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English 10: Romeo and Juliet - Analyzing Relationships (Lord Capulet & Juliet)

Analyzing Character Relationships - Father and Daughter: Capulet and Juliet

In the play Romeo and Juliet written by the famous poet and playwright William Shakespeare, there are many relationships between the sheer numbers of characters. One of the most dramatically dynamic relationships in the play is between Juliet and her father, Lord Capulet. Their relationship throughout act I to V goes through a series of development and some events between them even contribute to the tragic conclusion of the two young lovers. The father-daughter relationship was not a pleasant one, for although Capulet started the play speaking fondly of and praising his daughter, his mood and attitude towards her changes in almost a bipolar manner when Juliet disobeys him. He is later devastated to find out about his Juliet's death in the ending, and he regrets trying to force his daughter into an unwanted marriage. Through this destructive yet dynamic relationship, we can see that Capulet did care for his daughter, but in the ways that he hurt her by doing so, he paid for it with his child's happiness and her life. In Romeo and Juliet, Capulet speaks fondly of his daughter, threatens her when she disobeys, then regrets and grieves her death when she dies.

In act I, Capulet plays a traditional fatherly role and chats with Paris about his wish to marry her, taking into consideration her thoughts, her choices, and her age. Paris is a fine young man, kin to the prince, who has expressed to Capulet his wishes to betroth Juliet. The lord politely and temporarily declines his offer, affectionately praises his daughter, comparing her to a field of flowers, describing her youthfulness as a sign that she is not ready for marriage: "She hath not seen the change of fourteen years (I. ii. 279); "[a]nd too soon marr'd are those so early made" (I. ii. 283). He compares his daughter's young age to Paris's, suggesting that by allowing her to marry so soon would take away the youthfulness in her that he so loved to see (This is also seen through the movie as he looks fondly upon Juliet playing in the courtyard of the Capulet household). But although he takes Juliet's age into account, he also encourages Paris to charm Juliet and win her heart at the masquerade ball he throws that night: "woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart" (I. ii. 286), and then tells Paris that without Juliet's agreement to marry Paris, he will not let them marry. He says, "[m]y will to her consent is but a part/[a]n she agree, with scope of choice/[l]ies my consent and fair according voice" (I. ii 257-259). If his daughter chooses to love Paris and marry him, Capulet will give them his fair words and blessings, saying that his consent is only part of Juliet's final decision. Here we can see Capulet being a good father to Juliet and respectfully allowing her a choice as to who she can marry. This scene in act one can infer that Capulet is an easygoing, caring and respectful person. However, we can see that Capulet's open and considerate attitude changes as the play progresses.

In act III, scene v, Juliet refuses Capulet's arrangement of her marriage to Paris, causing her father to rage and threaten her with disownment. In this scene, Juliet also learns of her husband's banishment to Mantua, and she breaks down into tears, only to be found by her father and mother, who mistake her crying for grief over her cousin Tybalt's death. Capulet declares her crying over "Tybalt's death" absolutely ridiculous, asking her with sarcasm, "[h]ow now! a conduit, girl? what, still in tears?" (III. v. 2237) [translation: what are you, a fountain? Why are you still crying?] and tells her the Lady's and his plans to marry her to Paris on that Thursday, expecting her to accept the plan to help her stop grieving. However, Juliet wasn't crying for the loss of Tybalt and refuses her father's offer to marry her to Paris to help ease her grief. This makes Capulet angry, and in the heat of the moment, he laments to his wife,

Doth she not give us thanks?

Is she not proud? doth she not count her blest,

Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought

So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom? (III. v. 2249-2252)

scorning Juliet for her ungratefulness and disobedience. Up to this point we can already see a dramatic change in Capulet's attitude, contrasting the cheerful and relaxed person we saw in act one. His attitude further deteriorates as Juliet replies "[n]ot proud, you have; but thankful, that you have" (III. v. 2253). Furious, Capulet rages and yells insults at his daughter, who (in the movie) is crying at his feet and clutching at his robe. He yanks the robe out of her grip and tells her, "[b]ut fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next/[t]o go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church/[o]r I will drag thee on a hurdle thither" (III. v. 2260-2262), completely the opposite of what he said he'd do in act one. Recall Capulet considering Juliet's choice and decision before allowing Paris to marry her, but now he is not giving Juliet a chance, saying he will quite literally drag Juliet into the church to be married to Paris if she doesn't show up to church on Thursday. Furthermore, Capulet says to Juliet after she begs for him for pardon, "[b]ut, as you will not wed, I'll pardon you/[g]raze where you will you shall not house with me" (III. v. 2300-2301), telling his daughter if she does not marry Paris, he will pardon her from the Capulet family - disowning her. The sudden drastic and extreme contrast between these two sides of Capulet cause quite a change in the atmosphere in the play - creating the turning point where Juliet's fate is decided. After this scene, Juliet flees to Friar Lawrence to get the sleeping potion, sealing her part of the events happening up to Romeo's suicide. This massive deterioration in their relationships worsens the feud between the Capulets and Montagues, as the only way Capulet thought of to fix the tragedy caused by a Capulet-Montague fight has failed. Furious might Capulet be, he will soon learn his harsh words to his daughter will be his greatest regret.

In act V, scene iii, after the lover's deaths, Capulet rushes into the tomb at someone's shrieking, along with his wife and the Prince. A watchman spots Romeo and Juliet's bodies together and cries out to the trio. Capulet sees Juliet's body and the dagger in her heart, and howls in despair, "O heavens! O wife, look how our daughter bleeds! /This dagger hath mista'en - for, lo, his house/[i]s empty on the back on Montague, /[a]nd it mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom!" (V. iii. 3175-3178), showing us, he is devastated at losing his only child. This contrasts his previous mood swing where he declared he could care less about Juliet and her disobedience, she shall leave the Capulet household if she does not marry. But now, it seems that Capulet is starting to regret what slipped from his mouth two days ago when Juliet was still alive. After the lover's bodies have been recovered, Montague and Capulet stand together in front of the Prince, heads bowed and not daring to meet anyone's eyes. The Prince scolds the two men, telling them, "[s]ee what a scourge is laid upon your hate. /That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!" (V. iii. 3267-3268). If the families hadn't been feuding in the first place, the two lovers might not have needed to die. The heavens had found a way to teach them a lesson by killing the happiest and most harmonious amongst the two families. "[A]ll are punish'd" (V. iii. 3270), says the Prince. Capulet gives Montague his daughter's dowry with shaking hands, and they both promise to each raise a pure gold statue of the other family's lost child. This showed Capulet was truly caring for his daughter but doing so in a way that caused him to lose her. So, in the end, nobody won. Capulet, a usually loving and respectful father, in the heat of his rage, says something he should never have, is part of the reason why his daughter and her husband die, and ultimately ends up regretting what he did.

The relationship development between Capulet and Juliet contributes to the tragic ending, with a loving, respectful, open-minded father acting harshly and recklessly upon a minor disobedience, then grieves his daughter with remorse after realizing his ongoing feud with the Montagues is another factor that contributed to her death. Their destructive and exponentially deteriorating relationship was portrayed very well in the story, effectively creating a clear path of the relationship's progress and an interesting character vs. character dynamic.

- Sources:
"Romeo and Juliet (Complete Text) :|: Open SourceShakespeare." Www.opensourceshakespeare.org, .