Paris Flashcards
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“Little talked of love”
Paris’ love for Juliet is more like a business arrangement than anything else. He wants to marry her, but approaches her father rather than Juliet (as was the tradition). He does not really show any deep feelings for her, and even says he has ‘little talked of love”. This seems to indicate he wants a good marriage and has chosen her, rather than the two of them falling in love. The fact that he has “little” talked of love suggests that he is very inexperienced and relies on Capulet to arrange everything for him in succession. The word “love” hangs as a reminder to us that Paris isn’t in love with Juliet at all - perhaps this is why he dies at the end, to show the audience that Paris was fake all along - and the fact that Romeo kills him presents the idea of true love overcoming that which has defied and resisted
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“And doth it give me such a sight as this?”
Here, Paris is being selfish and self-centered. Upon seeing Juliet is dead, he mentions that he has waited ‘so long’, till the morning, to see Juliet, and the sight before him isn’t what he wanted to see at all. When he exclaims “it give me such a sight as this?”, it again suggests that Juliet is just an object that should “give” Paris and Capulet what they want, and no worry for Juliet, on paris’ part, seems to be shown here. Paris, much like Capulet, seems to treat Juliet as someone who should obey them, as if she is there to please them and no one else, yet her death seems to suddenly counteract this. Surprisingly, in this case, death is defying the acts of Capulet and Paris, and supporting that of Romeo and Juliet.
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“Thy face is mine and thou hast slandered it”
Paris is trying to be a strong husband and comfort Juliet, but it is awkward and void of much love at all. All he does is highlight the patriarchal views of marriage, making Juliet more determined and defiant in her plans. The marriage between Romeo and Juliet is a romantic partnership of people who view each other as equals in love. However, Paris uses vocabulary to do with individuals - “thy”, “mine” and “thou” all imply that in marriage, Paris and Juliet would be two separate individuals, not a loving couple. Earlier, Romeo spoke of Juliet using beautiful poetry; “Juliet is the sun”. Paris focuses on Juliet’s external beauty, rather than her internal qualities and the value of her soul. This scene in the play is full of irony. Paris believes Juliet is at church to prepare for her wedding to him but, instead, she is there with the intention to kill herself if need be.
