Lord Capulet A Good Father Analysis
How far Shakespeare presents Lord Capulet as a good father in this whole conversation.
Part 1)
In Act 1 Scene 2 Capulet is portrayed as a considerate, responsible and loving father who is concerned about what is best for his daughter and see her as more than just an ‘object’ to be married off which isn’t common as it was a very patriarchal society. By displaying these forms of affection the audiences’ first impression of him is that he is a good father.
In Act 1 Scene 2 a noable young kinsmen of the Prince, asking Capulet for his daughter's hand in marriage. Capulet responds to Paris and tells him that Juliet has “not seen the change of fourteen years", he also describes Juliet as not yet “ripe to be a bride”, this implies that Capulet believes that Juliet is too young for marriage, which in that society would seem slightly unusual as 14 is not an early age at which to get married, by saying this Tybalt respodes with ”younger than [Juliet} are happy mothers made”, which again shows that girls younger than Juliet are already mothers and that Juliet is not too ‘young’ for marriage, but when Capulet responds with a continued agrarian metaphor (lines 11-12, relating to land) “ and too …show more content…
soon marred are those early made” turns things around indicating that he does not agree (or does not fully agree) with marrying at such a young age possibly because of the experience of Juliet and his previous children and furthermore, one could interpret the word ‘marred’, in a myriad of different ways, for instance the audience may well interpret as it meaning an expanding fruit (“ripen”) , being marred (spoilt) by early marriage which alludes to how early marriage can cause young child birth and the word “ripen” alludes to motherhood, this may mean that he fears Juliet to grow up too quickly, and transition from childhood into motherhood it could also mean that he is marring Juliet’s virginity and a slight foreshadowing of the marring that is indeed to come by "those so early made" (Juliet & Romeo), there may also be an additional pun on marred/ “merd” (dung/fertilizer).
This small section displays Capulet’s concern about welfare of his daughter and alludes to him not wanting her to be maried at such and early age which shows that he does not just see her as an object like most men see women in the patriarchal society, which that he cares for Juliet and is a good father, in addition when Shakespeare uses the word “ripen” it evokes the ideas of flowers and frequently flowers are meant to symbolise beauty- which means that he does not just care about Juliet getting married but considers her beautiful- and also the image of a flower that will develop and grow overtime and with time with have increasing beauty and happiness, which indicates that he wants Paris to wait as when Juliet “ripens” he will have a bigger advantage after waiting.
When Capulet is speaking with Paris about the marriage of his daughter Juliet he is exceptionally tranquil and open, and seems to put his daughters desires first when he states that Paris should “woo her”, “get her heart // My will to her consent is but a part // and she agreed, within her scope of choice”. At this point Capulet makes out that he merely wants what his daughter wants (but contradicts himself later in the play as he forces Juliet into a marriage she does not want), this re-establishes the theme of person versus society, still Juliet’s status as a young woman leaves her with no authority or choice in any social situation. Like any other female in their civilization, she will be passed from the control of one man to the next; and however good of a father Capulet may be it is a social expectation for him to arrange a marriage, and it is evident that (Romeo and Juliet are subjects to parental influence as Juliet’s father can force Juliet to marry whomever he wants, and Romeo may be dragged into fights due to his families feud with the Capulets) the parental influence of tragedy becomes a tool of fate later in the play: Juliet’s arranged marriage with Paris, and the usual dispute between Capulets and Montagues, will ultimately contribute to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
This small extract alone indicates that Capulet is a loving, caring and good father.
Likewise, Capulet shows that he is a good father and that Juliet means a lot to him when he asserts that “ [Juliet] is [his] hopeful lady of [his] earth” which intimates that he treasures Juliet as she is firstly his only living child but also the hope in which the world turns around, by this as she is his only hope in which the his entire world turns around she must mean a lot to him which indicates that he does not see her as just ‘a woman (whose role was to marry and have children) but as his only hope which he must protect meaning that he must be a good father to protect his last and only child and his only hope which his entire world turns around as if he does not his entire world will
collapse.
Capulet’s use of the words “my hopeful lady” shows the dichotomy between his protective nature and his loving nature, here some of the audience may start to doubt if Capulet is really a ‘good father’ as when he says my it suggests that he is referring to Juliet as his possession which is overly controlling, on the other hand Capulet’s use of the words hopeful lady implies that Juliet is worth a lot to him and contradicts with him saying “my”.
In this scene we see that both Capulet and Paris speak, but it is apparent that Capulet’s speeches are much longer for example when Paris says “Younger than she are happy mother’s made” Capulet responds with lines 13-26 which is evidentally longer than what Paris had asked. The length of the speeches suggest power and status, since Paris is a slightly lower status and lower in power (at that current situation) and as he was asking for Juliet’s hand in marriage his speeches were shorter and as Capulet had a higher status his speeches were longer, the status could also affect the living conditions of the Capulet’s and the audience’s perception of him (good father or not).
Capulet’s long response [lines 13-19] has a myriad of rhyming couplets such as “part” and “heart”, “choice” and “voice”, this response is written mainly in an iambic pentameter, in Shakespeare's time, iambic pentameter was considered the highest dramatic form of all, in the entire play it is noticeable that the servant characters usually speak in prose, and the nobles speak in iambic pentameter or verses. In conclusion, I think Shakespeare’s aim was to portray Capulet as a good father and to me he came across as a good father- though it may have been a deterrent to fool the audience into thinking Capulet was a good father at first- despite the dichotomy between his controlling nature and his loving nature, in this scene he clearly wants Paris to be worth Juliet and for him to win her heart which shows that he cares for Juliet and sees her worth fighting for. In addition he may not want Juliet to marry as later or around this time in the play we find out that Capulet must have probably married Lady Capulet when she was around 12 and does not want to make the same mistake with his daughter, with this we could say he is not necessarily a ‘good’ father but clearly not a dim-witted one.
How you respond to Lord Capulet as a father in the play as a whole [30 marks] SPaG [4 marks]
Part 2)
During the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ the audience, both modern and Elizabethan have mixed feelings as to if Capulet is a good father or not. However, our perception of a ‘good father’ will clearly differentiate to what people thought was ‘a good father’ in the Elizabethan era since the values of a good father then will be different to the ones we believe to make a good father now. For example, in the culture of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (and that time’s culture) arranged marriage would be seen as typical and Capulet would hence not be seen as a particularly ‘bad father’ while it is frowned upon in our ‘western culture’ and would be seen as simply erroneous.
Continue with...
Act 3, Scene 4
Act 3, Scene 5
Act 4, Scene 2
Act 4, Scene 4 & 5
Act 5, Scene 2
Part 1)
In Act 1 Scene 2 Capulet is portrayed as a considerate, responsible and loving father who is concerned about what is best for his daughter and see her as more than just an ‘object’ to be married off which isn’t common as it was a very patriarchal society. By displaying these forms of affection the audiences’ first impression of him is that he is a good father.
In Act 1 Scene 2 a noable young kinsmen of the Prince, asking Capulet for his daughter's hand in marriage. Capulet responds to Paris and tells him that Juliet has “not seen the change of fourteen years", he also describes Juliet as not yet “ripe to be a bride”, this implies that Capulet believes that Juliet is too young for marriage, which in that society would seem slightly unusual as 14 is not an early age at which to get married, by saying this Tybalt respodes with ”younger than [Juliet} are happy mothers made”, which again shows that girls younger than Juliet are already mothers and that Juliet is not too ‘young’ for marriage, but when Capulet responds with a continued agrarian metaphor (lines 11-12, relating to land) “ and too …show more content…
soon marred are those early made” turns things around indicating that he does not agree (or does not fully agree) with marrying at such a young age possibly because of the experience of Juliet and his previous children and furthermore, one could interpret the word ‘marred’, in a myriad of different ways, for instance the audience may well interpret as it meaning an expanding fruit (“ripen”) , being marred (spoilt) by early marriage which alludes to how early marriage can cause young child birth and the word “ripen” alludes to motherhood, this may mean that he fears Juliet to grow up too quickly, and transition from childhood into motherhood it could also mean that he is marring Juliet’s virginity and a slight foreshadowing of the marring that is indeed to come by "those so early made" (Juliet & Romeo), there may also be an additional pun on marred/ “merd” (dung/fertilizer).
This small section displays Capulet’s concern about welfare of his daughter and alludes to him not wanting her to be maried at such and early age which shows that he does not just see her as an object like most men see women in the patriarchal society, which that he cares for Juliet and is a good father, in addition when Shakespeare uses the word “ripen” it evokes the ideas of flowers and frequently flowers are meant to symbolise beauty- which means that he does not just care about Juliet getting married but considers her beautiful- and also the image of a flower that will develop and grow overtime and with time with have increasing beauty and happiness, which indicates that he wants Paris to wait as when Juliet “ripens” he will have a bigger advantage after waiting.
When Capulet is speaking with Paris about the marriage of his daughter Juliet he is exceptionally tranquil and open, and seems to put his daughters desires first when he states that Paris should “woo her”, “get her heart // My will to her consent is but a part // and she agreed, within her scope of choice”. At this point Capulet makes out that he merely wants what his daughter wants (but contradicts himself later in the play as he forces Juliet into a marriage she does not want), this re-establishes the theme of person versus society, still Juliet’s status as a young woman leaves her with no authority or choice in any social situation. Like any other female in their civilization, she will be passed from the control of one man to the next; and however good of a father Capulet may be it is a social expectation for him to arrange a marriage, and it is evident that (Romeo and Juliet are subjects to parental influence as Juliet’s father can force Juliet to marry whomever he wants, and Romeo may be dragged into fights due to his families feud with the Capulets) the parental influence of tragedy becomes a tool of fate later in the play: Juliet’s arranged marriage with Paris, and the usual dispute between Capulets and Montagues, will ultimately contribute to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
This small extract alone indicates that Capulet is a loving, caring and good father.
Likewise, Capulet shows that he is a good father and that Juliet means a lot to him when he asserts that “ [Juliet] is [his] hopeful lady of [his] earth” which intimates that he treasures Juliet as she is firstly his only living child but also the hope in which the world turns around, by this as she is his only hope in which the his entire world turns around she must mean a lot to him which indicates that he does not see her as just ‘a woman (whose role was to marry and have children) but as his only hope which he must protect meaning that he must be a good father to protect his last and only child and his only hope which his entire world turns around as if he does not his entire world will
collapse.
Capulet’s use of the words “my hopeful lady” shows the dichotomy between his protective nature and his loving nature, here some of the audience may start to doubt if Capulet is really a ‘good father’ as when he says my it suggests that he is referring to Juliet as his possession which is overly controlling, on the other hand Capulet’s use of the words hopeful lady implies that Juliet is worth a lot to him and contradicts with him saying “my”.
In this scene we see that both Capulet and Paris speak, but it is apparent that Capulet’s speeches are much longer for example when Paris says “Younger than she are happy mother’s made” Capulet responds with lines 13-26 which is evidentally longer than what Paris had asked. The length of the speeches suggest power and status, since Paris is a slightly lower status and lower in power (at that current situation) and as he was asking for Juliet’s hand in marriage his speeches were shorter and as Capulet had a higher status his speeches were longer, the status could also affect the living conditions of the Capulet’s and the audience’s perception of him (good father or not).
Capulet’s long response [lines 13-19] has a myriad of rhyming couplets such as “part” and “heart”, “choice” and “voice”, this response is written mainly in an iambic pentameter, in Shakespeare's time, iambic pentameter was considered the highest dramatic form of all, in the entire play it is noticeable that the servant characters usually speak in prose, and the nobles speak in iambic pentameter or verses. In conclusion, I think Shakespeare’s aim was to portray Capulet as a good father and to me he came across as a good father- though it may have been a deterrent to fool the audience into thinking Capulet was a good father at first- despite the dichotomy between his controlling nature and his loving nature, in this scene he clearly wants Paris to be worth Juliet and for him to win her heart which shows that he cares for Juliet and sees her worth fighting for. In addition he may not want Juliet to marry as later or around this time in the play we find out that Capulet must have probably married Lady Capulet when she was around 12 and does not want to make the same mistake with his daughter, with this we could say he is not necessarily a ‘good’ father but clearly not a dim-witted one.
How you respond to Lord Capulet as a father in the play as a whole [30 marks] SPaG [4 marks]
Part 2)
During the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ the audience, both modern and Elizabethan have mixed feelings as to if Capulet is a good father or not. However, our perception of a ‘good father’ will clearly differentiate to what people thought was ‘a good father’ in the Elizabethan era since the values of a good father then will be different to the ones we believe to make a good father now. For example, in the culture of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (and that time’s culture) arranged marriage would be seen as typical and Capulet would hence not be seen as a particularly ‘bad father’ while it is frowned upon in our ‘western culture’ and would be seen as simply erroneous.
Continue with...
Act 3, Scene 4
Act 3, Scene 5
Act 4, Scene 2
Act 4, Scene 4 & 5
Act 5, Scene 2