Romeo And Juliet Vs. The House on Mango Street

    There are many differences and similarities between the books Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The women in both books play crucial roles in them. The lives of the women in The House on Mango Street, are dictated, and controlled by natural routines, and or attitudes towards them or others. In the book, The House on Mango Street, many women were controlled by the Machismo attitude of the men in their society. The Machismo attitude would, control the lives of the women, and keep them in predicaments where they would not be able to escape. For example in the book, the main character’s grandmother, who was just notified as Esparanza’s Grandmother, was trapped and forced into marriage. Her husband, “trapped a bag” over her head, and carried her off. As they grew older, he trapped her into his house as a housewife. She would sit and look out the window, and watches her life passing her by. Juliet’s experience is different than Esparanza’s Grandmother. Her family is an important part of society who are very rich and famous. She being a Capulet and marrying a Montague is unacceptable by society. She met her lover Romeo at party, and fell in love with him, experiencing “love at first sight”. The two are equally in love with each other, and even though they should not be together, they experience love together despite the regulations. The two women in their own situations are very different. Ezparansa’s Grandmother is trapped, and forced into marriage, while Juliet is openly married to someone who she loves. As well as the books being different, they are similar in some ways as well. Every move that Juliet makes in the book Romeo & Juliet is decided by her parents. She is usually in her room, or in the presence of her nurse. Her nurse is practically the only that really knows her. Her mother and father are too occupied with other things to really spend time with her. Her life is cooped up, in her room. A character in the book The House on Mango Street named Rafaela experienced something similar to Juliet. Rafaela was young, beautiful, and married to a man blinded by the Machismo attitude. The Machismo attitude, made him feel obligated to lock his wife up in their third floor apartment. He is afraid of her beauty being the eye candy for the “dog-like” men out on the streets. He orders her to clean, and become a housewife. She sits and watches her life pass by her from her third floor apartment window. These two phenomenal books are very well constructed. They relate to each other, and in other ways they differ. Women played a crucial role in each book, positive, and negative.