Capulet and Juliet’s first conversation together is in Act Three Scene Five. He is harsh and lacks sensitivity for his daughter; after she tells him she doesn’t want to marry Paris ‘Proud can I never be what I hate.’ Capulet gives a harsh reply and his language shows how unsympathetic he is and his power over Juliet ‘I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.’ The threatening and callous language that Capulet uses also indicates that the difference in their generation gaps show how their perspectives of love differ. Juliet knows that she loves Romeo, but Capulet, (who is a from a very different generation to Juliet) wants Juliet to marry Paris, who is ‘a gentleman of noble parentage, of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly link’d.’
As well as the evident generation gap between the two characters, Capulet increases this gap, with the male dominance he brings into the play and the masculine power he has over Juliet, which is shown when he scolds Juliet, because she doesn’t want to marry Paris, ‘Hang thee young baggage! Disobedient wretch!’ The masculine pressure on Juliet makes it harder for her to discuss the issue of love with her father, so her opinions are rarely heard and this widens the generation gap between them.
Capulet handles Juliet and Paris’s wedding as if it were a business deal and gives Juliet a very strict speech towards the end of Act Three Scene Five, where he uses short, tactless sentences, ‘Thursday is near. Lay hand on heart; advise.’ Once again the generation gap is highlighted as Capulet thinks Juliet is being ungrateful for all of his efforts, and he is angry because of this. However, the audience knows that Juliet isn’t purposely being ungrateful, but is married to Romeo and is in love with him, which is why she cannot possibly marry Paris. This dramatic irony is also a cause of the large generation gap between them.
The generation gap between Nurse and Juliet is also shown but it isn’t as definite as the relationship between Lady Capulet and Juliet. The Nurse fulfils the parental role over Juliet and seems to have maternal influences, which Lady Capulet doesn’t offer to her daughter. The generation gap between these two characters is not very large, as they are quite close to each other. However, the Nurse’s language shows that there is an apparent generation gap between them in Act One Scene Three, ‘For even the day before she broke her brow.’ The Nurse gives a speech on how she raised Juliet and how she remembers the small details about her ‘The pretty wretch left crying.’ This shows the generation gap between them as Nurse fulfils the typical role of a mother boasting about her child.
But in some instances during the play, the generation gap between the two characters is ignored, like in Act Two Scene Five. In this scene, the Nurse has arrived from visiting Romeo, with information to Juliet. The Nurse teases Juliet and keeps her in suspense, so Juliet flatters her by saying ‘good, good Nurse,’ in order to hasten the slow process of telling her about the marriage plans. But the nurse teases her again and says, ‘an honest gentleman, and courteous…-Where is your mother?’ This teasing and jovial language represents how bonded these two characters are, and shows the generation gap at this stage is not so large.
Later on in the play, the generation gap becomes much clearer. By Act Three Scene Five, whilst Juliet remains tortured by Romeo’s banishment and Tybalt’s death, she looks to the Nurse for comfort and advice, ‘O God – O Nurse, how shall this be prevented?’ But the Nurse replies by saying that it would be better to marry Paris and how ‘Romeo’s a dishclout to him.’ This sudden pragmatic language used by the nurse angers Juliet greatly and widens the generation gap as Juliet thinks the Nurse doesn’t understand her anymore ‘Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!’ This example taken from the scene illustrates well the generation gap, as the Nurse finally realises after such a long time that Paris would be better to marry and Romeo ‘Hath not so green, so quick, so far an eye as Paris hath.’ But Juliet think that the Nurse is hypocritical for changing her mind about Romeo just because of the difficulties she is going through and would rather die than marry Paris. Again, this shows the generation gap and the different views of love according to the two characters.
Like the Nurse, Friar Lawrence plays a parental role, as the paternal figure to Romeo and gives him advice, which is shown in their first meeting, ‘Be plain, good son.’ The generation gap is also shown here when the Friar questions Romeo’s love for Rosaline but Romeo tells him about his new love for Juliet ‘I have been feasting with mine enemy.’ Friar Lawrence is shocked about his sudden change of heart ‘Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!’ This shows how Romeo, in his impulsive teenage years is from a completely different generation to the Friar, who is much more mature in such issues due to this difference.
Although the Friar is from a different generation to Romeo, he is still uses gentle language towards him, which is also because of his status as a Friar. However, he doesn’t patronise Romeo in the way the Montagues do. This can be seen in Act One Scene One, when Montague says ‘…he hath there been seen, with tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew’, and this statement makes Montague seem as though he just watches his son suffering because of his love for Rosaline, and doesn’t do anything to comfort him. However, Friar Lawrence is much more comforting, as in Act Two Scene Three, he says ‘In one respect, I’ll thy assistant be’, when Romeo tells the Friar about his new found love for Juliet. In some instances, the generation gap is ignored by the Friar and he is more like a friend to Romeo and offers him advice, ‘For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.’ This also highlights a generation gap because when Romeo tells the Friar about his love for Juliet, he is shocked but offers advice to him; Whereas Romeo cannot tell Benvolio and Mercutio, who are from the same generation as himself that he loves Juliet. This may be because they wouldn’t take him seriously and would think that Romeo was being absurd, like his love for Rosaline, when Mercutio says ‘if love be rough with you, be rough with love.’ This is why Romeo goes to the Friar because he knows he will be kind-hearted and listen to him, unlike his own friends and family.
In Act Three Scene Three, the Friar delivers the news of Romeo’s banishment to him, but Romeo is angry with the Friar although he has done no wrong, ‘Thou cutt’st my head off with a golden axe.’ Romeo blames Friar Lawrence and tells him that he doesn’t know what it feels like to be in love, due to his inexperience and the generation gap between them, ‘Thou cannst not speak of that thou dost not feel.’ Romeo is frenzied and panics due to this and starts becoming hysterical about his banishment, ‘Tis torture, and not mercy.’ At this stage of the play, Friar Lawrence sense Romeo’s desperation and grief and tells Romeo to act like a proper husband, ‘Thy tears are womanish.’ The Friar and Romeo’s generation gap widens as he takes on a more paternal role, ‘Thou hast amaz’d me…I thought thy disposition better temper’d.’ But his language becomes gentler and more supportive ‘Ascend her chamber – hence and comfort her.’ This shows that although both characters are from different generations, they are both respectful to each other.
Shakespeare has shown that the relationships between Romeo and Juliet and their parents, have been quite strained and shows that the generation gap is much wider between them, which is shown when Capulet speaks about Juliet ‘…we have a curse in having her.’ But later on in the play, after the death of Juliet he realises how harsh he was to her and how detached they were from each other, when he says ‘O child! O child! My soul and not my child!’ His language conveys the sorrow he feels for the loss of his daughter, which is shown by the exclamation marks and how he Juliet meant so much to him. Using such language, Shakespeare has created the idea of there being a generation gap between the characters and how the difference in generations has led to misunderstanding and different perspectives of love, ‘Poor sacrifices of our enmity!’
Sasha Payagala 11s