The Value of Sex in Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure Essay

Renaissance England often treats female sex and virginity as a commodity. Shakespeare recognizes this belief system in Measure for Measure and Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliets virginity acts as a commodity. However, it is not her commodity rather, it belongs to her father. Capulet uses it as a bartering tool. In act three, scene four, he makes a marriage agreement with genus Paris. He says, Sir Paris, I ordain make a desperate tender / Of my childs love. I think she will be ruled / In all respects by me. Nay, more, I disbelieve it not (12-14). The first definition in the Oxford English Dictionary defines tender as to offer or advance (a plea, issue, averment evidence, etc.) in due and semi-formal terms spec. to offer (money, etc.) in discharge of debt or liability (def. 1). The OED cites Littletons Tenures in 1544 as an example of this definition The Lorde maye tender a conuenient mariage wythout deperagyng of such an heir female. ensuant definitions a lso define tender as to make (physically) tender, soft, or weak (def. 2d). These definitions prove the ecconomic value of Juliets body. Capulet weakens Juliet physically in 3.5 by ordering her to marry Paris or beg, starve, die in the streets (192). In many productions, Capulet strikes Juliet, emphasizing her tender state. He has full control over Juliets life and consequently, her body. Her virginity is a bartering tool, something he pot sell on a whim to the highest bidder. Within this system of arranged marriages, sex functions as a commodity. Measure for Measure also speaks to the commodification of sex by highlighting female virginity, those who are and those who arent. In this play, female virginity functions as a... ...odity, desperately sought after by men. Their commodity places them in a double defend To be sexually active is to be suspect, to be a virgin is to be desirable and therefore potentially sexually active and potentially suspect. all way women l ose. Either way they are sexualised (Macfarlane 78). Works Cited Carlson, Susan. Fond Fathers and Sweet Sisters Alternative Sexualities in Measure for Measure. Essays in Literature 161 (1989) 13-31. MacFarlane, Linda. Heads You Win follow I Lose. Critical Survey 51 (1993) 77-82. Riefer, Marcia. Instruments of Some More Mightier Member The Construction of Female Power in Measure for Measure. Shakespeare Quarterly 352 (1984) 157-169. Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. Greenblatt 2021-2090. ---. Romeo and Juliet. Greenblatt 865-941.