Juliet was arranged to marry County Paris by her father, and she had to obey him, she was not allowed to disobey or tell her parents her ideas. Juliet rebels against this in Act 3 Scene 5 where she refuses to marry Paris and her father becomes, very angry, “Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!”.
Clearly Lord Capulet is very angry when Juliet suddenly rebels. Up until this point in her life she had done everything she was told to do and never make a step out of line. Arranged marriages were commonly accustomed in Shakespeares’ time, but it would be, to some extent frowned upon today.
Juliet and her parents had a very formal relationship and she addresses the as “Lady mother” and “Good father”. They never have an intimate relationship, during the play. Juliet is closer to her nurse than she is to her parents, and there is little understanding between parents and child. Juliet’s nurse even breast fed her from a young and tender age.
Today it would be frowned upon to be brought up totally by someone else apart from your parents, although there are some exceptions such as nannies, foster parents, etcetera.
Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet do not think much of Juliet and they think of her like a trophy to show the family’s importance. Lord Capulet takes control over Juliet’s life and Juliet does not get s choice of what goes on. She can only go out to family parties, and not to see friends. Her parents do not have a good relationship with her, but they are very powerful figures in her life, and she dare not disobey them, until she met Romeo, where she could not withdraw because of her strong love for him. Being devoted to your parents and never disobeying them was the custom in the Elizabethen period, but less so today, although parents would probably like it to be that way.
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet keeps many secrets form her parents as she does not want to disappoint, upset them and plus she is scared of what her father might say or do to her. Today, secrets are still kept from parents but maybe not such extreme ones as Juliet’s.
To some extent Juliet’s parents are to blame for the eventual tragedy. If Juliet was not scared of her father and not have to keep secrets from him, maybe there would not have been the deaths
The first factor for which parents of both families are responsible, is the feud. If there was no feud Tybalt would not have been killed. There would not have been any fighting atall if there were no feud, and if there were no fighting, Tybalt and Mercutio would not have been killed. The feud is also the cause of Romeo and Juliet’s deaths because they would have been allowed to marry each other. The feud is not the only cause; the fact of Juliet not being able to tell her parents everything is another cause. If Juliet had a close relationship with her parents she could have told them that she did not love Paris, but she loved somebody else. So in more ways than one Juliet’s parents are responsible for the eventual tragedy.
In conclusion to this essay, I do not agree with the attitudes of Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet towards Juliet. I also think it would be unacceptable today for children to be brought up by a nurse, although some children are cared for by nannies. Also, I do not think arranged marriages are a good idea, but they still live on today in some cultures. People should have a choice of whom they want to marry and not just be forced into marriage.
