Examine the theme of parental conflict in Romeo and Juliet. Discuss the relevance of this theme for both a modern day audience and a Shakespearean audience.

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Examine the theme of parental conflict in Romeo and Juliet.  Discuss the relevance of this theme for both a modern day audience and a Shakespearean audience.

        In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet there is a theme of parental conflict present.  An Elizabethan and modern day audience would react differently to issues raised about parental conflict in the play.  I intend to look at the differences and analyse them to highlight contrasts between these societies and show how Shakespeare is still relevant today.

        I will set my essay out in a structure; I will begin by writing about the father daughter relationship, move on to the mother daughter relationship, importance of nurse and friar, and relationship with nurse.  I will end the essay by concluding my points.  In each section I will discuss societies expectations behaviour and social code, closeness, attitude, quotes and tone from Romeo and Juliet, characters personality and the message Shakespeare was trying to give out.

        

        One of the main relationships shown in Romeo and Juliet is that of the father and daughter.  In sixteenth century England the father was treated like the lord and master by all including his wife and children where the property of their parents and were to give them the respect a servant gives a master.  It was very considered foolish to marry for love, this meant it was the duty of the father to find a suitable husband for his daughter.  The father would want his daughter to marry above or within her social group to a ‘gallant, young, and noble gentleman’ (Act 3 Scene 5 line 113-114).  This type of practice only took place in the wealthy classes, so to secure their position in the social hierarchy.  

In Act 1 Scene 2 Paris is eager to marry Juliet and seeks approval from Capulet.  Capulet at first believes Juliet to be too young but Paris assures him that, “Younger than she are happy mothers made”(Act 1 Scene 2 Line 12) and he eventually comes round to Paris’ idea.  When Juliet is told of the arrangement she says that marriage, “is an honour that I dream not of”, she is obedient and promises to give consideration to the man her parents have chosen.  Then she meets Romeo.  The major event of parental conflict comes in Act 3 Scene 5; this is just after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt and the exile of Romeo.  Romeo and Juliet have just consecrated their marriage and Romeo leaves, Lady Capulet comes in and finds Juliet crying, as this is mother daughter relationship I will save my analysis for the next section.  When Capulet arrives he at first shows sympathy but grows angry and tells her to calm down or he will get enraged, “Without sudden calm, will overset / Thy tempest tossed body” (Lines 136-137).  When Capulet finds out Juliet does not want to marry Paris he grows more furious to the extent that he calls her names and his, “fingers itch”(Line 164) to hit her.  In Act 4 Scene 2 Juliet apologises for her disobedience but this is only because she is going to fake her death not because she is truly sorry.  These are the only times Capulet and Juliet talk, which might give an insight into the reason Juliet is so disobedient or has a poor relationship with her father.

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In the sixteenth century audience there was different places for different classes.  These different classes interpret the play differently due to their social standing.  The Groundlings were normally lower class as these were cheap tickets due to the conditions; people stood in the centre of the theatre on the ground with no cover from the weather.  These people would have worked for the upper classes like Capulet.  They would have disliked them as they were considered better people than the lower classes.  The sight of Juliet defying her father would have been enjoyable to them.  This would have been so ...

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