Tuesday, February 24, 2009

In the language of grief in Act 4 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, what does the first quotation reveal about Capulet's attitude toward Juliet?

When the Nurse first tells Lord Capulet that Juliet has died, he doesn't believe it.  He insists on seeing her himself.  When he does, he confirms that she has been dead for some hours because her body is now cold and her joints are stiff.  He says, "Death lies on her like an untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower of all the field" (4.5.33-34).  Here, he uses a metaphor to compare Juliet to the prettiest flower in existence, and death is the frost that comes too early and kills that flower.  Therefore, despite his earlier threats to throw her out and let her starve in the streets if she disobeys him and refuses to marry Count Paris, it does seem that Lord Capulet cares for daughter.  It is telling, however, that his first comment upon her death addresses her beauty (rather than some other, more important, quality); it could indicate that he sees her as more of a possession than a person, an interpretation supported by his claim, "An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend" (3.5.203). 

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