strength. Characters such as Lady Capulet show emotional strength where as Capulet shows
physical strength. . However occasionally the male characters use emotion rather than
physical violence. To say that Romeo and Juliet is focused on a man’s world defeats the fact
that both physical strength and emotional strength are used to give Romeo and Juliet depth
and meaning. Each character has their own individual strength which stands out through the
play. None of the characters are weak as they all have a dramatic purpose throughout.
Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona where men have more freedom and more power
than the women. Some of the male characters such as Capulet use more than one attribute of
their personality to get what they want. In Capulet’s case he uses blackmail as one of his
strengths which often gets him what he wants. An example would be when he wants Juliet to
marry Paris in Act 1 Scene 2. He tells his daughter that unless she agrees to marry Paris he
will disown her. Capulet is manipulative and knows that Juliet is the perfect daughter and will
not upset him at the risk of losing his love as a father. This is another strength that Capulet
has, it is his skill of manipulating people to do what he wants. Capulet is one of the main
characters that uses his strength quite a lot for personal gain.
Tybalt is one of the characters that uses physical strength. He is known in the play for
having a bad temper and this is when he tends to use fighting as his solution. This is to do
with keeping his reputation for being strong and being able to stand up for himself. However
his bad temper soon causes trouble and he is killed by Romeo.
This is unusual for Romeo as it is not his physical strength that he used in the play.
He uses his emotions to express himself. An example of this is when he declares his love for
Rosaline. Mercutio and Benvolio however dare Romeo to gatecrash the party at the Capulet
mansion so he can see Rosaline. It is Romeos emotions that control him and when he does
kill Tybalt and Paris it is to save his own life to be with Juliet and to stop the feuding all
together not merely because he was trying to be the typical alpha-male.