Tudor England was a very difficult period of moment in time for women, as it was a patriarchal society; therefore, women were subordinate to men and at the bottom of the hierarchy. Women were seen as sex objects and their main purposes were producing children and doing domestic work, such as learning music, drawing and needlework. Women were also seen as vulnerable and defenceless. Women had to be obedient and submissive towards all the men they knew; fathers, uncles, brothers, cousins. If a woman failed to conform to the orders of a man, she could risk severe punishment, such as being disowned by her father or thrown out of the house by her husband. If a man did that to his wife, it would be hard for her as all of her belongings are …show more content…
Therefore, it would have been practical for women to have been married off quickly. Capulet even describes Juliet as “the hopeful lady” of his earth. All of the Capulet children being dead; the Capulet fortune would go to Juliet’s future husband. This would mean that finding Juliet the right husband would be very important. Lady Capulet’s reaction to Juliet’s proposal is very different compared to lord Capulet’s. Lady Capulet thought that as she was already married at Juliet’s age, it should be fine for Juliet herself. She tries to encourage Juliet to watch out for Paris at the party later on and think about falling in love and marrying him. Lady Capulet could have even been disappointed in Juliet, as “ladies of esteem are made already mothers”. Lady Capulet was pregnant with Juliet at her age, so she would expect Juliet to follow her footsteps and continue the Capulet name. The reactions of Paris’ proposal from Lord and Lady Capulet seem very much reversed. You would expect Lady Capulet to be hesitant of Juliet leaving the household to join her husband, and Capulet to be excited at the perspective of being relieved of the burden, Juliet. However instead, Lady Capulet seems the most enthusiastic at the proposal. Lady Capulet rarely shows Juliet motherly love, even calling her “girl”. The only person, who was shown to share a maternal bond with Juliet, was her nurse. The nurse had been there for Juliet since her birth, even
In the beginning of this play Lady Capulet brings up marriage to Juliet, whom states that she had not even thought of marriage, yet she considers marriage an honor. Juliet wants to follow her parent's wishes and agrees to meet Paris, but she is only willing to see if she likes him. When Romeo appears in the balcony scene, Juliet states that she wants to wait and see if her and Romeo’s feeling’s remain the same overnight since she believes that their feelings may just be the heat of the moment
This does not allow Juliet to make her own decision. An example of this is when Lady Capulet reinforces the plan in which Paris would be Juliet's husband, rather than letting Juliet choose who she marries. Lady Capulet speaks for Juliet when she says “marry, my child, early next Thursday morn.” Having little to no knowledge aforetime about this news, Juliet is utterly astonished. Lady Capulet continues by saying “[the] young and noble gentleman, the county Paris... shall happily make thee there a joyful bride” (III.v.112-115). After having already prepared her life with Romeo, Juliet is in disbelief that her mother would not attempt to step into her father's plan. Juliet lashes back at her mother by saying “I will not marry yet” and threatening that she would marry Romeo “whom you know I hate” rather than Paris (III.v.115-122). The lack of communication between the two characters makes them distant from one another, and the little effort provided by Lady Capulet to approach her daughter is the main reason for this occurrence. The control Lady Capulet has over different characters and her
At the outset, when Capulet is talking about marriage proposals to Paris, he shows his fatherly love and concern for his daughter and her happiness. He doesn’t want to marry her off too early, or force her to marry someone that she doesn’t like. He conveys this by saying, “Earth hath swallowed all my hoped but she… woo her gentle Paris, and her consent is but a part.” This shows that Capulet cares about Juliet because she is the only hope that he has left. He tells Paris to “woo her gently” and not to push, or pressurise Juliet into marrying him, this shows his concern about her. In addition to that, Capulet tells Paris that Juliet’s “consent is but a part” which shows his consideration and trust in Juliet, that she is allowed to have her say in the marriage and that he trusts her to choose the right husband. He also doesn’t want her to marry at such a young age; this is made clear when he says “let two more summers wither in their pride
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time where the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arranged their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing into the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love and values social position rather than men themselves.
Juliet’s relationship with Lady Capulet is a bit distant and it looked like she was intimidated by her because she is very quiet and has few lines in the scene where her mother is asking about marrying Paris (Act 1, Scene 3) Lady Capulet’s a bit impatient with Juliet and she shows this using imperative such as “speak briefly,”. She also is quite straightforward with her questions like “How stands your disposition to be married?” However in contrast, the nurse speaks about Juliet in a warm loving way in the prose Act 1, Scene 3 she also is casual with Juliet. You see this when she says “wilt thou not Jule” when referring to Juliet because she shortens her name it makes her relationship appear more friendly.
Lord Capulet told Juliet that if she didn’t marry Paris that he would disown her and make her live on the streets to fend for herself and because Lord Capulet was so overbearing, she was nervous and didn’t say anything of being with
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time when the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arranged their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing up within the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love, and values social position rather than men themselves.
This sort of behaviour is to be expected from Lord Capulet, because he feels he has done an excellent job in securing his daughter’s future with a perfect husband, and now Juliet is throwing his best efforts in his face. He highlights how hard he has worked in finding an
Capulet will go to extreme measures to do what he thinks is right for his daughter. Capulet thinks that it is inevitable for Juliet to marry Paris and goes as far as saying “I’ll tell you what: get to church on Thursday, or never look me in the face again. Don’t say anything! Don’t reply! Don’t answer me back! My fingers are itching! Wife, we thought we were very lucky that God gave us this only child – but now I realize that this one is one too many and we’ve been cursed in having her! To blazes with her, the worthless creature!” (185). In his rant he fails to realize that this is truly not what Juliet wants and that this is not what’s best for her. The only thing in the way of Juliet marring Paris is that she secretly loves Romeo and is waiting for the day that she reunites with him and they live happily ever after. This rant by Lord Capulet turns Juliet against her father and shows the readers that Lord Capulet is not the loving father he once was. Later in the play, Juliet is found dead because of Lord Capulet’s insensitivity and ignorance towards her
This shows that Juliet is desperately trying to tell her father what she wants but men didn't really care about women's opinions. Lord Capulet replies with more threats and saying that if Juliet doesn't go to marry Paris next Thursday he will disown her.
Juliet and her father definitely had different ideas about her future relationships in this play. Back in that time period, the father of the family was the one who made important decisions for their children, which included who his daughter was allowed to get married to, even if they opposed their preference. So, in the play, Lord Capulet gives his approval to a man named Paris to marry his daughter because he had a promising future and was very prosperous and could provide Juliet with anything she might require. Although she had this option of spouse, she chose
Lady Capulet felt that Juliet was coming to the age where she should be married. Lady Capulet is a powerful person and has an inconsistent personality, similar to Lord Capulet. She is cold hearted, and is distant from her daughter and husband. She is very selfish and rarely sees other people's point of views, she is not close to her daughter
Second, when Juliet was asked about marriage and when she wanted to be wedded, she told her parents she had no interest in marrying, and she thought she was too young. “Marry, that 'marry' is the very theme I came to talk of.—Tell me, daughter Juliet, How stands your disposition to be married? It is an honor that I dream not of.”(1.3.68-71) This is the first time Juliet is asked about marriage, and she clearly makes it known that she is not interested. Out of nowhere, Capulet arranges the marriage of Juliet and Paris on Thursday. Juliet says she does not want to be married to Paris, and says that she will not truly be happy. Lord Capulet does not like what Juliet says, and gets very angered with her. He even goes on to say that she is not welcome under his roof if she doesn’t marry him. Without having any support from her parents, Juliet feels very alone. First, she does not want to get married to Paris, and second, she is in love with a Montague. This is all frowned upon from both families, and the only people Juliet seems to trust are Friar Lawrence, and the Nurse. Unfortunately, Nurse even suggests she marry Paris, so the only people she feels are on her side are Friar Lawrence and Romeo. When Romeo and Juliet decide to take their own lives, the fact that they didn't have many other people besides themselves made suicide more appealing to them.They were desperate to be with each other.
Lord Capulet is forcing Juliet to get married and doesn’t take into consideration that Juliet doesn’t desire to get married. Lord Capulet conversed to Paris, “ . . . Thursday tell her, she shall be married to this noble earl” (Shakespeare 198). Lord Capulet is indubitable for wanting Juliet ot get married, and arranges the wedding, as she is unaware of this. He plans the wedding thinking it will assist her from her grief of Tybalt dying, but he doesn’t know that for certain, and is planning something that will greatly affect her future, without her consent. Furthermore, this quote shows that when Juliet gave an ixnay on why she did not aspire to marry Paris, Capulet belabored her until she was on the ground crying asking for the nurses aid. Lord Capulet explains to Juliet, “But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, go with Paris to Saint Peters Church or I will drag thee on a hurdle*” (Shakespeare 214). This proves Capulet wants nothing more for his daughter than to get married to Paris, and it shows the extent he will go to, to receive his wish. Overall, Lord and Lady Capulet want Juliet to get married to Paris more than she wants to. This shows they don’t mind if she’s happy or not, as long as they get what they want. This goes deeper into the accusation that Juliet’s parents are at fault for the adolescents
As a woman, Lady Capulet can relate to how Juliet feels when she is told she is to marry Paris. However, as a wife, she cannot voice an opinion of who or when Juliet is to marry. She is experienced, and asks Juliet, "Speak briefly: can you like of Paris’ love" (1.3.98). Because she is the caretaker, she respects Juliet’s feelings, but she can do nothing, even if Juliet does not learn to love Paris. Perhaps she asks this question because her own mother never asked it. She may want to know her daughter’s opinion, because until a woman is married, she has all the rights of a man according to Pitt. However, the father ruled over his daughter, and it was virtually impossible to remain unmarried while the father held all the decision making (14).