Imagine if a guy wore a dress to school. He would get shot some strange looks, get teased and laughed by his friends. However, the chances are one to million because no one wants to challenge social norms and be humiliated. It's like an opening in a bubble-there's no such thing because the bubble will instantly pop. Romeo and Juliet challenges social norms through both Romeo and Juliet breaking gender boundaries. Through the theme of light and darkness, it can be shown that they cause an unbalance of life, which resulted in their deaths. In other words, the play suggests that one should not mess with the orders of the world. .
To start with, the lovers try to play beyond the society's rules. In Elizabethan society, women are expected to be obedient and do what they're told. However, Juliet declines marriage with Paris because he will "not make mea joyful bride." (3.5.120) Her father, Capulet, frustrated with his daughter refusing her duty and calls Juliet a "disobedient wretch." (5.3.166) By angering Capulet through her stubbornness, this shows that Juliet is breaking social norms. The star-crossed lovers' whole marriage goes against "the continuance of their parent's rage," which is basically social norms. (Prologue.10) Since their families hate each other, they should not be together because they're supposed to hate each other. By choosing love over hate, they are changing the rules of the society created by their parents. Furthermore, Romeo ignores Tybalt's challenge to fight him because he "loves [Tybalt] better than [he] canst devise." (3.1.70) Because of his marriage to Juliet, Tybalt is now his cousin-in-law. Mercutio then says that Romeo's calmness is dishonorable and vile because it goes against traditional masculine aggression. Tybalt is also surprised because fighting back is also protecting and affirming one's masculine nobility. By abstaining from the fight, Mercutio throws himself into the fray, and dies.
