Show how Juliet's relationship with her parents
and Friar Lawrence's single mindedness
contribute to the plays tragic ending.
Juliet was a young lady who lived with her parents. Also living with her, in her home was a nurse and servants. Juliet's relationship was very different with each individual that she lived with.
The relationship that Juliet had with her father was different to the relationship that she had with her mothers. This could be seen clearly throughout the play. Lady Capulet was Juliet's mother and they did not have a very close relationship, this can be seen through a number of events that occurred during the play. One particular event that shows that they did not have a close relationship was when Lady Capulet didn't know that it was Juliet's birthday, and how old she was.
'She's not fourteen.'
Lady Capulet being Juliet's mother should know when she gave birth to her own child, but to forget or not know when your own Childs birthday is shows that there is no real bond between them and even if they did have a bond, what kind of mother would forget their own daughter's birthday? I think that Lady Capulet didn't really show any love and care for Juliet. Where as the Nurse on the other hand knew when it was her birthday.
'Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.'
When Juliet was first born it was the nurses that breast-feed her, not her mother. This shows that either she couldn't breast-feed or she didn't want to, and if this was the case then it shows that she did not care for Juliet, as she could not even provide her own child with the milk and nutrition that she needed. Where as once again it was once the Nurse that helped Juliet. The nurse had just recently lost her own child and therefore it was her that breastfeed Juliet as she had milk in her breasts.
As well as being the one that knew when Juliet's birthday was and breastfeeding her, the Nurse also showed more care for Juliet as she was always there for her. The Nurse acted like a mother figure to Juliet. The Nurse gave Juliet guidance and advice and was involved with what was happening to her. The nurse was aware of things that wore going on in Juliet's life unlike her mother. Juliet and her mother were distant and uninvolved. And this is shown as she confined in the Nurse rather than her mother.
Lady Capulet may love Juliet but may have a weird way of showing it, but if this were the case then she would have understood Juliet's felling and what she wanted but she didn't. This may have been because Juliet did not tell her about Romeo but this just shows that she did not trust her own mother, as she could not tell her about the one thing that mattered to her, her one love.
It was obvious how lady Capulet felt bout Juliet marring Paris, but she didn't consider Juliet's feelings and this is where she went wrong and this is one action that mad a huge impact on the tragedy. If lady Capulet asked Juliet what she wanted maybe Juliet would have opened up and if lady Capulet understood what Juliet was going through then maybe their lives wouldn't have ended in such tragedy.
The closeness of Juliet's relationship with the Nurse is indicated by the description of how she was wet-nursed. Lady Capulet was rather impatient with the ...
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It was obvious how lady Capulet felt bout Juliet marring Paris, but she didn't consider Juliet's feelings and this is where she went wrong and this is one action that mad a huge impact on the tragedy. If lady Capulet asked Juliet what she wanted maybe Juliet would have opened up and if lady Capulet understood what Juliet was going through then maybe their lives wouldn't have ended in such tragedy.
The closeness of Juliet's relationship with the Nurse is indicated by the description of how she was wet-nursed. Lady Capulet was rather impatient with the nurse because she wished to impress Juliet; that Paris's offer was a very good one. The desire for her to marry came across plainly in the blunt question,
'How stands your disposition to be married?'
Lady Capulet was keen to impress on her daughter that she a mother herself at
'...a pretty age'.
She also tells Juliet that she is not too young to marry since:
'Here in Venona, ladies of esteem,'
this means that many ladies at her age are already married and have children, as they are mothers.
The nurse was excited by his prospect of Juliet marring Paris, but yet to find out what will be ahead! Lady Capulet was far keener than Capulet on their daughter marring. She herself was a married young, so Juliet's youth was not a problem in her view.
The death of Juliet was quite a surprise to both Lord and Lady Capulet. The reaction may seem overdone by some, but this may have allowed the grief of the real death. I think that although Lady Capulet may have loved Juliet she over reacted when she was found dead and it was not a real response you would expect from a mother that does not have a close relationship with her daughter.
Capulet was not too sure that Juliet getting married at such a young age was such a good idea. Paris's proposal to marry Juliet was conducted with her parents and it seemed as though Lord Capulet was reluctant to agree to an early marriage. Juliet's age did not at the time necessarily rule out marring, though Capulet would have preferred his only daughter to have a couple of years older since she is a
'...stranger in the world.'
Capulet was naturally keen that his daughter should find a considerate husband and goes along with Paris's proposal, provided that it was okay and approved with Juliet. But later on the play Capulet attitude changed, this was due to fact that Juliet said no because she wished to marry Romeo. This contributed to the play a lot, as Capulet too did not consider Juliet's feelings and done and said as he wished.
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Lord Capulet did show love for his daughter at the beginning of the play when he called her a
'...blessed child.'
Despite his love for Juliet Lord Capulet let his temper get the better of him when he insisted that Juliet would marry Paris on that Thursday.
'Thursday, tell her, she shall be married to this noble earl.'
This shows that Lord Capulet wasn't thinking or even asking what Juliet wanted. He just made the decision he wanted, he might have through that as the man of the house he knows right. Capulet was jumping the fact that Juliet did not wish to marry Paris and this is when his character and attitude changed. Although his character changed his feelings may not have. He may still have loved Juliet a great deal and just wanted her to have the best. After all he was the man of the house and he may have felt out of place after being betrayed by his daughter, and perhaps because she disobeyed him he got so angry and made irrational decisions.
'Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!
I tell thee what; get thee to church o'Thusday,
Or never after look me in the face.'
Capulet then believed that Juliet would agree to his
'...desperate tender...'
to marry Paris. The discussion about Juliet's reaction on the death of Tybalt's settled on the decision that the marriage would take place as quickly as possible. This shows that Capulet may be taking advantage of the death by bringing the wedding forward, so that he
would get his own way, which in the end ended the lives of the two lovers, but it could also be seen from a different view. Capulet could perhaps have wanted someone to be there for Juliet. Someone to care for her when she is upset because after all he did tell Paris to take care of her and to treat her like a lady and to be gentle with her as she still has a lot to learn.
Lord Capulet made one main mistake, because of his irrational behaviour he didn't let Juliet explain her self, he didn't give her the chance to tell him why and what happened. It was at this point that it could be seen that he may not have cared for Juliet as much as one would have thought. As if he did care for Juliet he would have given her the benefit of the dough and would have listened rather than coming out with:
'Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next,
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!
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You tallow-face'
Lord Capulet wouldn't listen to Juliet, not even when she pleaded him to listen to her, but when Juliet died it showed that he did really love and care for his one daughter. When Juliet died Lord Capulet was devastated. He was truly hurt and this can be seen from:
'Despis'd, distresses, hated, martyr'd, and kill'd!
Uncomfortable time, why cam'st thou now
To murder, murder our solemnity?
O child, o child! My soul and not my child!
Dead art thou. Alack, my child is dead,
And with my child my joys are buried.'
Before he said the above quote he was talking to Paris straight after her death and he once again showed love and care. He also personified her death.
'Hah, let me see her. Out alas, she's cold,
Her blood is settled, and her joints are stiff:
Life and these lips have long been separated;
Death lies on her like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.'
Overall the contribution of Lord Capulet also made a large impact on the play's tragic ending. If he did not make the few mistakes that he did and saw what his daughter was going through, then perhaps he would have seen Juliet's love for Romeo. Although Lord Capulet could have seen Juliet's view it was not his fault that he over reacted. It could be seen that Juliet pushed him into going so far. If Juliet had not gone against her family and had not interfered with the enemies' family then perhaps it could have been a different matter but it was a Montague that she feels in love with and it could be seen that this was a selfish move of Juliet.
As well as Lord and Lady Capulet's contributing to the tragic ending, Friar Lawrence also had his far share of involvement. To a certain extent it could be seen that Friar Lawrence was helping both Romeo and Juliet but he played a large role in the death of the two lovers. Some would argue that if he was helping the couple why was he not honest. If he thought it would end the feuding then he could have told both lovers parents and told them how he thought the matter could be solved, but he did not do this. Friar Lawrence decided that they would not be told of the two lover's affair and marriage, but in the end it was the lover's lives that paid for Friar Lawrence single mindedness actions. The reason why he may have decided not to tell the parents could have been because he may have believed that they would never agree to the lover's relationship and therefore they would not be able to get married and live their lives in the way they wanted.
Friar Lawrence made many decisions that he should have not made. He took over the role of the parents and made decisions that only the parents should have been making. This shows that he was not thinking through what he was doing, as he was not treating the
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matter as an adult would. He took the decisions into his own hands and the death of the two lovers could be said to be mostly his fault.
Although Friar Lawrence had a good plan to reunite the two families it was to his and the lovers disadvantage that things went wrong. Friar Lawrence did try to solve their complicated situation but just ended up getting in the middle and contributing to the tragic ending.
There was one main mistake that Friar Lawrence made. This mistake was right at the end of the tragedy when Juliet found out that Romeo was dead beside where Julie awoke. This was when Friar Lawrence's weak character showed as he did not try and stop Juliet from going to Romeo which resulted to her killing herself too. If Friar Lawrence was helping then he would have taken Juliet out of there and helped her to get over the death of Romeo but he was weak. He through of him-self before Juliet and decided to leave her to do as she wished which ended in her committing suicide. The reason why he may have left could have been because he was afraid of being caught helping the lover's; after all he did
do everything without the permission of the parents. if he had a strong character he would have had the power to stop Juliet but he proved wrong and this was a large contribution to the tragic ending of the two lover's.
In conclusion I believe that Friar Lawrence, Lord and Lady Capulet contributed a lot to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. I believe that Lord and Lady Capulet were poor parents and they did not put their child first. And this contributed to the ending, as it was the pareints Romeo and Juliet were hiding their love from as well as the Montague's. if both the families ended the feuding none of what happened would have happened as there would be nothing Romeo and Juliet would have to hind from and this wouldn't have resulted to their death. Friar Lawrence needed to look carefully at his actions. He should have considered that everyone would be effected by his actions and that there were going to be consequences and things did not go his way so the consequences did exist and he had to pay for the death through guilt. I believe that if Friar Lawrence told the parents, things would have ended in a different way, where Romeo and Juliet could be together and the family feuding could have ended. I think the families feuding would have ended if things were dealt with much better consideration and if everyone considered each other's views. The reason why I believe that the feuding could have ended early was because it had so why not earlier. In the end it was at the cost of Romeo and Juliet's death.
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Priya Tapariya Romeo and Juliet 11HI
