Yet another thing I have learnt about family relationships is that in Act 3 Scene 4 Capulet thinks he is doing what is best for Juliet, however he doesn’t seem to realize that most of her grieving is to do with the fact Romeo has banished. For example, “I think she will be rul’d in all respects by me”.
The Nurse’s job is to care for Juliet and to act like a surrogate mother for Juliet. She is a wet nurse, which means she breast fed Juliet when she was young which therefore explains the close relationship that the Nurse and Juliet have. In Act 1 Scene 3, when Juliet speaks to her mother she speaks very formally, calling her “madam”. When Juliet enters the room to talk to Lady Capulet, she dismisses the Nurse,
“Nurse, give us leave a while; we must talk in secret”.
Lady Capulet wishes to discuss things with Juliet, but finds it uncomfortable, so she calls the nurse back – “Nurse, come back again, have remember’d me, thou’s hear our counsel”.
The conversation is stilted and proper, whereas with the Nurse she talks very openly. The Nurse uses many different terms when she is referring to Juliet. When calling on Juliet in act 1 scene 3, she says: “What, Lamb? What Ladybird?”
That is another sign of a close bond. The language in which they use to communicate is far less formal than that of the language with Lady Capulet. There seems to be a relaxed atmosphere between them. This may be because the Nurse spends more time with Juliet than Lady Capulet, and she has built a greater bond with the Nurse. I also notice in the Zeffirelli version of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet has to straighten her hair before appearing in front of her mother – which clearly demonstrates the formality of the event. However drawing the conversation she makes a lot of physical contact with the nurse, showing how much closer they are.
In Act 1 Scene 5 I notice the strong authority Capulet has over Tybalt. This is because Tybalt recognizes Capulet’s authority, and responds to it, for example -
“ I will withdraw”.
Capulet gets angry because Tybalt challenges Capulet’s authority; “It fits when such a villain is a guest; I’ll not endure him”.
When Tybalt says this Capulet gets extremely angry; “Am I the master here, or you? Go to!” Capulet believes Romeo is a good person and it would be very shameful if a guest were hurt. Capulet talks in blank verse and speaks well of Romeo;
“And to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well governed youth”.
Juliet has never challenged her father’s authority – if she did there would be trouble.
In Act 4 Scene 2 Juliet plays the dutiful daughter. This is because she has confronted the friar and now has decided to pretend she wants to marry Paris. Before Capulet refers to Juliet as “A peevish self-will’d harlotry”. However, as soon as he finds out that Juliet will marry Paris there is subtlety of the use of language, “This is as’t should be. Let me see the County”. This is subtle because earlier Capulet lost control of himself - however, as soon as Capulet finds that his daughter decides to do as he pleases he calms down
In Act 3 Scene 5 Juliet challenges her father’s authority for the first time in her life. Capulet used his strong language to threaten and insult Juliet; he made such comments as, “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!” Capulet's strong language in this scene showed his superiority over Juliet. At first, he seems as though he cared about Juliet when she was crying, but he soon became almost uncontrollable in anger. Lady Capulet also looses her patience with Juliet, and at one point wishes her dead –
“I would the fool were married to her grave!”
This differs to Capulet’s temper nearer the beginning of the play when Romeo turned up to the ball, and Capulet stopped Tybalt making a scene because of the different names they possessed. In this part of the play, he seemed very calm and relaxed and as though he did not care about names that night, he just wanted things to run smoothly.
On the other hand, in Act 4 scene 5 the parents seem to show a lot of grief when they find their daughter dead, which is the complete opposite to what happened in Act 3 scene 5, as the parents rejected her but now seem sad to lose her. In Act 4 scene 5 I notice the way Shakespeare wants the Audience to laugh because Romeo and Juliet are going to get together, and because the parents had abused her and wished her dead it is over the top with grief. This is Dramatic irony, as we know Juliet isn’t dead. This is a stage play and Shakespeare doesn’t want us crying on Act 4 Scene 5, he want it saved for the end. The language is over exaggerated and a lot of repetition is used, “O day! O day! O day!” The exclamation marks indicate to the actor the way the words should be spoken, and make the Nurse’s words sound comical. It is the same technique Shakespeare uses in Midsummer’s night dream in Bottom’s speech, “O night, O night, alack, alack, alack”.
It is also useful to compare Act 3 Scene 5 to a similar scene in Midsummer’s night dream. Both plays show the absolute authority that fathers used to have over daughters. Capulets line;
“And you be mine, I’ll give you my friend”.
Is extremely similar to the line Egeus says,
“As she is mine I may dispose of her”.
In Shakespeare’s time, wives and daughters were in the authority and legal power of their husbands and fathers, a very different situation to now.
The love between Romeo and Juliet is extremely superficial, as they have only fallen in love with each other’s looks. When Romeo sees Juliet he automatically forgets Rosaline showing that he thinks beauty is just skin deep: “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!” I also notice the way Juliet speaks in rhyming couplets to the nurse in Act 1 Scene 5, “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late.” The effect of this is that it makes the play more interesting, and it tells us if someone is talking seriously or if they are joking. As soon as Romeo and Juliet out each other’s identity they back away, realizing they’ve got themselves into big trouble. The Nurse is a source of information for Juliet. She tells Juliet of Romeo in order to protect her now. She sees that the two like one-another but does it for their own benefit- “His name is Romeo, and a Montague”. This allows Juliet to take her into her confidence when she decides to defy her family feud and marry Romeo.
In Act 2 Scene 4 I notice the Authority men had over working class people. Mercutio is extremely rude to the nurse; “ Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan’s the fairer face”. I think he gets away with it because the nurse is willing to do anything for Juliet, and nothing can stop her. I find this Scene interesting because it tells us about the authority young men had over women of a lower status. Mercutio's character stands out from the rest because of his energy in everything he does and says. He is always living his life on the edge and always looking for something new and exciting to do. He is constantly playing on words, using two or more meanings, for example - “An old hare hoar”. Mercutio even makes puns when he is dying, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man”. I also notice the way Mercutio uses prose to talk to the nurse, “Tis no less, I tell you; for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon”. Comedy in the play is spoken in prose, even if it’s the main characters speaking. Mercutio talks in prose in act 2 Scene 4; he is teasing the nurse and making dirty jokes.
In Act 2 Scene 5 and Act 3 Scene 2 I notice similarities between the way the nurse withholds information both times. The Nurse acts as an accomplice alongside Friar Laurence in bringing the two lovers together. The Nurse is immersed in Juliet’s affairs and strives to help her with her plans. The nurse returns to Juliet with the news of the marriage. She is in a mischievous mood and she enjoys keeping Juliet in suspense whilst complaining of ‘back pains’- “O, my back, my back!” I think the nurse enjoys withholding information because she likes to tease Juliet. However, some may say that the reason she withholds the information is because she is afraid of loosing Juliet. In Act 3 Scene 2 the nurse withholds information yet again when Tybalt has died and Romeo has been banished. Perhaps the nurse withheld this information because she was in shock and was upset because of Tybalts death. Although the Nurse is ‘larger than life’ she also makes the audience appreciate the sadder more emotional moments. She showed her pathos and sadness when Tybalt died. “Ah well-a-day, he’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead! We are undone. Alack the day, he’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead!”. She often uses repetition and sometimes loses the point, but we still feel her pathos and are aware that she is in pain, and she has lost someone that is close to her.
To conclude, I would like to comment on my knowledge of family life in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. I have learnt: the authority husbands had over wives and daughters, the authority uncles had over their nieces, the way children used to be brought up with someone else and how it compares to life today. I notice the way in which both families don’t understand the importance of the feud, and how it will damage their son’s/daughter’s life. However, without this feud, there would be no meaning to Romeo and Juliet.
