Family

The Theme in the Work

In scene 1 of Act I, the feud appears in the servants before the masters. In scene 2 of Act I, Capulet tells Paris that his will is only a part of Juliet's consent, and in scene 3 of Act I the mother and the Nurse speak of marriage as honor and advantage, and Juliet answers that she will look, going no further than her mother allows.

In scene 2 of Act II, Juliet asks Romeo to stop being a Montague: the family name is the barrier between them. In scene 4 of Act III, Capulet fixes the marriage to Paris without having spoken to his daughter, and in scene 5 of Act III he explodes when she refuses: he threatens to disinherit her, the mother abandons her, and the Nurse advises marrying.

In scene 2 of Act IV, Juliet feigns obedience, and her father, relieved, wants to bring the wedding forward. In scene 5 of Act IV, the house of the feast turns into a house of mourning. In scene 3 of Act V, the peace between the two houses comes with the bodies of the children: Montague promises a golden statue for Juliet, and Capulet answers with another for Romeo.

The weight of the houses also falls on those who are neither Montague nor Capulet. In scene 1 of Act III, Lady Capulet, seeing her nephew Tybalt dead, asks the Prince that Romeo pay with his life, and Montague answers that Romeo was a friend of Mercutio and only did what the law would do in killing Tybalt; the Prince, who lost a relative in the brawl, banishes Romeo and fines both houses. In scene 3 of Act V, Montague tells the Prince that his wife died that night of grief over their son's exile, and Capulet, before his dead daughter, says the dagger has mistaken its sheath, for his sheath is empty on Romeo's back, the son of Montague, and the dagger has sheathed itself in Juliet's breast.

None of the adults acts from declared malice, and that is what makes the family the heaviest force in the play: father, mother, and Nurse each want, in their own way, Juliet's good, and it is this wanting, without listening, that closes her way out. The final peace only comes when the children can no longer receive it.

Where It Appears

• Scene 1 of Act I: Servants of the two houses provoke each other in a square in Verona, and Capulet and Montague arrive at the brawl that Benvolio was trying to separate.
• Scene 2 of Act I: Capulet tells Paris that Juliet, not yet fourteen, is too young and that he must first win her heart, for a father's will is only part of the consent.
• Scene 3 of Act I: Lady Capulet asks Juliet what she thinks of marrying and introduces Paris as a suitor; Juliet answers that she will look to see whether she likes him, going no further than her mother consents.
• Scene 2 of Act II: In the garden, Juliet laments that Romeo bears the name of a Montague, the enemy house of hers, and he reveals himself and exchanges vows with her.
• Scene 4 of Act III: Capulet tells Paris there has been no time to speak with his daughter, who is in mourning for Tybalt, but fixes the wedding for Thursday, certain she will obey him.
• Scene 5 of Act III: Lady Capulet announces the marriage to Paris and Juliet refuses; Capulet explodes and threatens to disinherit her, and the mother abandons her.
• Scene 2 of Act IV: Juliet returns from the friar's cell and, on her knees, asks her father's pardon for the defiance and promises obedience; relieved, Capulet wants to bring the wedding forward to the next morning.
• Scene 5 of Act IV: The Nurse finds Juliet motionless and calls the parents; Capulet finds her cold and says that Death is his son-in-law, and everyone dissolves in lament.
• Scene 3 of Act V: After the deaths in the tomb, Friar Laurence tells everything before the Prince, and Capulet and Montague seal the peace.

Passages

Capulet, to Paris, in Act I:

Juliet, in the garden:

Capulet, believing his daughter reconciled: