The Capulet Family in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

The Capulet Family in Romeo and Juliet

The Capulet family is one of pride and high social standing. It

consists of Lord and Lady Capulet, their young daughter Juliet, and their

kinsman Tybalt. They have a nurse, as well, who has taken care if Juliet

since she was born. They get along quite well, yet, like all families they

have their differences.

However, one thing that happens frequently when two members of the

family disagree on something, is that usually someone gives in to their "

superior," regardless if they agree or not. One example is when Romeo

shows up at the Capulets' party uninvited and Tybalt wants to throw him out.

Lord Capulet objects to this by saying, "He shall be endured...I say he

shall...Am I the master here or you?" For a little bit, Tybalt argues, but

he very soon backs down and lets Capulet have his way.

Perhaps the reason why this happens is because the "inferior"

person is somewhat intimidated by the "superior." This intimidation that

some of the characters produce on each other shows that there is not a

great deal of communication in the family. Throughout Act I, there were

several more examples of characters yielding to others and not standing up

for what they believe. For instance, when Lady Capulet brought up the idea

of Juliet marrying Paris, Juliet just went along with the concept , even

though that was possibly not what she wanted.

An even more significant instance of such a thing occurring is the

fact that Juliet feared to tell her parents that she had fallen in love

with Romeo, a Montague. She knew that if she informed them of how she felt,

they would get angry and maybe disown her, just because of their hate for

all Montagues.

That is another of the Capulet family's flaws. They are rather

narrow-minded because of their continuing, senseless conflict with the

Montagues. Both households are of equal fault in this case, but that only

proves that the two families are alike in that way. Even still, if the

Capulets believe that they truly are the more dignified, they should have

ceased their dispute earlier and prevented their daughter's unhappiness

(and eventually death).