In the play of Romeo and Juliet a theme of inequality towards women is expressed, this is shown when Juliet's farther is to marry her off without her consent “she shall be married to this noble earl” there is also a theme of inequality evident in the poem Cousin Kate. Inequality is expressed by the lover in the poem, “his play thing and his love” this use of possessive pronoun makes the persona seem like an object, Juliet is also objectified by her father, he treats her as an object and dismisses her feelings when marrying her to Paris to gain prestige for his family. Juliet and the Cottage maiden are both treated badly by the men in their lives, they have expectations from society and are expected to conform to what is wanted of them by men. The Cottage Maiden is shunned by society when she has a son out of marriage, “so now I moan an unclean thing”, Juliet is also threatened with this if she is to disobey her father “you will not wed;I’ll pardon you.” Despite the suffering both women are inevitable going to get neither men will suffer for their actions, Capulet will not be thought of any worse, and the Lord is excused for having sex out of marriage which truly shows to us the inequality evident in these times. The poem ‘Human Interest’ differs slightly from this as the man in this poem, is giving a sentence for killing his lover. The two pieces of writing Romeo and Juliet and Cousin Kate differ as Juliet takes stand against her farther by manipulating the situation, marrying Romeo and taking her life. Cottage Maiden sits aside and allows society to do to her what it wishes as she sees no other choice. Juliet disobedience shows strong strength of character as she refuses to conform to the wishes of the male, just as in the poem ‘A Woman to Her Lover’ where the persona refuses all expectations put upon her by a male admirer “No servant will I be” Each of the poem’s and the play have the same theme of betrayal and we see this theme reocur in the poem ‘Human Interest’ written from the prospective of a man who stabbed his girlfriend “I stabbed.” The man of this poem has no consideration of his lover similar to that of The Lord who also has no regards for the feelings of the woman who bore his child. Both the persona of Human Interest and The Lord disobey their lovers and Juliet is betrayed by her father, and Nurse. The narrater judges his girlfriend on the basis of very little information similar to how society judged the Cottage Maiden.
Both Cottage Maiden and Juliet suffer
