Patriarchal Oppression of Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo &Juliet and Khalil Gibran's Broken Wings: A Feminist Reading

Abstract

This study focuses on the feminist takes of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare and Broken Wings by Khalil Gibran. Even though Romeo and Juliet are one of the world's most outstanding and famous examples of literary works depicting love at its most powerful state in Western Literature, the story of Khalil Gibran and Selma earns the golden title of being one of the most significant expressions of the love theme in Arabic literature. Feminist theory transforms its assumptions, analytical lens, and thematic focus away from male perspectives and experiences and toward female perspectives and experiences. Feminist theory sheds light on societal ills, tendencies, and difficulties that the historically successful male views in social theory would otherwise neglect or misidentify. Even though the two literary works have been created at entirely different times and settings, they both explore and address the same theory seen throughout the literary traditions word culture. In both works, it is easy to note that the feminist perspective affects the essence of the forbidden love theme, suggesting a prevailing aspect of human consciousness that many literary artists have been drawing over the years. This research aims to evaluate ancient world feminism by looking at and comparing how the feminism theory influences the theme of love in both The Broken Wings and Romeo and Juliet, two tales of love with female protagonists. The primary goal of this study is to examine patriarchal society's dominance via the lens of the novel The Broken Wings in comparison to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The Broken Wings is a sorrowful love story that is soft, compassionate, soothing, and rejuvenating. This novel's female heroine passes after the narrative and is buried next to her son's tomb.