“Things have fall'n out, sir, so unluckily, that we have had no time to move our daughter: look you, she loved her kinsman Tybalt dearly, and so did I: -Well, we were born to die.'Tis very late, she'll not come down to-night: I promise you, but for your company, I would have been a-bed an hour ago.”
In the way that Capulet is saying this, he believes that what he is doing is the right thing yet the reader knows that what he is doing is an enormous mistake. This increases the tension within the play because the reader understands the fact that Capulet has goods intentions, especially in the way he says “so unlucky”, but they also know that he should definitely not be doing this. Therefore resulting in the reader not being angry at Capulet, but being saddened by the fact that he does not understand what is going on in Juliet’s life.
When Capulet enters in act 3 scene 5 to tell Juliet that she will be marrying Paris he seems to be very excited about it.
“How now! A conduit, girl? What, still in tears? Evermore showering? In one little body thou counterfeit’s a bark, a sea, a wind; for thy eyes, which I may call the sea”
The way in which Shakespeare uses a lot of exclamations and questions, he implies that Capulet is very excited and very glad to tell Juliet about the marriage, thinking that all her problems will go and everyone will be happy again. This is particularly showed when Capulet says: “still in tears?” he using a rhetorical question to say that he has the answer to her problem, Shakespeare does this to, again, emphasise the fact that Capulet is very excited about giving Juliet the ‘good’ news. Capulet finishes by asking his wife whether she told Juliet about their agreement with Paris, only to realise that Juliet, although appreciating the gesture, has no intentions on marrying Paris. Capulet clearly wants Juliet to be happy, but she has now crossed the line; she has confronted her own father. Of course, I do not have to say that in modern England and most English speaking countries, it is perfectly normal for woman to refuse to have an arranged with someone that she scarcely knows, but in Shakespearian times, it was completely and utterly ridiculous for a woman to disobey, let alone confront, her father.
When Capulet is fuming over Juliet's refusal to marry the 'young and noble' Paris, he calls her a variety of spiteful and offensive names and tells her that if she does not go to church on Thursday morning to marry Paris, he will drag her to church, similar to how a criminal would be dragged through the streets for committing a crime. He also calls her a “green-sickness”, a “tallow-face”, “carrion”, “baggage” This makes us very sympathetic towards Juliet because she has already lost Romeo, and now her own father speaking to her as if she were a piece of rotting flesh that he would only look at with disgust is threatening to drag to church as if she were a body bag.
“My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest that God had lent us but this only child; but now I see this one is one too much, and that we have a curse in having her: out on her, hilding!”
When Capulet says, “my fingers itch” he is implying that he is very tempted to strike Juliet, which makes the reader feel angry because earlier on in the play, Capulet is trying to be kind to Juliet but now he is claiming that he will hit her. The reader also feels sympathetic towards Juliet because Capulet says “God has lent us but this only child; but now I see this one is too much” which means that he does not want Juliet anymore and that she is too much of a burden for him to handle, even being an only child. This would have a huge impact in their relationship as Capulet is saying that he wants to disown Juliet, and I believe any daughter would probably never speak to their father again if they were to do such.
Capulet’s language in this scene is not only a way of offending Juliet; it is also a way of reflecting Juliet’s fate.
“You green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow-face!”
The word Carrion means dead or decaying flesh. The use of the word carrion is reflecting to the prologue, where Shakespeare clearly states that Romeo and Juliet are both going to die. I think that Shakespeare has chosen Capulet’s lines very carefully so that they would be clandestinely ambiguous. Shakespeare also does this to constantly remind us that this is a tragedy and that there will be a tragic ending.
After being lectured by her father; Juliet goes to the nurse to help her, believing that the nurse will take her side.
“O nurse, how shall this be prevented?”
In the way that Juliet says “O nurse” she is clearly putting all her trust into the nurse having a solution; but the nurse only