Lord Capulet Flashcards
Rough plan
Opening - protective, loving
Middle - controlling
End - seemingly remorseful
Opening quotes
‘Let two more summers wither’
‘My will to her consent is but a part’
‘You are a princox; go: Be quiet, or – More light, more light! For shame! I’ll make you quiet.’
Opening intentions
Shows the failure of older generations to be progressive and make logical decisions in regards to conflict
Shakespeare uses Capulet’s inner conflict with regards to Juliet, to emphasise the struggles societal and patriarchal expectations create which can result in tragic outcomes.
Middle quotes
‘Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love: I think she will be ruled in all respects by me.’
‘Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!/ You tallow face’
‘Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; My fingers itch’
Middle - intentions
Shakespeare demonstrates the lack of autonomy young women have when it comes to marriage due to parents feeling the pressure to marry their daughters off for material gain
Excessive control men hold over women
End quotes
‘Alack! my child is dead; and with my child my joys are buried.’
‘mis-sheathed’
‘O brother Montague, give me thy hand’
End intentions
Shakespeare exposes the tragic consequences of feuds and conflicts and how they might be detrimental to those hardly involved. Perhaps, he is trying to implore the audience to make amends before it is too late.
‘Let two more summers wither’
- seems protective over daughter as he defies societal norms of the rich nobility marrying off their daughters young for transactional reasons
- imagery of nature and noun ‘summer’ connotes warmth and tranquility, conveying a friendly tone
- one may argue this natural imagery suggests he is aligned with the natural order and his duties within a patriarchal society so this foreshadows his later upset
‘My will to her consent is but a part’
- ostensibly cares about his daughters opinion as he gives her some autonomy and agency
- undercut with irony of Prologue considering he is a forceful, authoritative figure later on in the play when he forces her to marry Paris
- he may pretend to care as Capulet knows of Juliet’s subservience and obedience hence him being kind will make her have to follow him
‘You are a princox; go: Be quiet, or – More light, more light! For shame! I’ll make you quiet.’
- when Tybalt attempts to combat with Romeo at the party, Capulet is protective over his social reputation
- derogatory term ‘printox’ conveys annoyance at this volatile behaviour
- demonstrates the futility of the feud, although he is too blind to apply this to all aspects of his life
- threatens to ‘make you quiet’ to placate him, a method of which the audience are familiar through Prince Escalus who failed to diffuse a violence situation with violence
- indication of failures of older generation to make more progressive and logical driven decisions when it comes to conflict
‘Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love: I think she will be ruled in all respects by me.’
- controlling as he arranges the marriage
- statement which makes a sharp contrast to his previous self in Act 1
- now Juliet has no autonomy, and through the term ‘will’ we see his strong conviction indicating that he may use force if things do not go his way
- has succumbed to the societal expectations of the patriarchy
‘Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!/ You tallow face’
- frustration emphasised through series of misogynistic epithets/insults which evoke patriarchal views permeating insults
- insults her virginity as a ‘green-sickness carion’
- then calls her a prostitute ‘baggage’, or useless
- his insults her lack of and excess of sexual interactions which does not make sense as this anger has clouded his judgement
- calling his own daughter ugly is very mean
‘Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; My fingers itch’
- as Juliet refuses to marry Paris, his frustration increases
- triadic listing of strong imperatives refraining her from speaking altogether represents the lack of autonomy she has
- ‘fingers itch’ is a reference to strike her, showing a continued reliance on violence to resolve an issue throughout the play, which never appears to bring positive outcomes
‘Alack! my child is dead; and with my child my joys are buried.’
- feels immense distraught and regret with Juliet’s death, despite him threatening to disown her last Act
- repetition of ‘my child’ shows love and his changeable nature
- the ‘joys’ of Juliet are gone which he misses
- however this ostensible penitence is undercut as ‘joys are buried’ may refer to this marriage and this benefits it could have brought
- feelings act as a catalyst for realisation of his actions
‘mis-sheathed’
- calls the dagger Juliet to take her life mis-sheathed
- he may just be upset, and believes this shouldn’t have happened because of him
- or inability to grasp magnitude of what has happened to Juliet, perhaps indicative of a lack of understanding
‘O brother Montague, give me thy hand’
- cyclical structure, as mentioned in prologue it takes the death of them for the older generation to recognise futility of conflict with one another
- emphasises power of fate and perhaps how it is didactic
- use of familial term ‘brother’ brings attention to conscious effort to make amends as does his physical outreach
- moment of catharsis provides sense of resolution for audience
Overview
Shakespeare uses the character of Lord Capulet as a vehicle to indict the excessive control men hold over women, in particular fathers over daughters in this Patriarchal society. Initially, Capulet is presented as particularly protective over his daughter however, he becomes increasingly controlling over Juliet in relation to her marriage to Paris. It is only in Juliet’s death, a result of Capulet’s feud, that he appears remorseful over his actions, albeit too late.
