Explore the role and character of Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. Consider in what ways he contributes to the dramatic impact of the play at key moments, in addition to his dramatic function and characterisation

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Joseph Fitzpatrick, 11C                Page  of                 

English GCSE Coursework: Romeo and Juliet

“Explore the role and character of Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. Consider in what ways he contributes to the dramatic impact of the play at key moments, in addition to his dramatic function and characterisation”

Lord Capulet is one of the more complex characters in Romeo and Juliet. Unlike many Shakespearean characters, he does not follow a simple formula of being on one side of a simple two-sided conflict throughout the entire course of the play. Of course, he is the head of one of the parties involved in the conflict that the entire play revolves around, but his ethics and sense of morality are a key feature that move the plot of the story forwards; decisions that he makes  have an incredible impact on the shape that the story takes on multiple occasions, from his rudeness to his nephew Tybalt, to his mistreatment of his daughter Juliet.

In terms of the plot of the play, Capulet is one of the most important characters. It is partially his fault that the conflict between the two houses is taking place – a conflict which, if removed, would have meant that the romance between Romeo and Juliet would have been a happy one.

Capulet’s passionate nature is ascertained very early on in the play, when he says to his Wife “What noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!”

In the second scene, he is shown to be fair and just, when he says to Paris “But Montague is bound as well as I, In penalty alike;”, and later goes on to show how much he cares about his daughter and is determined she will live a happy life, as he says “My child is yet a stranger in the world,” and soon afterwards “too soon marred are those so early made [mothers]”. He calls her his “hopeful lady of my earth”, and implores Paris to “woo” her before they arrange the marriage. Despite the events later on in the play, Capulet’s behaviour in this scene is arguably quite commendable from a modern perspective; In a society where Fathers are expected to make decisions for their daughter without consent, Capulet chooses instead – at this point, at least – to give his daughter a fighting chance of avoiding this marriage. In his mindset at this moment, he wants what is best for his daughter, which was somewhat uncommon in this kind of society.

His attitude to Tybalt at the party near the beginning of the play caused Romeo to be able to temporarily avoid conflict, but it also meant that the conflict – which Capulet’s actions had made inevitable – would be much bloodier and also take place after the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. This course of action on the part of Capulet caused much more suffering than would have otherwise have been the case. However, it could be said that his actions were in fact honourable – considering the fact that Romeo is the son of his greatest enemy, but he chooses to turn against his own nephew in order to prevent a conflict. Of course, these actions on the part of Capulet arguably could be due to the fact that he wished to avoid the punishment that the prince threatened him with, or could be because he is so caught up in the party that he has developed a sense of optimism that would cause him to oppose any kind of conflict, but it is quite possible that it could be that he genuinely does not want any more unnecessary bloodshed to take place.

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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 ...

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