Topic > How Shakespeare Presents Family Feud and Relationships in Romeo and Juliet

In the context of human society, a family is a group of people related to each other by blood, marriage, or other relationships. As human society continues to exist, the concept of family will continue to exist. As Wanda Hope Carter said, “Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches.” In Romeo and Juliet, this concept is demonstrated many times throughout the entire novel and is one of the main reasons for Romeo and Juliet's tragic fate. The most obvious effect of family relationships on Romeo and Juliet is the limitation of their will because they are unable to act. This has been the plot of many stories about how a character falls in love with a man/woman but is unable to be with them because of their family. William Shakespeare uses family relationships and conflict between families to great effect, demonstrating how family ties can block love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Romeo and Juliet is a world-famous play written by William Shakespeare and based on a poem published two years before his birth. This play is about an ancient rivalry between two families that ends in bloodshed. A group of Montagues sneaks into the rival family, the Capulet group. One of the Montagues, the heir of the Montague family, Romeo sees a woman with whom he immediately falls in love. He later discovers that the woman he saw was Juliet, Juliet Capulet, the only daughter of Lord Capulet who is expected to marry Count Paris. With the help of Juliet's nurse and a priest known to Romeo they will get married. The next day Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, confronts Romeo and his friends on the street. Things escalate into a fight which leads to Mercutio, Romeo's friend being killed by Tybalt and Tybalt being killed by Romeo. This results in Romeo being banned. Desperate to reunite with Romeo, Juliet follows the Friar's plot and fakes her death. The message that Juliet is faking her death fails to reach Romeo and, believing Juliet dead, he takes his own life in her tomb. Juliet wakes up to find Romeo's corpse next to her and kills herself. The grieving family agrees to end the feud. Shakespeare first presents family relationships in a negative light while introducing the context of the play in the prologue. By telling the audience about the conflict between the families as shown in the "two families" lines, the Montagues and Capulets "both similar in dignity" of the same social position will be involved in an inter-structure and bloody feud as shown by the phrase "civilized blood makes unclean the hands of civilians" the word civil implies that a fight between the two families can have a huge effect on the entire community. We are also told that Romeo and Juliet will both die due to the conflict between the two families before we even meet them. Shakespeare shows that the two families have a very similar status through the phrase "Two families, both alike in dignity." Shakespeare first mentions the family in the third act scene, when the nurse and Lady Capulet talk to Juliet about her marriage to Count Paris. This is the first time we as viewers meet Juliet. Thematically this scene shows the audience the influence that parents during that time have on their children, especially the type of influence that parents have on their female offspring. Lady Capulet, a woman who was married to Lord Capulet at a young age, fully supports the plans for her daughter to marry Count Paris and puts pressure on her daughter to think about theCount Paris before any thoughts of marriage ever entered her head. William Shakespeare shows how much influence parents have on their children through the line "I will seem to please, to look with pleasure, to move But I will not wound my eyes deeper than your consent gives strength to make it fly", which was Juliet who said that she obeys her parents and tries to think of Count Paris as a husband. As the nurse remembers when Juliet was young, she said, "He was a merry man - he took the child in his arms." "Yes," he said, "do you fall on your face? You'll fall backwards when you have more wits about you, won't you, Jule?" and, by my holy lady, the beautiful wretch went away crying and said "yes". Now let's see how a joke from the nurse's husband will come out about Juliet falling on her back when she grows up is a reference to the fact that Juliet she has sex when she grows up, which in turn shows that Juliet has been seen as an object of sexuality and marriage since she was young This shows the fact that Juliet's fate, who will one day be married off, has been determined since her birth. This suggests that a woman's role is only to become a mother and they have no control over their own life. This scene also provides a lot of insight into the characters as Lady Capulet is shown not being very close to her daughter while the. nurse with her stories of Juliet as a child shows the audience that it is not Lady Capulet but she who raises Juliet and how the consequence is very close to Juliet While Juliet is shown to a young naive girl who is obedient to her mother, but there they are glimpses of strength shown when she gets the nurse to stop telling with a single word while Lady Capulet can't get her to stop with her story at all. shown in the line Lady Capulet: "Enough of this, please be silent." Nurse "Yes, ma'am, and yet I can't help but laugh at the thought that you should stop crying and say, 'Yes.' And yet I guarantee that there was a bump on your forehead as big as a young cock's stone, a dangerous bump, and she cried bitterly. “Yes,” said my husband, “you fell on your face? You will fall backwards when you come of age, won't you, Jule? He stopped and said, 'Yes.' , please, nurse, I say." Nurse «Peace, I have finished. May God deliver you to his grace!" In the second act scene two family relationships are once again shown to the audience as the only thing holding them back from a real relationship with the line "O Romeo, Romeo, why art thou Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name; Or, if you don't want to, swear to me my love, and I will no longer be a Capulet. Juliet is torn between her love for Romeo and her loyalty to her family. She tries to ignore the fact that Romeo is a Montague and thinks about leaving his family for him. He does not believe that their families will allow them to reunite. In act three scene four Lord Capulet states that “I think she will be governed in all respects by me; Lord Capulet states that he is sure that his daughter will listen to him as he promises that the wedding between Juliet and Count Paris will take place on Thursday, this shows the audience once again the family relationship in the Renaissance era where sons and daughters are seen more similar to property. The father is shown to be the head of the family as his words are more like orders. If Lord Capulet says the wedding will be on Thursday, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in the above line waits for the Elizabethan daughters to obey their father's will, the audience knows full well that Juliet has already disobeyed her father It is suggested that Capulet's fear of being embarrassed isgreater than his care for his daughter or perhaps he wishes to gain another ally since his feud with the Montagues ignited with the death of Tybalt due to the fact that as we see he wants to present himself in a positive light towards the count Paris as he repeatedly refers to Paris as "friend". After all, Paris is a "Count" related to the Prince. In the fifth scene of the third act Lady Capulet tells Juliet the decision made by Lord Capulet. On Thursday she will marry Count Paris. Juliet is shocked and refuses as seen in the line "Now, for St. Peter's Church and for Peter too, He will not make me there a joyous joy" bride. I wonder, in all this haste, that I must get married before the one who is supposed to be a husband comes to woo me. Please tell my lord and father, lady, that I will not marry yet, and when I do, I swear it will be Romeo, whom you know I hate, rather than Paris. These are truly new!” Lord Capulet then enters the room and learns of the situation and is enraged by Juliet's statement, as shown in the line “Thursday is near, lay your hand on your heart, counsel. And you will be mine, I will give you to my friend; And you don't be, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,” while threatening to disown her if she refuses to obey along with him calling her names like “young baggage” and “disobedient wrench,” he also said “hang you” and “my fingers itch” this shows the audience that maybe he is willing to kill her if he doesn't see her in church on Thursday. As shown in the lines “Hang yourself, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I'll tell you what: go to church on Thursday or never look at me again. Don't talk, don't answer, don't answer me! My fingers itch." When Juliet begs her mother to help her, her mother refuses, this once again demonstrates the fact that Elizabethan daughters are expected to obey their father's will. When they leave Juliet asks the nurse for advice on the matter because she is the only one who knows everything besides Romeo and the friar, this once again highlights her trust in the nurse and their closeness. When the nurse proposes that she marry the count, she is disgusted by the nurse's disloyalty and pretends to agree with her while planning to ask the friar for advice. In this scene, Juliet is shown to be much more mature than at the beginning of the play. She dominates the conversation with her mother as she proclaims her love for Romeo under the disguise of saying otherwise. His decision to lie to his nurse and instead ask the friar for advice is another step in the development of his character. Juliet challenges her father but thanks to this action she discovers the limits of her power. Juliet still lives in a world dominated by men. She cannot leave society by accepting her father's proposal to disown her and go to live with Romeo in Mantua since her father has the right to make her do what she wants. Despite this, she does not hold back and decides that she would rather die than marry Count Capulet. This can be seen as a way to finally exercise control over your life for the first and last time. In the lines “And you be mine, I will give you to my friend; And you don't hang, beg, starve, die on the streets” the audience sees that obedience to the head of the family is necessary even just to remain part of this family. The reference to Count Paris as a "friend" could be seen as a euphemism as he is a political or financial supporter of his efforts and is afraid of offending him or losing face. After promising Count Paris that he will marry Juliet on Thursday, he suddenly goes back on his promise, it seems that he cannot keep his promises. In act four, scene two and three, Lord Capulet says, “And then, my stubborn one, where art thou.