Mango Street vs. Romeo and Juliet

In the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, women's lives are dictated in similar ways. Juliet is arranged to be married to Paris, Esperanza's grandmother is also arranged to be married to a man she does not love. Both these women's lives are planned out by their parents. A difference between the two is that the machismo attitude keeps the women away from what they want, for example getting an education. Whereas, the families rivalry is what keeps Juliet from being with Romeo. Another similarity would be that Juliet and Esperanza both want to escape the life they are living. The only difference between them is that Esperanza wants to leave in search of a better life and Juliet wants to leave to be with Romeo. All these women face many similar problems but their options are different.