What does it mean to defend one's honor? How can honor be defended without resorting to violence?

Question

Romeo and Juliet

Answer 1

If you are talking about defending one's honor in the time that Romeo and Juliet "lived" in Verona, there was no other way then to defend oneself without violence of some sort.We have made progress in modern times, we still have Courts to defend us against slander etc. and Laws to protect us . It seems to me, that in Europe , through the ages, that defending one's honor became a way of getting rid of one's enemies rather than a point of honor. Duels were fought over the slightest thing and honor was greatly exaggerated.

Answer 2

My boyfriend (who is still on probation from prison) took it personally when I told him someone gave me a counterfeit $20.00 bill. He picked me up his lifted Ford F-250 truck, and we drove over to this guys house and within an hour, I had a real $20. bill gently placed in my hand with eye contact and "I'm sorry", coming from this guy's mouth, without fear. Yes, he was a little intimidated; but he swears it was an accident. He just didn't move fast enough to rectify the situation, after I called him out on it earlier.

My boy friend told the same story to him and a few others that questioned what was going on. He said, "Patty gave you a ride. You don't disrespect her by thanking her with a fake bill. She has a clean record and all it would take, is for her to try and use that fake bill at a gas station and there she goes, off to jail and her clean record is gone forever. That's not cool at all!" Everyone agreed.

So, the only difference in time periods, would be, a knight on his horse (my boy friend in his monster truck), different language and the tone of the voice used. The hero, hence the knight and my boyfriend, walked away feeling good, that they stood up for what is right and they got the loving, grateful attention of the woman, they were defending her honor and walked away without getting hurt or killed.

Answer 3

Think of honor as respect, admiration, esteem. To defend one's honor would mean doing what is right and thus worthy of being honored, respected, or admired. Violence implies violating others rights. It is inherently unjust or abusive. Thus violence is contrary to defending one's honor. Force may be appropriate, but never violence.

Answer 4

When you defend one's honor, you are taking action for that person, for their beliefs, for what they mean to you, etc. Bascially, you are fighting the evil or nemesis that that person fought or struggled against.
In R&J, Romeo defends Mercutio's honor by slaying Tybalt...but honor can be defended w/o resorting to violence. Peaceful protests, for example, are ways to defend someone's honor.

Answer 5

You can't. Defending your honor always involves violence.... or a whole lot of money.

Answer 6

Two sorts of honour...
Public reputation and consistency with one's own moral code.

The knightly code of chivalry did tend to degenerate into violence to anyone who offered a real or perceived insult.
Or holding to rash promises though their performance would be disastrous. (A classic theme, from the bible (Jephthah's daughter) through ancient Greece to Shakespeare.)

Then there is the rarer version. Behaving honourably, irrespective of of how that will be (mis)understand by the rest of society.

Answer 7

make sure that no 1 clowns on u. and no