Romeo And Juliet Parental Figures Essay

Romeo and Juliet Had No Parental Figures How did Romeo and Juliet’s parental figures shape who they are? Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play about two star-crossed lovers. The two households in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet are The Montague and The Capulet, these two households have a deep hatred for each other. Romeo, a Montague, fell in love with Juliet, a Capulet. The two of them decide to get married to forever conceal their love for each other. Was this a rational decision? It was not a rational decision but, did Romeo and Juliet have parental figures to teach them? Romeo and Juliet had no parental figures, therefore they could not make rational decisions. Romeo and Juliet’s parent were not around to raise them. Throughout the

In a conversation between the Nurse, Juliet, and Lady Capulet the Nurse says “She could have run and waddled all about, For even the day before, she broke her brow, And then my husband (God be with his soul, He was a merry man) took up the child. “Yea,” quoth he, “Dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit, Wilt thou not, Jule?” And, by my holidam, The pretty wretch left crying and said “Ay.” To see now how a jest shall come about! I warrant, an I should live a thousand years, I never should forget it” (1.3 41-51). The Nurse is speaking of a time when Juliet fell on her face when the Nurse was watching her, Lady Capulet does not remember of this because she was not around. Romeo and Juliet’s biological parents were not around to raise

Romeo looks up to the Friar as a parental figure, a person to seek in times of trouble. The Friar did not act as an appropriate parental figure to Romeo. When the Friar Marries Romeo and Juliet he says “These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness And in the taste confound the appetite: Therefore lover moderately; long love doth so; Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” (2.4, 9-15). The Friar says that these two will die tragically and that the are marrying too quickly but he does nothing about, he marries them anyways. When Romeo has been banished, Juliet looks to the Friar for advice on how to reunite with Romeo and skip her wedding with Paris. The Friar says “take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distillèd liquor drink thou off, When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse Shall keep his native progress, but surcease. No warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest. The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall Like death when he shuts up the day of life. Each part, deprived of supple government, Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death.” (4.1, 96-106). The Friar plans a very improbable scheme to help Juliet. He gives her a potion to make her look dead so she can be taken to the Capulet