Capulet also organises the marriage of Juliet and Paris. Because of the fact that he repeatedly moved the marriage forwards, and did not allow Juliet to make her own decision, it became impossible for a happy resolution to take place. If he had not have behaved in this way, Juliet would at very least have woken up in time to prevent Romeo from killing himself, and at best she may have even have been able to escape from the clutches of her Father, alongside Romeo, without having to resort to deceiving them with drugs.
These three sets of decisions that Capulet makes are all equally vital to the ultimate tragedy of the play, and he is certainly one of the characters that many members of the audience will consider carefully from a moral perspective. Undoubtedly, if Capulet had known that the actions he took were going to cause the tragedy that followed, then he would not have taken them. However, most of the audience would be unable to completely forgive his actions, as some of the things he does during the course of the play are what are generally accepted in society to be morally wrong, and probably would even have appeared to be to a Shakespearean audience.
Capulet’s behaviour to Paris during the second scene of the play suggests that he perhaps does not relentlessly hate the house of Montague quite as violently as would be initially apparent. His neutrality and acceptance of the Prince’s decree – as well as the things he says about his daughter (“She is the hopeful lady of my earth) - help balance the opinions that much of the audience may already have against the Capulet family because of the natures of Benvolio and Tybalt He says that it is not hard “For men so old as we to keep the peace.” – Capulet’s use of the word “we” in this context indicates the possibility that he sees the relationship between Montague and himself to be closer to a traditional “rivalry” than true enmity. Although it is possible that this is indeed how he sees the conflict between the two houses, this seems unlikely as there is a large amount of violence involved between their kin – who seem to take the conflict much more seriously than their heads of family – and Capulet seemingly does little in order to calm or quell the hostility. Evidently, it is possible that Capulet does not realise just how violent the struggle is, or simply lets it continue due to his short temper and intensely passionate nature.
The way that Capulet treats his nephew Tybalt during the party is also an event that would be initially very difficult for most of the audience to understand. He is very quick to change from calling Tybalt “gentle coz” to telling him “Be quiet, or… I’ll make you quiet”. There are a whole host of different possible explanations, but it quickly becomes quite obvious throughout the course of the rest of the play that Lord Capulet is a somewhat “fiery” sort of character, caring deeply about certain values, and quick to become either extremely angry or incredibly happy. The simplest explanation for his behaviour during this course of events is the possibility that Capulet hates nothing more than being disobeyed, particularly by members of the family: The play is set in medieval Italy, which was an intensely patriarchal society, and all members of the family were expected to answer solely to the head male.
Capulet was easily angered by his nephew disagreeing with his judgement, and Tybalt did not realise how easily his uncle could have been upset by refusing to accept his decisions, despite the fact that Tybalt himself seems to have subscribed to much of the overwhelming passion that is so common in the Capulet family. Another issue raised by the events at the party is that of just why Capulet decides not to let Tybalt challenge Romeo in the first place; Capulet even goes as far to say that he has heard that Romeo is “a virtuous and well governed youth”, which is far more complimentary than would be expected for any Capulet to say of a Montague. This may merely be just because he fears the consequences brought upon him by the Prince of Verona, which would also explain why he lost his temper with Tybalt, but it may also be genuine fairness on the part of Lord Capulet. This is a deciding factor that Shakespeare sets as a pivot in the characterisation within the play to create a combination of different emotions within the audience at the end of the play; both anger and sympathy for Capulet, as it remains questionable whether his actions were selfish or selfless.
The third key event that shows the audience a great deal of Capulet’s complex personality is that of his behaviour to Juliet when she is told about the plans for her to be married to Paris. Yet again, there are an unlimited number of different possible reasons why Capulet decided that she would be married, and again, why he lost his temper to such a high degree when she went against his commands. Up to this point in the play there was a large amount of evidence suggesting that Caplet loves his daughter greatly, and yet at this point he threatens to disown her, and calls her a “disobedient wretch”.
As his daughter, Juliet should have known her Father well, and yet she seems surprised at his anger, defending her disagreement carefully and creatively, by saying “not proud you have, but thankful that you have. Proud can I never be of what I hate, But thankful even for hate, that is meant love” – This shows that Capulet may have a very unpredictable personality, to such an extent that even his close family cannot tell whether he will react playfully or dangerously in any given situation. If this is the case, then Capulet’s character is arguably far more sinister, and therefore, in the eyes of the audience, will deserve little sympathy after the events at the end of the play. However, it is also possible that Capulet’s decision that Juliet must be married to Paris was in fact an act of love, as he believed she was morbidly upset over the loss of Tybalt and needed someone to comfort her; Lady Capulet says to Juliet after the wedding has been arranged “thou hast a careful father child, One who to put thee from thy heaviness, Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy,”. This is backed up by the idea that Capulet’s short temper stems from his desire to be obeyed at all times. Capulet is also quick to get over his grief over Tybalt as he prepares for the wedding, which is further evidence to show that his mood is very easily changeable.
Another interesting characteristic about Capulet – and one which recurs in modern stories – is that of Capulet’s discontent with his steadily increasing age. When his party begins and he reminisces with his cousin, he is shocked to be told that it was 30 years ago the last time they danced in masks (a tradition at parties in this society). This could also partially account for his mood swings and irrational behaviour when being crossed; quite possibly, he misses the time when he was going through the process of “courting” and fought with members of rival families, and perhaps he is even envious of those who are going through that phase in their life now.
Owing to the nature of the play, there are a particularly large number of characters with moderately large, important roles, which means that there will be fewer lines per character overall. To make up for the loss of character development, almost every character says many things that tells the audience things about other characters, and Capulet is no exception. At almost every point Capulet appears in the play, he makes several statements that tell the audience a lot about the background the play is set in, the events going on, and other characters. His conversation with Paris near the beginning of the play shows that Escalus, the Prince of Verona, is very highly respected and feared among the upper-class citizens of the city. From various statements he says to and about Paris, the audience can clearly tell that Paris has effectuated a significant amount of obsequious behaviour towards Capulet, and is a stereotypical “ideal husband” for most daughters in the mindsets of most stereotypical parents.
Capulet’s willingness to get into the fight at the beginning of the play demonstrates the significance and extent of the conflict between the two houses, and yet his description of Romeo at the party – “Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well governed youth”, for instance – also shows a lot about how Romeo appears in society’s eyes, and to an extent also adds to the audience’s knowledge of Romeo’s personality. Along with other members of the Capulet house, Lord Capulet also makes many statements that show the audience a good side to Tybalt, who otherwise is portrayed in a very negative way throughout the play. Naturally, he also provides a great deal of information about Juliet, both factually and by giving her opportunities to show more of her character to the audience via conversation with her father.
Capulet instils a large number and great range of different emotions upon the audience throughout the course of the play. During his first appearance, he adds a greater sense of conflict to the brawl in Verona’s streets. When he speaks to Paris, he adds an important sense of intrigue to the story, by adding an extra plot line – that of the marriage of Juliet – to the existing concept of conflict between the two houses in Verona. By having several plotlines, Shakespeare keeps the audience wanting to find out more about the story, therefore making the play more interesting to watch.
Later, at the party, Capulet provides mild and vague humour and creates a light, happy, uplifting atmosphere for the audience, which adds to the drama of the play in that it provides a contrast to the later tragedy, a technique employed very often by Shakespeare in his tragedies. In the same scene, he also continues to add balance to the audience’s opinion of the Montague and Capulet families with his attitude to Romeo, but this quickly changes to a moment of great anxiety as he argues with Tybalt. Arguably, this creates mixed emotions in the audience as many would still look upon Tybalt very unfavourably at this point in the play. Capulet also contributes directly to the tragedy of the play with the argument he has with Juliet, which causes the audience to feel a great amount of sympathy for Juliet – an extremely important emotion, that needs to be instilled in order to create the mindset the audience must be in for the ending to be powerful and moving.
Capulet is indeed a very unusual character, and by the end of the play different members of the audience – in both modern and Shakespearean times – will leave with a large range of different opinions on Capulet. These feelings can affect the entire overall feeling of the play, and can vary a large amount depending on the beliefs of each individual member of the audience. For instance, someone who has children may consider Capulet’s behaviour to Juliet during their argument to be dreadful, while others may see his actions as justifiable due to the time period, his own difficulties, and the possibility that everything he did, he did in order to make Juliet happy in the end. These different feelings can completely change the play in the eyes of the audience, as different levels of sympathy for different characters can create completely different kinds of tragedies.
It is very easy for one to pass Capulet off as a bad father with an aggressive and tyrannical personality, but there is also substantial evidence throughout the play that Lord Capulet’s motives may not be as they first appear. It could easily be said that he merely wanted what was best for his daughter, and has a personality defect in which he is easily angered when disobeyed. He may not have meant it when he spoke to his daughter in such an aggressive way. His characterisation as a rash and impulsive Italian Catholic male may have been “political correctness” on the part of Shakespeare, to appeal to a protestant Elizabethan prejudice.
He treats his Wife and the Nurse with considerably small amounts of respect, telling the Nurse to “Utter [her] gravity o’er a gossip’s bowl”. Finally, at the end of the play he is extremely upset about the events that have passed, and full of remorse for the damage caused by his actions. The emotions he shows during the “ending” phase of the play not only add to the overall tragedy, but also have the effect of concluding the play, and giving the audience to make final decisions about their opinions on who is to blame for the events that have occurred. All of Capulet’s personality aspects contribute to his character, and to the play as a whole: The play would be different entirely without the involvement of this complex Character.