Lady Capulet feels that marrying Juliet to Paris is also the best thing because her husband does. This is because Lady Capulet would’ve gone through the same thing when she was younger so sees this as a regular and normal custom. She also supports the views of her husband because when the play was set men were seen to be superior to women and have all the correct views towards life.
In act 3 sc5 Juliet learns of her marriage she is first told by her mother whom which she objects to, and further in the scene Lord Capulet is introduced and lady Capulet tells him what Juliet think of the marriage and he does not take this well. This is because he has probably never seen this side of his daughter before so he reacts in a way which he would to any other person who crosses him. Juliet reacts to this by crying and arguing back at her father. Capulet’s anger builds up by gradually using stronger words.
“You Baggage, You Tallow face”
This, in the day the play was set, was a very strong insult and shows how angry Capulet actually is.
Capulet’s anger builds and builds until he physically attacks Lady Capulet and throws his daughter to the ground. This drastically affects their relationship as Juliet will feel that she can no longer talk to her father about personal things and eventually lads to her death.
“And you be not, Hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”
This makes Juliet’s relationship with her father even more distant because he’s telling her that if she disobeys he will disown her and by using such strong words as “hang” and “die” will make the distance even bigger.
This scene is a feature of tragedy by Juliet’s father turning against her although he just wants the best for his daughter and the physical force which is used.
The role of fate is a big theme throughout the play. It helps the people watching or reading get a small glimpse ahead of all the characters without giving too much away. An example of this is “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”. This gives a small hint that Juliet will die. Another example of fate is when peter ran into Benvolio in the streets. Without this happening Romeo would have never read the list of guests at the party and never would’ve met Juliet. Another example of fate occurring in the play is when Juliet tells Romeo the vision that she has of him being dead at the bottom of a tomb. This is foreshadowing to the already destined event these two lovers will soon face - death.
We watched two film versions of the play in class: a traditional version by Zeffereli and a more modern adaptation by Baz Lurhmann. Both films portrayed Act3 Sc5 differently but to great effect. In The Zeffereli version the scene starts inside Juliet’s bedroom. Lady Capulet enter and informs her about the arranged marriage Juliet is made to do over the top crying at this point as she says her speech. The camera goes to just outside the room in the corridor where Lord Capulet is coming looking and sounding cheery and happy. Lady Capulet comes out of the room, tells Lord Capulet what Juliet has said and he storms into her room and shouts at her. He picks Juliet up and throws her to the corner of the room and the Nurse stands infront of her and protects her. Juliet is sobbing extremely loudly while this is happening and it makes it hard to hear what the characters are saying. No music is played during this scene.
In the Baz Lurhmann version the scene also starts in Juliet’s bedroom. Lady Capulet enters and tells Juliet of the arranged marriage and as soon as Juliet starts her speech the music starts. This helps set the mood better in this version. Lord Capulet enters the room and lady Capulet tell Lord Capulet that Juliet’s having none of it. He then goes into a rage and close ups helps show the emotions of each character. Lord Capulet takes Juliet in the hall and throws her to the floor after attacking Lady Capulet rather violently in the face with his hand. She stays against the wall stuck in a position like she’s in shock and Lord Capulet storms out of the house knocking over a waiter carrying a tray of food.
In Act4 Sc2 Juliet tells Lord Capulet that she will marry Paris and he changes. He re-accepts Juliet into his house, treats her like his daughter and puts more effort into organising the wedding. When he discovers that Juliet is “dead” he reacts like a father should: distraught and depressed and has feelings of regret.
We learn that Juliet’s relationship between her and her father starts of close but Shakespeare portrays gradual deterioration between their relationship by the breakdown in communication with them when Juliet doesn’t tell Capulet about Romeo and Capulet doesn’t ask Juliet about getting together with Paris he just tells her and in the end Capulet is left Childless depressed and regretful.
I think Lord Capulet is about seventy-five percent responsible for the death of Juliet and Romeo because if he didn’t pair Juliet up with Paris and force her to get married then she never would’ve felt that she needed to fake her death to be with who she loved which, in the end, ended up to be the cause of both their deaths.
By Kyle Gear