Lord Capulet Flashcards
- Speaking to Paris about Juliet’s age (A1S2)
“My child is yet a stranger in the world; she hath not seen the change of fourteen years.”
• What: Shows protective attitude towards Juliet
• How:
• Metaphor “stranger in the world” = innocence, lack of experience
• Possessive “my child” = fatherly ownership
• Gentle tone + modal verb “hath” = authority softened by care
• Why: Contrasts later aggression → early view of Juliet as delicate, naive
• Themes: generational divide, gender, family loyalty, social divide
- Responding to Paris’ marriage proposal (A1S2)
“Let two more summers wither in their pride / Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.”
• What: Resists early marriage, wants to delay
• How:
• Seasonal metaphor = Juliet as unripe fruit
• Personification of “summers” withering = passage of time & decay
• Rhyme (“pride” / “bride”) = lyrical authority
• Why: Signals brief wisdom → prioritising youth over tradition, foreshadowing reversal
• Themes: time, gender, family, social divide
- Talking about Romeo at the ball (A1S5)
“Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well-govern’d youth.”
• What: Praises Romeo’s reputation
• How:
• Epithets “virtuous”, “well-govern’d” = civic admiration
• Irony: future son-in-law, yet will later curse him
• “Brags” personifies Verona = collective social voice
• Why: Shows early rationality → respect for social reputation over family pride
• Themes: appearance vs reality, honour, social divide, conflict
- Shutting down Tybalt’s fury at the ball (A1S5)
“Am I the master here, or you? Go to.”
• What: Demands obedience from Tybalt
• How:
• Rhetorical question = asserts hierarchy
• Imperative “Go to” = Elizabethan verbal slap
• Irony: trying to prevent conflict, yet driven by pride
• Why: Shows Capulet’s obsession with status/control → foreshadows later tyranny
• Themes: honour, conflict, generational divide, family loyalty
- Planning Juliet’s marriage (A3S4)
“She shall be married to this noble earl.”
• What: Declares Juliet will marry Paris
• How:
• Modal “shall” = non-negotiable → strips Juliet’s agency
• Epithet “noble” → defines Paris by status, not love
• Harsh certainty contrasts earlier softness
• Why: Love replaced by transaction → Juliet becomes object in patriarchal order
• Themes: gender, social divide, love vs hate, generational divide
- Capulet decides wedding will be Thursday (A3S4)
“I think she will be ruled in all respects by me.”
• What: Assumes Juliet’s obedience
• How:
• Third-person objectification → removes Juliet’s voice
• “Ruled” = political language → father as monarch
• Irony: she’s already married → audience knows truth
• Why: Dramatic irony emphasises gap between generations → control fuels rebellion
• Themes: generational divide, gender, individuals vs society, appearance vs reality
- Exploding at Juliet’s refusal (A3S5)
“Hang thee, young baggage! disobedient wretch!”
• What: Verbally abuses Juliet for refusing marriage
• How:
• Asyndetic insult chain = raw fury
• “Baggage” = objectifying metaphor → emotional burden
• Alliteration (“disobedient…wretch”) → harsh, punchy rhythm
• Exclamatives = emotional volatility
• Why: Love flips to hate → patriarchal control breaks down when challenged
• Themes: gender, conflict, generational divide, family loyalty
- Threatening Juliet with abandonment (A3S5)
“Hang, beg, starve, die in the streets.”
• What: Vows to disown her
• How:
• Asyndetic listing → torrent of cruelty
• Monosyllables = sharp violence
• Imagery of homelessness → total exile from family
• Irony: “die” becomes prophetic
• Why: Pushes Juliet toward deception & suicide → family love becomes deadly
• Themes: death, individuals vs society, family loyalty, gender
- Pleased Juliet seems obedient (A4S2)
“My heart is wondrous light / Since this same wayward girl is so reclaim’d.”
• What: Thinks Juliet has repented
• How:
• Irony: Juliet’s “obedience” is false
• “Reclaim’d” = metaphor of ownership/control
• **Juxtaposition of “light” & “wayward” → from chaos to calm
• Comic tone → false sense of security
• Why: Audience feels tragic tension → joy built on deception
• Themes: appearance vs reality, gender, individuals vs society
- Reacting to Juliet’s ‘death’ (A4S5)
“Death lies on her like an untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.”
• What: Grieves her as a fragile, beautiful daughter
• How:
• Nature metaphor → Juliet = flower killed by death
• **Juxtaposition “sweetest” / “frost” = innocence vs destruction
• Imagery = pastoral + poetic → masks guilt
• Tone of tenderness after previous rage = hypocrisy
• Why: His grief is real, but his role in her demise is hidden → emotional complexity
• Themes: death, appearance vs reality, love vs hate, family loyalty
- Mourning Juliet (A4S5)
“O child! O child! My soul, and not my child! / Dead art thou!”
• What: Expresses devastation over Juliet’s death
• How:
• Repetition of “O child!” = grief-laden stammer
• **Metaphor “soul, not my child” → spiritual collapse
• **Exclamatives + caesura = emotional disintegration
• Religious echo → death as eternal loss
• Why: Emphasises transformation from control to regret → tragic futility
• Themes: death, family loyalty, fate, time
- Final moment at tomb (A5S3)
“O brother Montague, give me thy hand.”
• What: Reconciles with Montague after tragedy
• How:
• **Symbolic gesture → peace born from loss
• Juxtaposition: “brother” / former enemy = collapse of feud
• **Short clause = solemn sincerity
• Irony: death achieves what reason couldn’t
• Why: Shakespeare critiques senseless violence → love and death force reconciliation
• Themes: love vs hate, fate, generational divide, social divide, individuals vs society
