In Act 1, when the brawl between the two families is occurring. The character Capulet is very wary, about what his daughter Juliet is getting up to. He seems to be very protective at this point in the play. ‘Give me my long-sword’. He is very protective about his family, as he doesn’t trust the Montague’s. He is also very bossy towards his family; this is because he wants everything done his way, again this shows that he is protective. ‘My sword, I say!’ He is very bossy to his wife; he treats her like a slave. At this time their fathers owned women until they got married. But when they were married then they became property to their husband. When the brawl is finally over the prince comes and tells of the two families for fighting. At the time Capulet turns very obedient. He respects authority; there is an example of this, when the prince is speaking. Capulet doesn’t interrupt to give his argument. Maybe this is because he knows that he can be punished. This could mean that the prince could take some of his family away. Also at this point in the play he seems to be jumping to conclusions rather quickly. ‘Old Montague is come, and flourishes his blade in spite of me’. As he is jumping to conclusions he thinks that the Montague’s have come to kill him, but he could be completely wrong. This also could be because he seems quite paranoid. This is may be due to the amount of pressure he is under. He also could be deemed a coward, as he relies on his sword to fight. He doesn’t give anyone chance to explain themselves, he immediately thinks they are there to fight.
In Act 1 Scene 2, after the brawl and the prince’s speech, Paris requests Juliet’s hand in marriage. In this scene Capulet talks a lot about his daughter, and why she should take Paris’ hand in marriage. He talks about this, as he wants the best for Juliet. The language that he uses is that, he uses a lot of poetry and rhyming couplets, ‘choice-voice, say-stay’. He does this as it shows that he cares and looks after her. Coming back to the point, he speaks a lot about Juliet. He is trying to encourage her to take Paris’ hand in marriage. ‘And too soon marred are those so early made’. When he is talking about Juliet, this is showing to the audience that he is a gentle and happy father towards his daughter. But he still wants the best for him and his family. Capulet wants Juliet to marry Paris as, he thinks that the sooner they marry, she can’t change her mind. This also show’s again that he wants the best for his family. Also he wants his name to live on, and that she will not marry the enemy. But the biggest reason is that he wants a decent man to inherit his wealth. Women at this time could not inherit, only men were allowed to. But one thing is left; Capulet doesn’t know that Juliet is in love with Romeo. Of course this is the complete opposite to what he wants. This gives the audience an idea of what he will feel when he finds out. And that it will be of disappointment and sadness.
In Act 1 Scene 5, when Tybalt crosses Capulet, there is a little bit of information given out by this scene to the audience about the play. The information is that, Capulet tells Tybalt that he has told Juliet that he doesn’t want her to marry Romero, but he would prefer her to marry Paris. ‘What man!’ Tis not so much’. When Capulet tells this to Tybalt, he is astounded to find that Romeo is at the party, and that Romeo is on the opposite family. ‘This is a Montague, our foe’. This suggests to the audience that Tybalt wants to get Romeo out of the party and away from his family. But Capulet wants Tybalt to leave Romeo along and see what happens next. This reaction suggests that Capulet is short tempered and doesn’t want to be crossed. All in all the information that is learnt by the audience is that Capulet is willing to let Romeo stay at the party, even though Tybalt has offered to get rid of him. Capulet just wants the best for his daughter. But then again it could be that he is a bit of a coward, as he doesn’t want to get into trouble with the prince again. As he knows the consequences.
In Act 1 of the play the character Capulet, is a gentle father, which is willing to protect his family at any cost. But even so, at the expense of bossing his family around. But this was quite common at this time, as husbands had complete control over their families. The audience also learns that Capulet is willing to make his daughter marry Paris, instead of Romeo who she so clearly loves. Just because he wants to do it his way. This could make the audience she him as short tempered. Also because, Paris is related to the prince, if they marry Capulet may be able to bond again with the prince. Due to his telling of. Also the audience learns that Capulet is very obedient, he respects that he doesn’t have complete authority over the whole city of Verona. He could also be deemed a coward as he relies on his sword to do the fighting. He immediately thinks fighting. Also he is aware of his social standing with the people around him. So he doesn’t really want to spoil his reputation that he has built up. He might think that if Juliet and Paris marry, then his social standing and wealth may rise.
In Act 3, Capulet plays a big role in the play. In Scene 5 of Act 3, Capulet meets up with his wife and Paris to discusses the arrangements of the wedding. Capulet wants it to be even sooner than originally planned. This is because he doesn’t want Juliet to pull out right at the last minute. ‘That we have had no time to move our daughter’. Capulet wants Paris to agree about moving the wedding closer to the date. In scene 5, Capulet gets really angry, with Juliet, as she finds out that her father has moved the date closer. She then says that she isn’t going to marry Paris. The audiences prospective of Capulet now change dramatically. He now shows himself to the audience as, a nasty, angry, father and husband. ‘Hand thee, young Baggage! Disobedient Wretch!’ He then turns towards Juliet and lashes out at her, and attacks her. This brings strongly to the point that he is very short tempered. Earlier the audience thought that Capulet was a loving and caring father. But now it has completely changed. He is now: -
- Abusive to his daughter, just because she disobeyed him, and crossed him.
- He is also very selfish, about himself, as he is just interested that they marry, so that he can get the biggest benefit that his social standing may raise.
His reaction now is that he is a terrible father and wants to get his own way all of the time. But at this time, fathers and husbands did actually plan their daughter’s weddings.
The things that I have discussed are that, the character Capulet has a dual personality. At the start of the play he is shown as, a caring father and would sacrifice his life for his daughter and family. But at the end of the play, the audience perspective of the character Capulet, completely changes. He turns into a real monster. Just because his daughter doesn’t want to marry the person that he has chosen for her. He abuses his daughter, just to get his own way. In answer to the question, Shakespeare uses a unique approach to, put the character Capulet on stage. In act 1, he is a loving father, in which all of his family likes him. He is well known within his family and his social standing and wealth are great. It then prepares the audience for act 3 in an unusual way. As in act 1 he is gentle and loving, but the audience does not suspect that he has a dual personality. I think of it as a trick, to get the aspects across to the audience of a kind man. But no one suspects that he changes dramatically, so it prepares the audience in such away that they don’t know what is going to happen next.
