is to be the start of Romeo and Juliets journey of love that inflicts the
conflict to be bigger.

4.1.1. Conflicts in Between Romeo-Juliet and Other Characters
This play focuses on romantic love with intense passion that springs up at
the first sight between Romeo and Juliet when they firstly met at the feast. Here,
love is described as a violent, ecstatic, overpowering force that replaces all other
values, loyalties, and emotions.
The values of a familys dignity were left as the result of Romeo and
Juliets love.
Tybalt : What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word.
As I hate hell, all Montague, and thee:
Have at thee, coward!
25


Tybalts words prove that his familys dignity was much more important
than anything though he accidentally ignored the values of peace. His loyalties to
his family was much more important than a peace. It can be seen from his idea of
hating peace, which was the same as hating hell. He considered peace as hell.
Here, Tybalt showed a deep emotion of hate.
While from Romeo and Juliets point of view, we can see that their love is
an overpowering force that replaces the values as Tybalt had. Both Romeo and
Juliet followed only their passion of love, which was violent and ecstatic.
Capulet : My sword, I say! Old Montague is come,
And flourishes his blade inspire of me.
26

and

25
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, I, i, 21.
26
Ibid.
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Montague : Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not, let me go.
27

Another proof to show that loyalties and emotions, which were very deep
to their families can be seen from both old Capulet and Montagues words above
when they met. Each of them seemed that they did not want either a meeting or
letting themselves seeing one to each other.

4.1.2. Romeo/ Juliet versus Families Conflict
Romeo and Juliet were parts of two shepherds, which both of them had
their claims. While the public shepherd, who included the families of both Romeo
and Juliet and the feud, demanded hate. When Capulet, Juliets father, urged Juliet
to marry to Paris, it became clear that the family order with which the writer
concerned on Romeo and Juliet was authoritarian and patriarchal. As Juliet was in
love with Romeo, she first had to ignore the imperative of hate that was given by
her family group, and later she had to evade her fathers command to marry Paris.
In order to have space for their own love, which ignored the families barriers,
they agreed to ignore their names.
Juliet : Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
Romeo : Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.
28


However, they went back to their own families names since Capulets
kept on his decision to have Juliet married to Paris. The enmity between Romeo
and Juliets families, coupled with the emphasis placed on loyalty and honor to

27
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, I, i, 21.
28
Ibid. II,ii,43.
Perpustakaan Unika
23
kin, combine to create a deep conflict for Romeo and Juliet, who must rebel
against their heritages.
Furthermore, the patriarchal power structure inherent in Renaissance
families, wherein the father controls the actions of all other family members,
especially women, places Juliet as the one to be easily blamed.
In the course of the play, the couple of lovers are driven to face the entire
social world: families, friends, and ruler. One of those deities can be found in the
example as follows:
With the families:
Juliet asks : Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And Ill no longer be a Capulet.
29


The next example of dialogue, which support the idea of the conflict
between Romeo and Juliet versus their families is:
Lady Capulet : Speak briefly, can u like of Paris love?
Juliet : Ill look to like, if looking liking move:
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.
30


Madam Capulet, here, spoke to Juliet, which seemed to push Juliet to love
Paris, someone Juliet did not love. The love Romeo and Juliet indirectly had to
face a conflict with Juliets family, Juliets mo ther.

4.1.3. Romeo/ Juliet versus Friar Laurence
Basically, the character Friar Laurence is not against both Romeo and
Juliet, yet it seems that he stopped them from experiencing any conventional love-

29
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 43.
30
ibid, I, ii, 31.
Perpustakaan Unika
24
affair or physical love since both of them were still young and inexperienced
though they both had their own characters and manners of behavior.
In one way, the friar dealt with their love because he had a role as the
counselors and as the priest who performed the rite of marriage.
Friar Laurence: Come, come with me, and we will make
short work; for, by your leaves, you shall
not stay alone.
Till only church incorporate two in one
31


Then, the friar also said:
Friar Laurence: Ill give thee armor to keep off that work;
Adversitys swee t milk, philosophy,
To comfort thee, though thou art banished.
32

and
Friar Laurence: To blaze your marriage, reconcile your
friend, Beg pardon of the prince, and call
thee back.
33


However, Friar Laurence had ever got angry to Romeo when he knew that
Romeo had killed Tybalt:
Friar Laurence : O deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness!
Thy fault our law calls death; but the kind
prince. Taking thy part, hath rushd aside
the law, And turnd that black word death
to banishment:
This is dear mercy, and thou seest is not.
34


4.1.4. Romeo/ Juliet versus Society
Much Romeo and Juliet involves the lovers struggles against public and
social institutions that whether explicitly or not oppose the existence of this

31
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II, vi, 59.
32
Ibid. III, iii, 71.
33
Ibid. III, iii, 74.
34
Ibid. III, iii, 70.
Perpustakaan Unika
25
couples love. Some structures, from the concrete to t he abstract ones: families
and the placement of familial power in the father, law and the desire for public
order, religion, and the social importance placed on the masculine honor.
These institutions often come into conflict with each other. The
importance of honor, for example, time and again results in quarrels that disturb
the public peace. Though they do not always work in concert, each of these social
institutions in some way present obstacles for Romeo and Juliet.
It is possible to see Romeo and Juliet as a battle between the
responsibilities and actions demanded by social institutions and those demanded
by the private desires of each individual. Romeo and Juliet appreciation of night,
with its darkness and privacy, and their renunciation of their names, with its
attendant loss of obligation, make sense in the context of individuals who always
hope to escape the public world. And of course, Romeo cannot stop being a
Montague simply because he wants to since the rest of the world will not let him.
While for Juliet, her heart is in her familys mind and not her to give.
The law and the emphasis on social civility demands terms of conduct
with which the blind passion of love cannot comply. Religion similarly demands
priorities that Romeo and Juliet cannot abide by because of the intensity of their
love. Though in most situations this couple of lovers upholds the traditions of
Christianity (they wait to marry before realizing their love), their love is so
powerful that they begin to think of each other in blasphemous terms. For
example, when Juliet calls Romeo: the God of my idolatry
35
. It is a kind of

35
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II, I, 156.
Perpustakaan Unika
26
elevating Romeo to level of God. What Romeo and Juliet had done had made
Romeo banished:
Nurse : Tybalt is gone, and Romeo is banished:
Romeo that killd him, he is banished.
36


The words spoken by the nurse shows that the society cannot accept what Romeo
had done to get Juliets love in the middle of their families conflicts.

4.1.5. Harmony
When Romeo met Juliet for the first time, Romeo caught Juliets sight
during the Capulets feast. They fall in love at the first sight. The love between
them described as a sort of magic. Romeo and Juliet cannot hide or run from that
feeling. This felling is powerful, even society and family cannot separate them:
Juliet : I will not fail: tis twenty years till then.
I have forgot why I did call thee back.
Romeo : Let me stand here till thou remember it.
Juliet : I shall forget, to have thee stand there,
Remembering how I love thy company.
Romeo : And I still stay, to have thee still forget,
Forgetting any other home but this.
37


The language used and the form of the dialogue in the play shared by
Romeo and Juliet showed that their private sphere was different totally from the
public. The language helps to create the harmony and intimacy.
They are first conversation, the sonnet, a poetic conversation that was very
popular and famous in the Elizabethan era or English Renaissance. It had been
accepted that sonnet expressed a very intimate feeling. From the play, basically,

36
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, III, ii, 67.
37
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 47.
Perpustakaan Unika
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Romeo and Juliet make the same experience. They both had equal claims in the
role normally reserved for a single protagonist.
Their romantic love lives in harmony, it can be seen from the way Romeo
and Juliet expresses their love:
Romeo : I would I were thy bird.
Juliet : Sweet, so would I:
Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet
sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
38


4.2. The Analysis of Romeo-Juliet Complex Situation in Renaissance Values.
Elizabethan popular culture has given many learners of English literature
new insight into the significance of sport and the influence of philosophical ideals
in the play created and resulted in a proliferation of studies on the formation of
sexuality, the social construction of gender (men and women) blending during the
era, the politics of sexuality, and the role of homosexuality, and cross-dressing in
English society.
39

Renaissance means rebirth, in this era individual freedom is in a high
place. It describes as the birth of the modern world out of the ashes of the Dark
Ages; as the discovery of man; and as the era of untrammeled individualism in
life, thought, religion and art.
In this play, the actions and behaviors from Romeo and Juliet described as
a youthful freedom where the families or society environment cannot separate
them. Romeo always in love, and when he falls in love, he falls hard. When

38
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 47
39
http://www.enotes.com/shakespearean-criticism/like
Perpustakaan Unika
28
Rosaline refuses his love, he is very depressed over until he met Juliet and falls in
love at the first sight. Even after he met Juliet, he feels very sad when he knows
that she is a Capulet.
Romeo: Is she a Capulet?
O dear account! My life is my foes debt.
40



Romeo and Juliet are members of two families that are each others two
biggest enemies, they both rich families. The consequences that Romeo and Juliet
should face because of their actions might be different from a person who was not
rich, because people look up to the Capulets and Montagues and will more
likely follow them.

4.2.1 The Relation between Romeo and Juliet in English Renaissance
The relationship between Romeo and Juliet in this era was so complex for
modern people since there was no individual man and woman who would marry
and, then, decide whom to marry by an individuals will. Marriage in this age was
not the idea or interest of the couple only, yet also about the arrangement of the
parents and wider kin.
41
It means that the members of the families of both man
and woman could take apart in making the decision related to their son and
daughters marriage. How and where, even to whom a son or daughter would
marry to be under the authority of the families.
Macfarlane state, Malthus believed that to marry or not to marry at all
was a matter for decision by the individual concerned.
42
However, the vast

40
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, I, v, 38.
41
Macfarlane, Alan. Marriage and Love in England 1300-1840. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1986, 35.
42
Macfarlane, Alan. Marriage and Love in England 1300-1840. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1986, 36.
Perpustakaan Unika
29
majority believed that, on the contrary, marriage was not a matter to be left to the
couple themselves (again), but was to be arranged by the parents and wider kin.
In this play, Romeo and Juliet represented as crossed lovers, who had
many conflict, which were not in their favor, but are the victims of their society,
their own passions which just did not seem to travel in their direction.
Next, the young will establish neulocal or separate residence after
marriages and will be relatively independent. The courtship system will be based
on the mutual attraction between the future husband and wife, rather than the
interests of the wider kin. The age at marriage will rise, for the youngsters must
now be old enough to take care of themselves.
Love is the overriding theme of the play, but the readers should remember
that Shakespeare is not interested in portraying a made-to-be pretty version of the
emotion, the kind that bad poets usually write about, and whose bad poetry
Romeo reads while pining for Rosaline. Love in Romeo and Juliet is a brutal,
powerful emotion that catches individuals and throws them against their world,
and, at the times, against themselves.
The powerful nature of love can be seen in the way it is described, or more
accurately, the way descriptions of it so consistently fail to catch its entirely. At
times, love is described as a sort of magic, as can be seen on the following
prologue:
Alike bewitched by the charm of looks
43
.
Juliet perhaps perfectly describes her love for Romeo by refusing to describe it:
Juliet : But my true love is grown to such excess /

43
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II.Prologue.6.
Perpustakaan Unika
30
I cannot sum up some of half my wealth
44
.

Meanwhile, it seems clear that the relationship between Romeo and Juliet
was about keeping it, especially their marriage. It was unplanned as the
conventional love or the relationship between a woman and a man of that age. It
was spontaneous as well as happening in the very sense of that word.
However, basically, Romeo and Juliet was a couple driven by ordinary
desires, their own passions, they tried to disobey their families. A chain of human
actions that cause tragedy between them controls their actions.

4.2.2 The Marriage in English Renaissance: Romeo and Juliet
Here, the marriage, more specifically mentioned as marriage law, became
a common feature in England especially since there was Protestantism reform
though some attempts to reform the its law failed.
45
The engagement was refused
in judicial activism to get the reform from the committee of bench. Creation of
the High Commission provided a new opportunity for reform. Related to it, it is
clear that it refused to keep violating the marriage jurisdiction of the ordinary
courts, yet used its authority to assist those courts. The involvement of the
commission, anyway, in a handful of marriage cases can be seen as part of their
mandate to enforce royal familys authority, especially against the Cath olics.
Romeo and Juliets marriage was uncommon in that era because they
married without their parents consent. It should be the parents and social

44
ibid. III, I, 33-34.
45
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0361-
0160%28199023%2921%3A3%3C437%3AMRATEH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J&size-LARGE&origin=JSTOR-
enlargepage
Perpustakaan Unika
31
environments agreement that lead them to be a couple. Because of their feuding
families, their love almost did not exists, but at the same time, if their families
were not in this situation, their love might not of been inspired in the first place.
In sociology, people learn what is not what is should be. People know that
love and marriage must go together. This is not the way it happens in every single
marriage it might happen in some marriages but not always. For example, when
the Capulet arrange married to Juliet and Paris but she refused to marry Paris. The
action of Juliet makes Capulet angry because of that he tells to Juliet:
Capulet: get thee to church Thursday
Or never after look me in the face
Speak not, reply not, do not answer me.
46


The lovers suicides can be understood as the ultimate night the ultimate
privacy. And, of course, this couples final act of suicide is likewise un -Christian.
The maintenance of masculine honor forces Romeo to commit actions he would
prefer to avoid. Yet, the social emphasis placed on the masculine honor is so deep
that Romeo cannot simply ignore and omit them.

4.2.3 The Obedience to Religion related to the Social Condition or
Renaissance in England
Romeo and Juliet does not make a specific moral statement about the
relationships between love and society, religion, and family; rather, it portrays the
chaos and passion of being in love, combining images of love, violence, death,
religion, and family in an impressionistic rush leading to tragic conclusion.

46
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 80.
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32
Friar Laurence preached to Romeo when Romeo wanted Friar to marry
him and Juliet as soon as possible. He preached of warning to Romeo and
suggested that Romeo just was in vulnerable spot and Juliet fell for him solely on
that.
Romeo : then plainly know my hearts dear love is set.
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet: As mine
on hers, so hers is set on mine;
And all combined, save what thou must
combine by holy marriage: when, and where,
and how, We met, we wood and made
exchange of vow, Ill tell thee as we pass; but
this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us to-day.
47


And Friar preached to Romeo about the decision that Romeo did. Friar
Laurence think that Romeos decision is too rush. Romeo was falling in love to
Rosaline and the next day he falls in love to Juliet. It makes Friar Laurence
confused with Romeo by asking:
Friar Laurence: Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young mens love then
lies. Not truly in their hearts, but in their
eyes.
48

And

Friar Laurence: Woman may fall when theres no strength in men.
49

Though Friar Laurence told Romeo that rushing a marriage leads to
problems, he decided to go along with the hasty marriage because on an impulse
he felt.


47
Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, II, iii, 49.
48
Ibid.
49
Ibid.
Perpustakaan Unika
33
Friar Laurence: This alliance may so happy prove.
To turn your households rancor to pure
love
50


In humanism, people believed that they could control their own destinies
not because of a blind social judgment, punishment, and religion. In religion,
people learned about good and bad. Religion was related to many aspects of life
because religion is about whole world system. Purwa A. Hadiwardoyo even states
that morality is learned from the family, society, school and religion.
51
Thus,
religious values touch every aspect of our life, every moment of our life. Our
religions govern all of our contacts with members of our family, with our co-
workers, with our church, and with all aspect of our governments.
52













50
Ibid, II, iii, 50.
51
Hadiwardoyo, Purwa Al. Moral dan masalahnya. Jakarta: Kanisius. 1990.
52
http://www.rationality.net/morality.htmdownloaded on 12 December 2004.
Perpustakaan Unika
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION

Romeo and Juliet are an example of youth freedom at the Renaissance
Era. When they decide to be a couple, they realize that they will face trouble in
the future. But it was too late to know each other deeply, to know who Romeo is
and who Juliet is. They fall in love at the first sight. When they know the
background of their family, they realize that it was very difficult to unite the two
families who are always in feud. But the love between Romeo and Juliet show to
the readers that it reflects human freedom, youths souls and spirit. It is shown
when they decide to have freedom to love; to decide for marriage and even to
commit suicide at the end. Since someones action is judged well according to his
or her society, thus social values are very important and also concerned with
being good or bad in the society, or whether one can comply well or not with
social norms.
From the analysis, the thinking, actions, behaviors and attitudes seen from
Renaissance values are reflective to certain points:
1. The relation between men and women in English Renaissance.
At that time, most of people thought that parents and wider kin were the
ones who can arrange the marriage. In this age, marriage was not the idea
or interest of the couple only. So, when Romeo and Juliet decide to marry
without parents consent, they are against t he social values at that time.
Perpustakaan Unika
35

2. The marriage in English Renaissance.
England was different from other traditional societies and other countries
in the Western Europe at that time. A system of marriage appeared and
was named Malthusian Marriage System. It was mentioned as marriage
law. The engagement was refused in judicial activism to get the reform
from the committee of bench.

3. The obedience to religion related to the social condition or Renaissance
in England.
Catholics dominated the condition of Renaissance in England. As the new
Queen, Elizabeth decreased the majority of Catholics for her council,
retained the moderates, and added seven elements of Protestantism.
Some of actions and behavior from major characters in this play reflect to
Renaissance values, there are:
1. Freedom to love
The feud between Montague and Capulet should be a consideration
between Romeo and Juliet. They realize that it was really hard to unity the
two families. But when Romeo and Juliet fall in love, at the first sight,
they do not care if their families and environment against them.
2. Free to decide
The majority of people in England believed that marriage was not a matter
to be left to the couple themselves, but it was to be arranged by the parents
Perpustakaan Unika
36
and wider kin. In the play, Romeo and Juliet was marriage without their
parents consent. It was just love and desire, which lead them to go to
Church and marriage without any plan.

Basically, people are free individuals; they have their own qualification to
choose spouse for them. But there are some several social factors before they decide
to be a couple because parents have a big part to consent and bless their children in
marrying. Without parents consent and blessing, it was very difficult to build a
harmonious family. Moreover, when their environment and society did not agree with
their relationship, the couple will be expelled from family and society.













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