“Swear Not by the Moon”
Female Leadership in The Hunger Games and Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet and The Hunger Games show that woman can show leadership and be in power, breaking their typical stereotypes. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and the Hunger games, directed by Gary Ross, are two stories that both show how woman can be in power. In the Hunger Games, Katniss uses her intelligence to outsmart a stronger enemy, resulting in her victory. Juliet shows her power by taking control of multiple different situations. Katniss and Juliet both use their intellect to their advantage in the predicaments they face.
In the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, there is a streetfight between the Capulets and Montagues. Capulet and Montague both want to join the street brawl because of their hate for one another. However, Lady Capulet and Montague are able to hold their husbands back, keeping the brawl from escalating. If someone got murdered in the fight, the consequences would likely have been much more severe than they were. Women prevented this from happening. Lady Capulet says to her husband during the fight, “A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” (Shakespeare 1.1.78). She is saying that he is too old to participate in the brawl. Lady Montague frantically tells her husband, “Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe” (1.1.82). Lady Montague stands her ground and tells him that he is not going to take one step toward the enemy. Both women stood their ground and convinced the two men to stop fighting. This shows that women can use their power to influence men’s decisions. In this era, women were typically inferior to men. However, they were able to serve as advisors and could influence men’s decisions. Woman prevented a street brawl from escalating and getting more people involved. Capulet and Montague wanted to fight and kill each other, but Lady Capulet and Montague were able to influence their husband’s decisions and prevent a larger fight.
The nurse takes initiative and works together with Juliet to ensure that Juliet and Romeo get married successfully. She goes to Romeo and tells him,
And, as I told you, my young lady bid me inquire you out. What she bid me say, I will keep to myself. But first let me tell you, if you should lead her in a fool’s paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say. For the gentlewoman is young; and therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and a very weak dealing…Good heart, and i’ faith I will tell her as much. Lord, Lord, she will be a joyful woman. (2.4.164–174)
The Nurse first says to Romeo that she will keep what Juliet said to herself. Then she tells Romeo that he should treat Juliet with respect and that he has to treat her fairly. The nurse does not want Romeo to double cross Juliet and cheat her out. The nurse says no gentlewoman deserves any harm to come to her and it would be a weak thing to do if Romeo cheats or lies to Juliet. After Romeo responds that he is going to treat her with respect and gives the nurse the hour of which to go to the church, she says that Juliet will be happy, and later tells Juliet the response. The nurse takes control of the situation by approaching Romeo and influences his actions by making sure he knows how to treat Juliet. Once again, a woman is influencing how a man should act.
When Romeo goes to Juliet’s balcony, he overhears her talking about him to herself. He then intervenes and they have a conversation about each other’s love for one another. Juliet was in full control of the situation. She tells Romeo, “O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable… Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self” (2.2.114–119). She says this because Romeo swore that he loves her by the Moon, which is fickle. Juliet tells Romeo to instead swear by himself because he is less likely to change than the Moon. This shows that Juliet is in control because she is telling Romeo what to do and makes him change his mind. This also proves that women are able to influence men’s actions. Juliet initiates the conversation of marriage with Romeo and tells him, “If thy bent of love be honorable, Thy purpose marriage send me word tomorrow” (2.2.150–151). She begins to take a man’s role and tells the opposite sex what to do. By taking control of the situation, it ends up with Romeo asking Friar Lawrence to marry them tomorrow.
In the Hunger Games, Katniss takes supreme leadership and responsibility when Prim, her younger, sister gets picked to participate in the 74th Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is when 24 people between the ages 12 and 18 go to an arena and fight to the death on live television. Prim, only being 12 years old, has an extremely small chance of winning, especially because they are from District 12, the poorest of the districts. Katniss volunteers for Prim although it means that Katniss may die instead. Over the years in the Hunger Games, a majority of the victors have been men. Katniss knows that she is at a disadvantage because she is a woman. She does what she thinks is right and shows confidence by volunteering. This huge act of selflessness shows that women can be leaders as well as men.
Katniss uses her intelligence to beat a larger enemy. The Careers, the tributes from Districts 1 and 2, trapped Katniss in a tree. These tributes have been training their whole lives for the Hunger Games. Rue, the District 11 female tribute is hiding near by in a tree and sees Katniss’s predicament. She gets Katniss’s attention, and shows her that there is a tracker jacker nest that she can drop onto the Careers sleeping below. Katniss cuts down the toxic nest of tracker jackers, killing the District 1 Female and injuring the other Career tributes. Katniss and Rue then team up and contemplate a plan to destroy the Careers supplies. The Careers, being the strongest tributes stockpiled all of the supplies. They planted land mines all around it to guard the supplies. While Rue distracts the Careers by lighting a fire near by, Katniss shoots an arrow into a bag of apples which fell on the land mines. This reacted in all of the supplies being destroyed. This shows how two females used their intelligence to their advantage to beat a stronger enemy. Usually men are the ones who outsmart each other and are dominant towards women. Both Katniss and Rue broke this stereotype. They beat an enemy together that was made up of primarily men.
Both Katniss, and Juliet prove that women can show leadership just as much as men. Because of their actions, they prove that the typical stereotype of woman can be broken. They both take a role of a man and take control of their own lives instead of being taken control of.
Citations
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Edited by Barbara A Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon and Schuster Paperback Sales Inc.
Ross, Gary, director. The Hunger Games : Complete 4 Film Collection. Lionsgate, 2016.
Abstract
In the Hunger Games and Romeo and Juliet, I wanted to prove that women could be leaders just as much as men. This is an important topic because in today’s world gender inequality is a big topic. I wanted to analyze a female’s leadership role in the Hunger Games and Romeo and Juliet. To get my results, I thought back to when I was reading Romeo and Juliet and thought about a female’s role. I then decided I was going to compare Romeo and Juliet to the Hunger Games. I found that in both pieces of literature, there was a large female leadership role. It was concluded that both Juliet and Katniss were taking control of their lives instead of being taken control of.
