Whilst Juliet is being verbally abused we are presented with camera angles and mis en scene that makes us see Juliet as an innocent young girl and Capulet as a raging monster. Juliet is slumped on the floor whilst her father towers over her giving him the impression of power and giving her the impression of weakness. Juliet is dressed all in white. This indicates that she is angelic, innocent and pure. This is an example of subliminal narrative where something is triggered in the subconscious mind. Capulet wears dark clothing which makes him seem strong and formidable. We get images throughout the scene of Juliet’s weakness and purity contrasting with her father’s power and anger.
In the 1967 version Juliet’s mother presents contradictory images. Whilst criticising her daughter and agreeing with Capulet she shouts at her husband when he turns nasty. ‘Fie, fie! What, are you mad?’ This shows that although Lady Capulet is angry with her daughter she doesn’t want her to come to any harm in the hands of Capulet. From this we gather that Lady Capulet could be scared of her husband. She agreed with him even though she probably saw the argument from Juliet’s point of view. This suggests that she has no backbone as she doesn’t stand up for what she thinks is right.
In the modern version of Romeo and Juliet, however, Lady Capulet shows more feelings for her daughter which is more in keeping with today’s society. Capulet lunges towards Juliet but Lady Capulet tries to drag Juliet away from her evil father although she is promptly rewarded with a slap around the face for her troubles.
Threats are used effectively to create tension in this play. The quote ‘Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither’ shows the severity of these threats. A hurdle is a wooden rack used for dragging traitors to the place of execution. Another example of a vicious quote is ‘I tell thee what, get thee to church o’ Thursday, or never after look me in the face.’ Capulet basically is telling Juliet that if she doesn’t marry Paris he never wants to see his daughter again.
There have been some social changes since the sixteenth century. Despite this the gang culture is still popular and many people are killed in fights between gangs similar to those in the times of Romeo and Juliet. At the time this play was written men were the leaders of the family. If they told the women what to do and the women did it. Men and women are now almost equals and compete for jobs on a near equal footing and anyone who reverts back to the sixteenth century beliefs is labelled sexist.
In the modern version, at the start of act three scene five when Capulet enters the room he says ‘A conduit, girl? What, still in tears?’ He thinks that Juliet is still upset about the news of Tybalts death. You would therefore think that he might give Juliet some time to grieve before announcing that she is going to marry someone she hardly knows and definitely doesn’t love. This again shows Capulets selfishness that he puts his own feelings before those of his daughter. Any normal family would consult their daughter before finding her a partner to spend her life with. He then calls her ‘green-sickness carrion’ which means an anaemic piece of dead meat. Capulet does not think of his daughter as someone to love and care for but as a feelingless doll who he can totally control.
In this scene the nurse is the one who stands by Juliet as she can probably see how ridiculous Capulets request is. She tells Capulet that he is to blame. ‘You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so’. She feels that Juliet should not be scolded as most people in her situation would react in the same way. Capulet then tells the nurse ‘Smatter with your gossips, go’. This means go and chatter to your old women. The nurse then replies ‘I speak no treason’. She is defiant and shows no fear of Capulet despite his aggression. This is probably one reason that Capulet does not hit the nurse as he knows she isn’t scared of him.
I think that this scene is very well thought out and it captivates the audience. Out of both versions I preferred the older one because although the costumes were older and the actors spoke in old English accents everything fitted in well with the script and was as I imagined it would be. The modern version was too ‘Americanized’ and the language used did not fit in with the settings, clothing or accents. I also thought that this version should have been more historically set instead of everything being modern because then it would have been easier to relate to the play.
