‘What do we learn from Juliet’s relationship with her father?’ 17.03.13
William Shakespeare’s, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ provides an insight of the experience of women in an Elizabethan society. The play was written in the late 1600’s, and is about two feuding families whose children fall in love. Their love leads to marriage, however, Juliet’s decision to marry Romeo was against her father’s will, this made life even harder for her, as in the 1600’s a women did not have the privilege to choose her husband. This decision was made by her father only. Moreover, she was not allowed to refuse to get married as this meant being disowned by her family. This shows us the unjustness that occurred in the Elizabethan period. Therefore, this
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This was a really uncommon act in the 1600’s as a woman was not allowed to make this decision herself.
Despite the fact that lord Capulet was against Paris and Juliet’s marriage at the beginning, he soon changes his mind. This is proven by the quote; ‘A ‘Thursday let it be- a ‘Thursday, tell her, she shall be married to this noble earl’. The reason towards lord Capulet’s haste was because he did not want his daughter to grief over Tybalts death. This shows us how much he cares for Juliet. In addition to this, lord Capulet believes that Juliet would accept this marriage, as he is all a girl can wish for; wealth and a high status. However, lord Capulet himself is nearly fifty years old while lady Capulet is in her thirties, so he has good reasons to thinking a young wife is trouble. On the other hand, Juliet is his only surviving child, so when young Tybalt is killed unexpectedly in his duel with Romeo, lord Capulet remembers how easily young people die in medieval Verona - and decides that he wants Juliet to marry Paris as soon as possible. This shows us how Capulet’s concern towards Juliet’s future is overpowering his concern towards her feelings.
In act 3 scene 5, lord Capulet approaches his daughter Juliet with the marriage proposal to Paris, through his wife. Lady Capulet enters Juliet room, and mistakes her tears for grief towards Tybalt. She tells her to stop crying and that she is to marry Paris. Juliet’s response is that if she was
Juliet is Lord Capulet’s only daughter and only child, making him really strict about who she marries. At first, Lord Capulet gave Juliet the choice of whether she wanted to marry Paris or not. Lord Capulet thought that Paris would be a great man for his only daughter to marry because of his social status, his wealth, and his relation to the Prince. Later in the play, without regard to Juliet’s feelings Lord Capulet forced Juliet to marry Paris and when Juliet disagreed, he yelled at her,“Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!/ I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,/Or never after look me in the face” (3.5 160-162). Lord Capulet hates the Montagues, Juliet could not have told him that she was already married to his enemy’s son. Lord Capulet in this quote gave Juliet an ultimatum: either she marries Paris or he disowns her. Because Lord Capulet said this and made the decision that Juliet will marry Paris, Juliet went to the Friar to find a solution. The solution that ended up with her in the tomb where she killed herself. Tybalt was Lord Capulet’s nephew, his death made Lord Capulet emotional and caused his outburst at Juliet. Before being in grief, Lord Capulet thought that Juliet was too young to be married. Nonetheless his emotions and rash decisions led to his daughter’s death. After Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment, Juliet was extremely depressed and would not stop crying. Thinking that it was only because of Tybalt’s death that Juliet is so upset, Lord Capulet changed the wedding date: “I’ll have this knot knit up [Wednesday] morning” (4.2 21-22). Friar Lawrence scheduled the plan to happen on Thursday, but since the wedding was moved up a day, it was ruined. Romeo did not receive the letter explaining the plan in time because there was not enough time to deliver it. Instead, Romeo was told that Juliet was dead from Balthasar. Because Romeo could not live without
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
Namely, Capulet plays a huge role in how much pressure Romeo and Juliet have to endure in order to follow their family’s wishes. If Capulet had just agreed to Juliet originally marrying Paris and not said “My child is yet a stranger in the world,/She hath not seen the change of
He changes his mind very quickly and can flip-flop between what he wants for Juliet. For example, as Paris and Capulet are talking to each other Paris asks Lord Capulet for his permission to marry Juliet. Capulet then replies, “My will to her consent is but a part. And, she agreed, within her scope of choice lies my consent and fair according voice.” (1.2.17-19). In this quote, Lord Capulet is saying that his decision is only a part and if Juliet agrees to marry Paris his blessing will confirm her choice. Soon after Tybalt’s death, Capulet and Paris speak to one another once again. Tybalt suggests marrying Juliet to stop her mourning over the death of her cousin, Tybalt, and Lord Capulet agrees. Once Lord Capulet hears Juliet’s perspective on not marrying Paris he threatens her by saying, “I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday, or never after look me in the face” (3.5.167-168). This quote shows that Lord Capulet is forcing Juliet to marry Paris or else she cannot return back home. He doesn’t listen to Juliet’s opinion and seems to not care if she is happy or not with the marriage. This proves that Lord Capulet is fickle and is most responsible for Juliet’s
In Act 3 Scene 5 Lady Capulet is very fickle in making her decision to stand up for Juliet when she decides to go against her father’s orders and not marry Paris. This lack of the ability to stand up for her own daughter just emphasises the distance between Lady Capulet and Juliet as Mother and Daughter.
However, an Elizabethan audience would see Capulet and Paris as caring and protective of Juliet. ‘Younger than she are happy mother’s made.’ This shows how hasty and devoted Paris is in having Juliet’s hand in marriage, but Capulet is caring towards Juliet and wants to wait for Juliet to make her decision. ‘The Earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she, she is the hopeful lady of my Earth:’ Shakespeare uses a metaphor to portray how much he cares about Juliet and how dear she is to him. This would make sense because the infant mortality rate was high in Elizabethan times; on the other hand, what would be a shock to the Elizabethan audience is that Capulet sympathises with Juliet’s feelings. ‘But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,’ This can be seen as somewhat of a choice since Capulet delays the wedding due to the fact that he wants Juliet to become fond of Paris.
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
Lord Capulet and Paris have some similar opinions of Juliet's marriage and so do Romeo and Friar which also influenced the end of the story negatively. Capulet thinks that Juliet should be married to Paris and Paris agrees with him. “But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart” (1.2.16) and Paris says “Younger than she are happy mothers made” (1.2.12). This means that Capulet is encouraging Paris to get Juliet’s heart and Paris influences him by telling him younger woman than her are married and happy mothers. This determines that the two of them want Juliet to get married to Paris because Capulet tells
Relationships between teenagers and their parents are rarely boring. Since teenagers begin to think and act independently, conflict arises between them more frequently. This is not just a modern occurrence; in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet and her parents have very different points of view. In the play, she marries a man who is a member of a rival family without discussing it with her parents, which eventually leads to her demise because of the conflict that arises. She does not have much interaction with her parents throughout the play, but the miniscule amount shows the differing of opinions immensely. Juliet’s limited interactions with her parents in the play show that she has a rebellious relationship
Juliet is not unlike the typical young women constantly struggling to find happiness and acceptance from those who are closest to her. Young Juliet must confront the harsh reality that exists between her and those who profess to be her friends and family, which is they failed to support her, love her, and lift her up with she needed it most. In the timeless book, “Romeo & Juliet” William Shakespeare writes a moving story about the betrayal, disappointment, love, and eventual death of Romeo and Juliet. No reader can truly appreciate and understand the level of Juliet’s struggles without first understanding the roles the Lord Capulet, Friar Lawrence and Romeo, their betrayal and their role in her faithful decision.
He has planned for her to get married with Paris. “...Boo woo her, gentle Paris get her heart, My will to her consent is but a part….”. (DBQ: Who's to Blame, Document D). She knows that she cannot get married with him because she is married to Romeo so she says no to her father. Capulet does not take the news well and starts arguing with her. “...But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. Out, you green-sickness carrion! out, you baggage!...”. (DBQ: Who’s to Blame, Document D). He does not want her talking or facing him at all if she does not marry Paris. This is the second time that he promises Paris Juliet’s hand in
Lord Capulet wants Juliet to be happy and choose her own husband, while Lady Capulet wants her daughter to marry a man who has a lot of knowledge and who is older and wiser even if it not really what is wants. We can tell that the Capulets have to different approaches to how they are going to Juliet to marry. Paris comes to Lord Capulet asking about her hand in marriage, though Capulet replied with " ... woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart ; ... she agreed, within her scope of choice lies my consent and fair-according voice. " (I.ii. 16-19).
Paris knows Juliet does not wish to marry him, yet this only makes him more determined to marry her as he sees Juliet as a prize, to show his superiority over everyone else. In today’s society, we would view Lord Capulet as a cold, unfeeling father because of the way he treats his daughter, but Lord Capulet is a prime example of Shakespearian fathers. His only wish is to make a good marriage for his daughter, but she rejects his help. Capulet doesn’t know Juliet has fallen for Romeo and so cannot be expected to understand why she doesn’t wish to marry Paris.
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).