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How Juliet is treated by her parents and the Nurse
The representation of women in Romeo and Juliet are typical of the social
expectations of the 16th century
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Women
were not as well educated as men and were not provided the same job
opportunities, often it was the desire of wealthy parents that their daughters
should get married young, often to men considerably older than themselves, in
order for them to have a secure future
...

Capulet speaks to Juliet as though she were an object, saying that his own
daughter is ‘unworthy’ of marrying Paris as she is objecting to the wedding which
she is being forced to go though
...
The fact that Juliet remains polite regardless of
her father’s anger and repeated insults shows how women were expected to act
...
’ Juliet pleads with her father to hear her opinion
and the reason why she is unable to marry Paris, for she has already married
Romeo, however he speaks over her saying, ‘Speak not, reply not, do not
answer me
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’ Lady
Capulet, too, is on the side of Capulet believing that Juliet is acting irrationally
and that she is selfish
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This is suggestive of a violent relationship between the couple, something
common in the 16th century as men displayed their dominance over women
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He mistakes Juliets emotion as sorrow at the
loss of her cousin and compares her feelings to the sea ‘For still thy eyes, which I
may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears;’ this is one way in which he shows his calm and good
natured feelings towards Juliet
...
Evidence to support this comes from the change in tone and attitude towards
her when she admits that she does not wish to marry Paris, exclaiming ‘doth she
not count her blest
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Referring to Juliet as a ‘greensickness carrion’ refers to her complexion and to her worth, with ‘green-sickness’
being an illness affecting young women at the time, leaving them pale, and
carrion being off cuts of disregarded and unsellable meat
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These insults show where women stand in society as it is not
challenged by any of the other women in the room, a man has ultimate power
over a woman and that Juliet is incapable of arguing against what he is saying
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He repeats the adverb ‘out’ several times in order to emphasise the
point which, ultimately, both Juliet’s parents stand by, if she does not marry Paris
then she is no longer their daughter
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This is
further highlighted by the exclamation of ‘hang, beg, starve, die in the streets’
showing his disregard for his daughters safety or happiness
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Juliet’s protests to the marriage between herself and Paris could also be
representative of the ideals upheld by people in the 16th century
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The
knowledge of Juliet spending a night with Romeo
would potentially have caused Paris to call off the marriage on account of her
impurity
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This can be seen as key to the events of the play, as
events would have played out very differently if Capulet agreed to let Juliet stay
with Romeo
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- I love this paragraph,
try and include it because it will definitely improve your mark! twist it to
show Lady Capulet as having a fatal flaw? possibly of being a woman and
powerless to over ride what her husband is saying?
The religious imagery used is representative of the social attitudes at the time,
which further contribute to the idea that women should be pure when they marry
...
This shows his disregard and hatred for his daughter that
he believes that she is going against what God wanted her destiny to be and, in
doing so, becoming a curse on the people who raised her
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He is
unreasonable and quick to become angry with her
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This shows
that women had no opportunities in life apart from marrying a good man and
living off his wealth and charity, as well as this, women were expected to be
passive
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Capulet is not against hitting women as he says ‘my fingers itch’ suggesting that
he is so angry that he wants to hit Juliet for her disobedience
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The fact
that Lady Capulet does not attempt to stop this from happening shows that it is
not uncommon for his anger to result in violence towards women and could
suggest a violent relationship between Capulet and Lady Capulet
...
She remains quiet and passive for the majority of the
argument showing that she knows how to act as a respectable woman of her
class is expected to
...
Lady Capulet is
the one who is sent to tell Juliet the news of her wedding suggesting that the two
women have a closer relationship than Juliet has with her father
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When Juliet makes it clear to her mother that she does not wish to marry Paris,
Lady Capulet places the responsibility on Juliet’s shoulders and says ‘tell him so
yourself,’ in anticipation of Capulets anger
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Juliet has a more maternal relationship with her Nurse which was not uncommon
in the 16th century as the Nurse often acted as a mother through the child’s early
years
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’ The Nurse
is aware of Juliet’s marriage to Romeo, having helped organise it and conceal it
from Lady Capulet and Capulet
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The Nurse says that Capulet has
wrongly judged his daughter and exclaiming that ‘You are to blame, my lord, to
rate her so’ therefore showing her defence for Juliets actions and recognising the
injustice
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Regardless of the
Nurse’s defence of Juliet to her father, she ultimately agrees with their proposition

once both Capulet and Lady Capulet have left the room
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Saying ‘I think it best you married with the county’ shows that she is not
enforcing her views on Juliet but is instead making her aware of her position in
the matter
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As the Nurse is aware of the situation, Juliet is more likely
to listen to her and respond better to the caring way in which the Nurse
approaches the conversation
...
Towards the start of the play it is made clear to the
audience that the money which the Capulets possess is not as significant as they
would like it to be, the marriage between Juliet and Paris has been designed to
bring more money and honor to their family and so a lot of pressure rests on
Juliet
...

The Nurse and Juliet have a close relationship and Juliet trusts her, it is for this
reason that she turns to the Nurse for help as soon as her parents have said their
piece
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The Nurse, naively believes that she has convinced Juliet that marrying Paris is
the right thing to do and so allows her to leave to visit Friar Lawrence and beg
forgiveness for the sins against her father
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The Nurse understands the social situation more than most women in the play as
she is a servant to the wealthy family
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The influence she has over
Juliet however, is due to her kind nature and not due to her social standing, she
genuinely wants Juliet to be happy, ‘I think you are happy in this second match’
and she is able to see the good in everyone
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Romeo’s
loving and poetic language when regarding Juliet suggests that it is only the older
generation who believe that women are worth less than men
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