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In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents Juliet as a woman trapped within the expectations of the oppressive society surrounding her. Juliet would’ve lived in a world where she was expected to be embarrassed by any mention, or allude to sex, as it would’ve been seen as ‘unmaidenly’. To express any hint of sexual desire would’ve been completely against social form.  In Act 2, Scene 2, Juliet attempts to confess her love to Romeo, but at the same time worries that he’ll think her ‘light’.  Her language is self-deprecating – she describes herself as ‘perverse’ – she doesn’t behave in a way that is seen acceptable within society. She also describes herself as ‘too quickly won’ – showing how she is an effectively an object for a man to boast about, like he would a possession. Juliet’s language is apologetic – she asks for Romeo to ‘pardon (her)’ for her ‘yielding of light love’. Shakespeare’s uses Juliet’s self-deprecating language to convey how the society she lives in stops her from saying what she wants to say about love and sexual desire. The fact that Romeo has changed the object of his intense affections within a very short amount of time, and hasn’t faced judgements from anyone around him, also works to contrast the different between how love and sexual desire was allowed to be expressed across genders.  

The theme of a woman feeling trapped by an oppressor is also presented in ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ by John Keats. In stanza four, the Belle’s is described as having ‘long (hair)’, ‘light (feet)’ and ‘wild (eyes)’. Keats presents the Belle as an untameable spirit – she isn’t oppressed by anyone or anything, she is ‘wild’ and ‘light’ – she does not need to fit into others expectations. However, in stanza five, the persona makes a ‘garland for her head’, ‘bracelets’ and a ‘fragrant zone’ for her. These words have a semantic field of circles – the persona is putting things on and about her that encircle her; he is trapping her. Throughout the ballad, the Belle’s opinions or feelings are never explored, queried or explained – the closest she comes to expressing her feelings is when she ‘(weeps) and (sighs) fill sore’. After this outburst, the persona ‘shuts her wild wild eyes’. This could be representative of the persona forcing her to conform to his desires and interests – he doesn’t want her to weep, so he forces her to stop. 

The attitudes depicted in both 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' are seen as some of the earliest sympathetic to that of feminists. 

Sources:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=la+belle+dame+sans+merci&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=602&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&pjf=1&ved=0ahUKEwiK98bE3KrPAhUrIsAKHXzqCy4Q_AUIBigB#imgrc=TCcG3M1ExV5D4M%3A