Compare And Contrast Parental Figures In Romeo And Juliet

In both films, the depiction of the parental figures is also hugely important, and for both directors, remarkably similar. Zeffirelli appears to project an inherent distrust of parental figures, fitting with the ideology of youth culture in the 1960s and 70s, in which parental figures of authority began to be widely questioned. As Deboral Cartmell proposes “the extremely young Romeo and Juliet […] can do no wrong; the older Capulets and Montagues are severely flawed.”10 Cartmell 's suggestion is one recognised by many critics who have studied Zeffirelli 's Romeo and Juliet, a film in which the young lovers ' parents very clearly hold a large part of the blame for the eventual tragic suicide. The depiction of the extremely young lovers, Hussey

Disobedient wretch!” (III.5.160) into her face, keeping the camera trained on his face contorted with fury. Moreover, Luhrmann chooses to have Capulet lash out at both the Nurse and Lady Capulet, pushing them both back aggressively as they attempt to remove him from Juliet. Again, there is a change shown in Lady Capulet 's attitude toward Juliet, but her delivery of the lines “Talk not to me, for I 'll not speak a word. / Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.” (III.5.203-4) is spoken far more coldly, both her manner and tone becoming indifferent and detached from her daughter 's heartfelt plea. However, it could also be pointed out that earlier in the scene, when Capulet enters with a swagger distinctive of what Modeness dubs “druglord-looking”13, asking “how now, wife?” (III.5.147) Lady Capulet appears to stiffen, and even looks afraid of her husband. Luhrmann 's depiction of the broken marriage of the Capulet 's is, in this way, slightly more subtle than that of Zeffirelli, suggesting that they created some sort of 'front ' to their society, hiding behind it the evidence of a rift in their marriage. This perhaps would have spoken to the youth culture of the 1990s, whose 'rebellion ' against their parents included the emergence of pop and rock music, and attempts to tear down the idea of 'keeping up appearances '. As

Zeffirelli chooses to end his film with a quiet procession through the market square, where the film opened, with the two young lovers dressed in their wedding attire. Zeffirelli 's ending seems to suggest a cyclical nature to the young lovers ' story, that they were always destined to return to where the action began, now under very different circumstances. The two rival families are present, brought together in their mourning, however, Zeffirelli chooses to leave the resolution of the conflict, for the most part, open ended. The suggestion of the two families being brought together is suggested as the two families file into the church, offering one another seeming words of comfort and embraces. Zeffirelli, and Luhrmann, chooses to omit the lines 296-304 in V.3, in which the two fathers agree to lay aside their conflict as a memorial to their children. However, Jack Jorgens asserts that Zeffirelli 's final long panning over the walls of Verona suggests “a final symbol of division, war, imprisonment, continuity with the past. If this conflict has ended, conflict itself has not.”15 Jorgens 's idea is one that might explain why this film resonated so widely within the culture it was shown, as the rebellious university students, and youthful civil rights protesters increasingly found that win each battle