Hello everybody and welcome to today’s video on ‘Romeo and Juliet’, analysing the character
of Lady Capulet. Download a free worksheet to accompany the video through following the link
in the description.
In this analysis, I’ll explore two different ideas about the character of Lady Capulet:
Lady Capulet conforming to feminine stereotypes of the Elizabethan era
but also, in a contradictory way, subverting them. First, some historical context about the role of
women in Shakespeare’s time. Women: · belonged to their fathers
and then their husbands when they married · could not attend school or university
· could not own or purchase property · could not vote
· were not allowed onstage (in plays, the female roles were acted by young men)
And now specifically, let’s explore the role of wives. From the fourteenth century, when a bride
married using traditional Anglo-Saxon wedding vows, she promised to be ‘bonnie and buxom’,
which at the time meant pleasing, humble and obedient. When the 1549 Book of Common Prayer
was developed during the Reformation, the wedding vows included a promise from the bride to ‘obey’
her husband-to-be. In short, wives were expected to be obedient and subservient to their husbands,
serving as ‘hostess and helpmate’ as Joan Larsen Klein puts it in ‘The Woman’s Part: Feminist
Criticism of Shakespeare’. Many members of the contemporary Elizabethan audience therefore shared
these beliefs about the status of wives.[KL1] But we don’t need a history lesson to explore
attitudes to women in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The play itself contains numerous moments which
tell us something about this topic: · In the play’s opening scene,
Sampson tells Gregory that ‘women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall’.
· In Act 3, Scene 1, after Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio, Romeo complains
of Juliet ‘Thy beauty hath made me effeminate’. · In Act 3, Scene 3, Friar Lawrence scolds
Romeo, telling him ‘Thy tears are womanish’. · In Act 4, Scene 1, Friar Lawrence fears
that Juliet’s ‘womanish fear’ will prevent her from agreeing to fake her own death.
A picture emerges of contemporary men regarding women as weak, subservient objects of male desire
and gratification. But where does Lady Capulet fit into this? Let’s start with how she conforms to
Elizabethan attitudes to women. In Act 1, Scene 3, Lady Capulet attempts to persuade Juliet to marry
Paris, telling her daughter to ‘think of marriage now’ before praising Paris. To Coyle and Peck,
Lady Capulet is simply doing the work of the patriarchy by suggesting to Juliet that marriage
is the best course of action (‘How to Study a Shakespeare Play’, 1995, Macmillan Education UK).
The audience does not see whether this moment between mother and daughter is instigated by
Lord Capulet—but, on two other occasions when Lady Capulet visits Juliet in her chamber, it is at the
direction of her husband. Capulet tells her:
Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed; Prepare her, wife, against this wedding-day. (Act 3,
Scene 4)
Then in Act 4, Scene 2,
he orders ‘I warrant thee, wife. / Go thou to Juliet’. We therefore have evidence of Lady
Capulet obeying the orders of the patriarchy. Lady Capulet does have independent opinions,
however. In Act 4, Scene 2, Lord Capulet announces that the wedding day will be brought forward,
but Lady Capulet thinks this is too soon, saying ‘No, not till Thursday; there is time
enough’. Lord Capulet does not even respond to his wife, simply ignoring her and telling Nurse
‘go with her: we’ll to church tomorrow’. This moment gives the audience a glimpse into the
type of marriage Juliet is so keen to avoid. Lady Capulet (and all wives) had no power over
her own life and no right to make decisions. Lord Capulet, knowing this, doesn’t even see
fit to explain his decision to his wife. We can certainly see Lady Capulet as the
subservient, powerless wife, but it is also possible to view her
character in a completely different way. Many people argue that Shakespeare was a
proto-feminist. Feminism is the belief that women should have the same rights,
opportunities, and power as men. Feminism, as it exists today, did not exist in Shakespeare’s time,
so we use ‘proto’ at the beginning to make that distinction. Scholars often look at Shakespeare’s
female characters and point to their eloquence and strength of character, concluding that
Shakespeare must have been sending some sort of message about women and what he thought of them.
Considering the restrictions that many women faced in Shakespeare’s time, it’s certainly a
persuasive argument, and one that seems true of Lady Capulet on a number of occasions.
For example, Shakespeare’s use of structure presents Lady Capulet as subverting feminine
stereotypes. The first time we meet Lady Capulet in Act 1, Scene 1, her husband wants his sword
to join the street fight. Lady Capulet mocks him: ‘A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?’.
Interestingly, Lady Montague also commands her husband, telling him ‘Thou shalt not stir one
foot to seek a foe’. Far from subservient and passive, both women are presented as
dominant and decisive at this point in the play. In 1913, the suffragist actress Jess Dorynne wrote
that she saw Lady Capulet as ‘the strongest character in the play’. (‘The True Ophelia:
and other Studies of Shakespeare's Women’). In Act 3, Scene 1, after Tybalt has killed Mercutio,
and Romeo has killed Tybalt, who appears onstage? Well, there’s Benvolio, the prince,
Lord and Lady Capulet, Lord and Lady Montague, and others. We remember that the prince had warned the
same group in the Act 1, Scene 1 that the next person to disturb the peace of Verona would pay
for it with their life, and Lady Capulet demands: ‘Romeo slew Tybalt; Romeo must not live’. As
Jess Dorynne points out: ‘it is Lady Capulet, only, who ever demands the death of Romeo…Old
Capulet does not utter one word in that terrific scene’. This is a convincing point if we are to
see Lady Capulet as the ‘strongest character in the play’, particularly when contrasted with the
mute Lord Capulet.
Finally, we can consider the staging of the play’s final scene, again looking at who appears onstage.
The lengthy stage directions tell us: Paris, Page, Romeo, Balthasar, Friar Lawrence, Juliet,
First Watchman, Second Watchman, Third Watchman, Prince Escalus, Attendants, Montague, Capulet,
Lady Capulet and unnamed ‘others’. We therefore see over a dozen characters, but only two of them
are female, and one of those (Juliet) is a corpse. Nurse has disappeared completely
(despite playing such a key role in the play), and Lady Montague has died offstage. Only Lady
Capulet is left, surrounded by men. It’s worth considering just why that is—literally, every
other female character is dead or unaccounted for. Perhaps ultimately, Lady Capulet’s fine
balance of both conforming to and subverting feminine stereotypes means she alone can survive.
KEY QUOTATIONS
An example of Lady Capulet reinforcing patriarchal values might be found in her
advice to Juliet from Act 1 Scene 3: ‘think of marriage now’. You might contrast this with her
mockery of her husband in Act 1 Scene 1: ‘A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?’
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Everything I go through in these videos can be found in the new third edition of
Mr Bruff’s Guide to Romeo and Juliet, available through following the links in the description.