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Gender role reversal in romeo and juliet
The role of the parent in romeo and juliet tragedy
The role of the parent in romeo and juliet tragedy
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Juliet’s nurse and Lady Capulet clearly hold dissimilar maternal characteristics, evident through their conversation with Juliet about marriage. Lady Capulet neglect to remember her own daughter’s age emphasises how she has made decisions entirely upon the idea of protecting her social status or to increase it even at the dispense of her daughter’s feelings. This is apparent when Lady Capulet states “Here in Verona, ladies of esteem. Are made already mothers.” By using the word “esteem”, Lady Capulet is indirectly suggesting how Juliet’s delay in getting married will cause her to be looked down upon, thus lowering her families’ reputation in society. Therefore, Lady Capulet may seem as a selfish figure who cares more of her standings in Verona than her daughter’s emotions. …show more content…
The nurse has an amiable attitude when talking with and about Juliet, consequently providing a sense of radiating innocence; making the nurse the antithesis of Lady Capulet as Juliet’s mother figure. This is apparent when the nurse exclaims “What lamb! What ladybird!” The names “lamb” and “ladybird” connotes a real sense of endearment and illustrates the love the nurse has for Juliet, almost as if Juliet were her own daughter. By using the two nicknames, the audience not only finds how the nurse is extremely close to Juliet but is also able to perceive the tense formality between the actual mother and
The Nurse has a stronger relationship with Juliet over her own mother, Lady Capulet. The nurse really cares for Juliet and loves her like a daughter because she lost her daughter Susan. “Susan and she-God rest all Christian souls!-/Were of an age: well, Susan is with God…”(Ⅰ,ⅲ,20-21). The Nurse lost her daughter, Susan, and she was born on the same day as Juliet. This leads me to believe that the Nurse must be replacing her own loss with the life of Juliet. The Nurse did do many things that only mothers do. “She was wean’d,-I never shall forget it…”(Ⅰ,ⅲ,26). This quote says that the nurse will never forget the day that Juliet was weaned off of her breast milk. Breastfeeding is something
Conversely, Juliet's mother is stiff and cold towards, and uses Juliet as a tool to make the family name look good. As we learn in towards the beginning of the story Juliet is the last child of the Capulet line, and as a result her mother also puts pressure on Juliet for having a two year engagement with the Prince. Nurse obviously seems to be closer to Juliet, than her biological mother. Hence, this is yet another character foil present in Shakespeare’s play involves Juliet’s nurse and Lady Capulet (Juliet’s mother.)
Juliet's Nurse is first introduced to the play in Act I Scene 3. It is
At this point the nurse now tries to step in and defend Juliet. She is very protective of Juliet as she treats Juliet like her own child and is more of a mother figure to Juliet than her own real mother Lady Capulet. Lord Capulet again reacts violently. I believe this is justified of Lord Capulet as the nurse should not get involved in family issues
Firstly, Juliet is misguided by the Nurse – a bawdy woman who is too caught up in her own sentimental feelings to support and direct Juliet through hers. She is responsible for encouraging Juliet’s marriage with Romeo (her lover) shortly after they meet, despite knowing that
To begin with, as Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet is never around to have the qualities to raise a child. Lady Capulet’s inactive relationship with Juliet affects the bond Juliet could have had with her mother. ‘Uninvolved parents tend to have little knowledge of what their child is doing’ (Morin: “Four Types of Parenting Styles”). In the play when Lady Capulet sees Juliet crying, she thinks she is crying over Tybalt’s death when she has no idea that she is weeping over Romeo’s banishment from Verona. If she knew more about Juliet’s whereabouts she may not have said: “Evermore weeping for your cousin's
Instead it is the wife’s duty to inform her child that she must prepare herself for marriage. Lady Capulet was married at an age younger than Juliet is. She says, "By my count I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid" (1.3.73-75). It is time Juliet leaves her nest and adds to the family’s fortune. The mother is the one to tell Juliet this news because she was put into the same situation as her daughter. During the ...
The nurse acts as a parental figure to Juliet, where she cares for her as if Juliet is her own child, and gives advice and help whenever she is in need for it. The nurse believes that Juliet is still gentle and young, therefore is always on the look out for Juliet, making sure she doesn 't get hurt. The nurse 's motherly love is highlighted primarily when, lack of love is shown between Juliet and her mother. Lady Capulet is shown to be neglecting love towards Juliet. This is seen in Act 1 Scene 3, when Lady Capulet sent The Nurse out and they immediately calls her back in as the Nurse knows Juliet so well. “Nurse come back again”. The strong relationship between The nurse and Juliet is so strong, that the Nurse knows Juliet better than her mother. Another factor showing the lack of love is when Juliet uses the word ' 'Madam ' ' formaly towards her mother. This points out that there is no real relationship towards Juliet and Lady Capulet; the only relationship between them is blood and name. Shakespeare portrays a distant and cold relationship between Juliet and lady Capulet. This is juxtaposed with the affectionate and loving relationship between the nurse and Juliet. The nurse helps Juliet to be with her love Romeo, even after knowing they are from feuding families. The Nurse being a Capulet servant has to side with Juliet’s father when she tells her to marry Paris “I think it best you married with the
Considerable expectations are placed on Juliet due to her gender. As a female, Juliet was expected to marry the man of her family’s choosing, granting her no control over her future. Capulet and County Paris discuss whether Juliet is fit to be a bride. Although age plays a factor in this decision, Capulet is deciding his daughter’s fate based on the expected gender roles of her being the sole female daughter of the family, “ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;/Let two more summers wither in their pride/
Her relationship with Juliet is very distant and weak. This is revealed by when she calls the nurse to ‘’come back again’’ when talking to Juliet. She becomes nervous and feels like she couldn’t talk to Juliet without the presence of the nurse.This suggests that she’s not used to being alone with Juliet and relies on the nurse to do the parenting. In
Nurse has betrayed Juliet, she and Friar Lawrence were the two who knew and believed in Romeo and Juliet's love, and Nurse abandons Juliet in a way in this scene, telling her to marry Paris, and forget Romeo. I think that when she is saying this that she is thinking of herself, and of what she could lose if they were discovered, but at the same time she was thinking of Juliet's well-being, and that she would be safe in Verona, with Paris: "I think that you are happy in this second match, For it excels your first; or, if it did not, Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were As living here and you no use of him. " Lady Capulet shows a very different love for her daughter to the love which Nurse shows her, she has hardly looked after Juliet for much of her life, and is distanced from her. Around the period of time when the play was set there was a social tradition for the upper classes to have a 'wet nurse'. It would not have been accepted in soc... ...
She arranges the wedding of Juliet, exiting the Capulet household to locate Romeo to inform him about “[proposing] to [Juliet], which [she thought was] the gentlemanly thing to do”. Now that the two ‘star-crossed’ lovers were married, their bond in the sense of love was absolutely unbreakable, introducing more unique actions they would commit simply to physically be near each other. She was constantly supportive of Juliet’s feelings and strived to “find Romeo To comfort [her]” whenever they were separated due to the town’s banishing of Romeo. Coordinating the unity of Romeo and Juliet under the circumstances of two families possessing an immortal hatred for each other wielded many risks and potential sacrifices for the Nurse. The risk resides within her efforts to support Juliet in pursuing a relationship with Romeo and the irony of the second quote. Her motive to find Romeo was simply for the sake of “comforting” Juliet, however taking the risk of having her cling to this long distant relationship resulted in an abundance of tragedies rather than the long awaited comfort. She risked her connection with the Capulet family, as well as her personal relationship with Juliet. Due to the Nurse, Juliet was submerged into an environment of a true ‘star-crossed’ love, causing her thoughts and emotions to be hindered by the influence of her new
Considerable expectations are placed on Juliet due to her gender. As a female, Juliet is expected to marry the man of her family’s choosing, granting her no control over her future. Capulet and County Paris discuss whether Juliet is fit to be a bride. Although age plays a factor in this decision, Capulet is deciding his daughter’s fate based on the expected gender roles of her being the sole female daughter of the family, “ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;/Let two more summers wither in their pride/ Ere we
The Nurse was perfect for the job because she had just lost her little baby Susan, and The Nurse will now have unwanted breast milk that is ideal for Juliet as Lady Capulet does not want the role of breast feeding. The relationship between The Nurse and Juliet is like a mother daughter relationship, she is like Juliet surrogate mother towards Juliet. The nurse possesses many qualities. For example, she is very hearty towards Juliet, kind, protective, compassionate and a loving lady. In some parts of the play The Nurse can be long-winded, insensitive, arrogant, insecure and stupid at times but she loves Juliet very much, partially as she imagines that Juliet is a substitute for her own daughter Susan.
The audience’s first impression of Juliet however, is through her interaction with her mother (Lady Capulet) and the Nurse. From the Nurse’s remarks, the audience learns that Juliet is thirteen and “Come Lammas-eve at night shall [Juliet turn] fourteen” (Act I.3.18-9). As Juliet enters the presence of her mother and the Nurse, Shakespeare portrays Juliet as a very faithful daughter. When summoned by the Nurse, Juliet comes promptly then responds politely to her mother “Madam, I am here, what is your will?” (Act I.3.7). When Juliet refers to her mother as ‘madam” (Act I.3.7), the audience also gets the impression of Juliet being compliant to her elder’s wishes. This can be observed when her mothe...