Juliet is distraught with her father’s violent behaviour towards her he tells her she will kicked out of the house if she doesn’t agree to marry Count Paris. When Juliet is alone with the Nurse she asks for her advice. The Nurse cynically tells her that Romeo has been banished and that he is a ‘dishcloth,’ compared to Count Paris, who is a ‘gentleman,’ she says that it would be best for Juliet to marry Count Paris, and conceal her marriage to Romeo. Juliet is appalled and leaves to see Friar Laurence to ask for his advice.
Juliet is betrayed by her parents, and has now been betrayed by Nurse as well. When the Nurse suggests that Juliet should marry Count Paris, Juliet is outraged and rejects the Nurse, for the first time in the play speaking harshly of her – ‘Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!’ Juliet is now alone with no one to turn to, so she goes to Friar Laurence to see if he can suggest anything to solve the problem, and suggests suicide if she cannot get help from him.
The Capulet family relationship isn’t very close and there isn’t a loving bond between mother and daughter, and father and daughter. In the early scenes of the play Juliet is an obedient, willing daughter, during the play she matures and speaks her own mind and opinions.
From familiar love Juliet has moved to romantic, true love.
Her father also changes, from a loving, and caring, protective father, to a furious, persistent, brutal, harsh parent, forcing Juliet to marry, someone she doesn’t love. In the beginning, Capulet doesn’t force Juliet to marry, he thinks that she is too young, a few days later and his mind has completely changed and he is forcing her to marry.
Throughout the conversations between Juliet and her mother, Lady Capulet shows a lack of understanding and there is an awkward, uncomfortable atmosphere which heightens our sensitivity to Juliet’s plight.
Lady Capulet is very formal, distant and aloof when talking to her daughter, she does not seem to know what to do or say to Juliet.
She is cold and unemotional throughout the play except on two occasions. First when Tybalt dies, she becomes angry and vengeful and demands that Romeo be put to death. Second, when Juliet is thought to be dead, she expresses genuine grief.
I think that Lady Capulet is quite nervous, when around Juliet, she feels that she can only talk to Juliet when someone else is around, for example the Nurse.
At the start of the scene Lady Capulet is excited because she has ‘joyful tidings’ to talk to Juliet about. The “joyful tidings” are not what Juliet is expecting; when Lady Capulet begins to tell her the news she is happy, as soon as Juliet reacts Lady Capulet turns angry and is upset that her daughter isn’t pleased with the news. Juliet is very angry as she says, ‘Now by Saint Peter’s church and Peter too, he shall not make me there a joyful bride.’
The scene would be effective on stage, because there is a lot of atmosphere, drama and tension between the Capulet family.
At the start of the scene, I would have a yellow, faded glow, so that there is a peaceful atmosphere and no tension between the characters. When Juliet awakes from her sleep, a tranquil, relaxing piece of music would be played by the harp to soften the mood and settings of the play.
Suddenly, the music would stop and Lady Capulet would walk in, dressed in a royal, rich gown she would talk to Juliet in a stern, serious tone of voice. As the tension is growing, Capulet comes in wearing red robes and a golden crown, to show that he is head of the house, and the boss of the family.
When Capulet hears that Juliet isn’t pleased with the news, he is enraged and the yellow glow turns to a fiery red, making the atmosphere very tense and dramatic. This scene is very explosive and violent between Juliet and her father Capulet, they argue and fights grow. Juliet would look very weak, scared and defenceless, against her father. Her walk would be a scurry, as she would try to flee away from her raging father.
By the end of the scene the relationship between the Capulet family changes and is now the complete opposite, instead of Juliet’s family being caring and thoughtful towards their daughter they have now turned against her, even the nurse. Juliet finds herself in an awkward situation, her whole family has turned against her and she is all alone. At the end of this scene the audience would feel sympathetic towards Juliet, but intrigued in what might happen next in the story.
