Power Of Old Men In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

The power of older men in Romeo and Juliet In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet written in the late 1500s had a much different structure of government than that of today’s society. Traits such as gender and age played a major role in those times, and it is seen throughout the story that the older men have the ability to make decisions for the rest of the community with social status less than them. Such events as the decrees of the prince, the choices of the friar, and the commands of Lord Capulet all greatly influence Romeo and Juliet to take different paths throughout the story. These all greatly influence the course of the story, as the older men of the community decide such things as who shall be married and what the consequences of specific actions will be. As stated before, the prince is very influential in his first appearance and all throughout the story. Whilst breaking up the street fight in the beginning, he boldly dictates, “If
Throughout the story, he attempts to save himself any trouble, and make himself look as good as possible. Some of the actions he chooses to follow result in the story unfolding in a completely different direction and ruining Romeo and Juliet’s plans, as he does many things spontaneously without asking anybody else what they think about the matter at hand. An event with this clear is when he arranges Juliet’s marriage to Paris, without consulting his wife or Juliet beforehand. Without faltering he declares to his wife, “A Thursday let it be-a Thursday, tell her, / She shall be married to this noble earl” (3.4.23-24). Juliet is forcefully against the said marriage, as she has already wed Romeo and loves him dear, and makes quite rash decisions because of it. Capulet clearly leaves his mark on the story, altering the way everything comes together in an attempt to improve his social status, but ending in the death of his daughter and her