“He Is Trash, Trash, Trash…”
Romeo and Juliet and The Notebook.
Romeo and Juliet and the Notebook focus on two stories of forbidden love. Romeo and Juliet focuses on two star crossed lovers set in Verona, whose relationship is frowned upon due to the fact that they come from rival families. The Notebook tells the story of a wealthy city girl and a poor country boy who fall in love. They are forbidden to see each other because Allie’s parents insist on her being with someone wealthy, more her “type”. These relationships are both forbidden due to a difference in background between the couples. In both texts love is given restrictions and boundaries, which the couples’ parents are determined not to break. These restrictions suggest that the younger generation in both texts have more open mindsets toward love. They prove that real love refuses to follow society’s expectations and rules.
In the Notebook, Allie’s parents put their daughters love into a category of “unfit” due to differences in financial background. Allie stays out past her curfew with Noah, worrying her parents. When she returns, they get in a huge fight ending with Allie’s mom forbidding her from seeing Noah anymore.
He’s a nice boy, but he’s…
- He’s what? He’s what? Tell me.
He is trash, trash, trash… not for you.
-Trash?
-Don’t touch me!
Now that is enough. You are not to see him anymore. And that’s final.
Allie’s parents used the mistake of her and Noah staying out too late as an opening to cut off their relationship. They can only imagine their daughter ending up with someone well off and end her relationship purely based off of Noah’s financial situation. This is proven when Allie’s mother says “He is trash, trash, trash… not for you”. Her father pitches in with “He’s not suited for you baby.” They are suggesting that Allie is too good for Noah due to the fact that she is wealthy and he isn’t, somehow making her superior in the relationship. Throughout this scene, Noah sits outside the room that Allie and her family are in, hearing every unkind word said about him. With shoulders slumped, he seems to accept that he will never be good enough for Allie. However, this idea would never be put into his head if he hadn’t heard Allie’s family call him “trash”. Her family’s treatment of his background therefore not only affects Allie and Noah’s relationship, but his own self esteem.
Further proof of the parents refusal to accept their relationship is clear when the next day, Allie’s family insists on leaving their summer home early to go back to the city, preventing Allie and Noah from seeing each other.
I’m not going.
- Yes, you are.
- No, I’m not.
- Yes, Allie, you are.
- No, I’m not.
Allie, you are going whether you like it or not. Now, even if Aaron has to throw you over his shoulder and drag you the whole way, you’re going.
When the parents take away her freedom, it proves how determined they are to keep the societal expectations that they have for their daughter in tact. They tell her that they are simply leaving a week early. However, what they really mean is that they are willing to do whatever necessary to prevent Allie from seeing Noah again. In their eyes, even a summer romance between two sixteen year olds from different financial backgrounds is not acceptable. This close minded perspectively personally makes me angry. I believe that no one person is better than someone else simply because they have more money than them, especially in a relationship. I also think that by telling Allie she couldn’t see Noah anymore, they were not only damaging their relationship with their daughter, but taking away her freedom to make her own mistakes as a teenager.
In Romeo and Juliet, the parents had a similar mindset once Juliet approached her teenage years. They have expectations for her to get married to someone who fits the criteria of a socially acceptable husband- once again someone wealthy with a good reputation. Lady Capulet proves this idea while urging Juliet to marry Paris.
That book in many’s eyes doth share the glory,
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story;
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him, making yourself no less. (1.3 475–479)
In this passage, Lady Capulet suggests that Juliet will become a more respected and valued individual in Verona by marrying Paris because she will “share all that he doth possess By having him making yourself no less”. This demonstrates that the Capulet family wants her to marry Paris for materialistic reasons. They want the security of her husband having wealth, which is evidently their top priority.
Their desperation to fill this “requirement” appears again when they pick a man for her to marry and Juliet rejects their idea. After she turns down the marriage, her father blows up at Juliet.
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next
To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
Out, you green sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!
You tallow face! (3.5.157–162)
Juliet’s father threatens her with physical harm if she refuses to marry Paris when he says “Or I will drag thee on a hurdle hither”. Additionally, he attempts to guilt her into the marriage, saying “Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds”, suggesting that she’s ungrateful for not wanting to go through with it. Finally, at the end of his speech he refers to Juliet as “tallow face” and “baggage” in an attempt to insult her. He tells her to get out of the house if she is unwilling to marry Paris. This shows how desperate they are to ensure that she ends up with someone like him.
Although set in extremely different time periods and places, both of these texts demonstrate an insane desire from the parents involved for security. Both texts prove that the same expectations have been held throughout time to marry someone that can provide money and security in a relationship, whether in the 1300’s or the 1940’s. However, despite the adults’ best efforts, they proved that love does not follow society’s expectations. Both couples attempted to follow their hearts rather than what they had been told was the right direction for their relationships. These texts suggest that the younger people in both stories are more open towards love and allowing themselves to feel the way they do regardless of societal pressures they might feel. Their parents are more focused on the idea of love and loving the “right person”, whereas the younger couples see it as something free and uncontrolled, which is how they should.
Works Cited
Polley, John. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare. Harlow: Longman, 2010. Print.
Shmoop Editorial Team. “Homework Help, Teacher Resources, Test Prep.”Shmoop. Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 31 May 2017.
“The Notebook Script — Dialogue Transcript.”The Notebook Script — transcript from the screenplay and/or Rachel McAdams movie. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.
