Capulet's Treatment of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

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Capulet's Treatment of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In the sixteenth century a father's position in the family was very different to today, a father's position in the family would be as if he was the master and not a person that a child would be able to talk to. Children would be expected to honour and obay their parents and be spoken to and not answer back to their parents or any elder person. In marriage man and his wife would be put together for good family alliances or one of the families might gain property or wealth. In the sixteenth century this would be normal but in todays life children are almost equal to their parents and love is shared between the family and this is almost always the reason for marriage. We can see that Lord Capulet wants to be treated with respect and have a higher authority than the other family members. A good example would be in Act 3 Scene 5 "Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!" This is how Capulet speaks to his daughter when she disobays his request of her marriage to Paris, Juliet would be considered a young woman. In modern times a young girl of fourteen would not be expected to be thinking of marriage and she would be thinking about her education and she would still be considered a young child. As head of the household Capulet would expect for the family to follow his rules and what he says, it would not be an option for his wife or child to answer him back. This would be the same in all households of the sixteenth century, but in todays times a man and wife would be seen as equal partners and in some cases the wife might be of higher status than the husband. Capulet would want Juliet to marry Paris for her own benifits, as Paris comes from a rich well known family and as a father Capulet only wants the best for his only child. In scene 4 when Capulet is

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