William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

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Romeo & Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's most popular play. It is the most retold and reiterated since it deals with everyday aspects of life such as love, tragedy, and in particular, family. The roles of parents and "substitute" parents are important in this play. The biological parents of Romeo and Juliet are supposed to act as role models and guides for their children, but ironically, it is the substitute parents, Friar Laurence and the Nurse, who are only seemingly supportive of Romeo and Juliet; unfortunately, neither the biological nor substitute parents could prevent the tragic ending.

Juliet's biological parents, in particular, do not play the role of guides or role models, as any parent should; Romeo's parents are very seldom discussed. Instead, Juliet's parents are deceptive. Juliet's father is deliberately deceiving her by making Juliet believe that she is going to choose her own husband when he has already chose the County Paris and is attempting to get Juliet to fall for him. He says to the County, "But woo her gentle Paris, get her heart. My will to her consent is but a part and she agreed within her scope of choice, lies my consent and fair according voice." This implies that Juliet is na?ve and blind. This deception by her father leads to a control factor in that her parents are controlling her. An example of the amount of control they have over Juliet is the arranged marriage they are forcing onto Juliet and how she has to resort to faking her own death to get out of it. Juliet is very smart and brave to do this. Death is the only way out of it for Juliet because if she remains alive, her parents will severely punish her for disobeying them and continue on with the wedding, regardless. This is an example of the conditional love they hold for Juliet. If she disobeys them, she is heavily punished and still has to do what she is told out of spite. If she abides by her parents' wishes like she does when she pretends to agree to marry Paris and apologizes to her father, she is loved and praised. Juliet's parents, more so than Romeo's, are poor examples as parents because of deceptive and controlling attitudes and the conditional love they present to Juliet.

Friar Laurence and the Nurse of Juliet seem to be very supportive of Romeo and Juliet, unlike the biological parents.

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