How the Relationship with Juliet and Her Parents Is Presented Throughout Romeo and Juliet Play

Many events that happen in the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are correlated to the parents of both characters. Hence in this essay I am going to explore how the relationship with Juliet and her parents is presented, focusing on the act IV of the play.

Firstly, we can all agree that Juliet and her mother have a typical aristocratic/royalty relationship: the children are closer to the nanny/governess than they are to their parents. Juliet has a formal relationship with her mother based on duty and respect, but not emotion. She shares a more intimate relationship with the Nurse. It is the Nurse that she talks to and confides in and seeks out for comfort.

Nonetheless, Lady Capulet does not seem to mind that she does not have closeness with Juliet. We can see this implied by Shakespeare during act I scene 3 and the Nurse begins telling a story about Juliet when she was younger to Lady Capulet. Lady Capulet begins to get irritated and tells the nurse to “hold thy peace”. This shows a distance between Juliet and her mother, which is typical as it is portrayed in most scenes, which both Lady Capulet and Juliet are in.

At the very start of the play, Shakespeare foreshadowed that Capulet is in no rush to get Juliet married to Paris as he feels that she is too young and would like Paris to get to know her first. A quote to support this point is, 'To soon marr'd are those so early made. She is the hopeful lady of my earth: but woo her, gentle Paris get her heart.' I believe this means that Capulet is not totally rejecting the idea of Paris marrying Juliet, but first he wants him to get to know her and win her heart.

However, Juliet begins the play as obedient to her parents.  After saying that she "dreams not of" the honor of marriage, she promises to consider it, but to be controlled by her parent's consent. She is a dutiful young lady. But then everything changes in the relationship between the Capulets and their daughters because of two things: Juliet meets Romeo, and Tybalt is killed. This all causes an insurmountable rift in the parents’ relationship with Juliet.

Once she was modest and obedient; now she is headstrong and dismissive of her parents' authority. Her mood changes from grief for Romeo to defiance & deception of her parents. Shakespeare is clearly trying to get the audience’s attention by making Juliet says, “He shall not make me there a joyful bride”. She is furious and openly defies her parents about the marriage plan – something that would have been shocking and with unheard of at that Elizabethan time.

It is important to mind the fact that the play is set during the Elizabethan period, when daughters had to marry according to their fathers’ wishes. This was because men were seen as more dominant than women. Women could refuse to get married to her chosen husband but at a price. If women refused to respect their father's wishes then they could be disowned and banished from their family household. This behavior is the same as Lord Capulet’s towards his daughter as shown in the passage that he says in act III scene 5 line 177-198. The Elizabethans audience by then would have sympathy with him as parents had absolute authority over their children at this time and arranged a very good marriage, as was usual at the time.