The Generation Gap in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

The Generation Gap in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

An example of the language Shakespeare uses to prove the generation

gap between the characters, is this line from the play said by Juliet,

'Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, that sees into the bottom of

my grief?' This shows well how Capulet and Lady Capulet don't

understand their daughter's grief at the time and don't understand her

wish not to marry Paris. Her language shows desperation and she craves

for comfort from the Nurse, who replies 'I think it best you married

with the County.' This example shows how Shakespeare explores the

theme of there being a generation gap and the difference is opinions

between the different generations.

The generation gap between Lady Capulet and her daughter, Juliet is

first shown significantly between these two characters, which can be

seen in the language in Act 1 Scene 3. This is shown when both

characters are introduced; Juliet enters by saying 'Madam, I am here.'

The use of the word 'Madam' shows Juliet's obedience and respect for

her mother and also highlights the generation gap. The use of this

word, instead of the word 'Mother', could mean how detached Juliet and

her mother are and the greater generation gap caused because of this.

This point can be shown by the quotation 'She's not fourteen' and the

Nurse replies by saying 'I'll lay fourteen of my teeth', which proves

how little of her daughter Lady Capulet knows.

Later on in the play, in Act 3 Scene 5, the generation gap is

highlighted once again. Juliet has become more confident after she has

fallen in love with Romeo and she cleverly makes ambiguous comments

and i...

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... shown that the relationships between Romeo and Juliet

and their parents, have been quite strained and shows that the

generation gap is much wider between them, which is shown when Capulet

speaks about Juliet '…we have a curse in having her.' But later on in

the play, after the death of Juliet he realises how harsh he was to

her and how detached they were from each other, when he says 'O child!

O child! My soul and not my child!' His language conveys the sorrow he

feels for the loss of his daughter, which is shown by the exclamation

marks and how he Juliet meant so much to him. Using such language,

Shakespeare has created the idea of there being a generation gap

between the characters and how the difference in generations has led

to misunderstanding and different perspectives of love, 'Poor

sacrifices of our enmity!'