Is Capulet a good father?

Essay by CompUserJunior High, 9th gradeA, November 2014

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How far Shakespeare presents Lord Capulet as a good father in this whole conversation.

Part 1)

In Act 1 Scene 2 Capulet is portrayed as a considerate, responsible and loving father who is concerned about what is best for his daughter and see her as more than just an 'object' to be married off which isn't common as it was a very patriarchal society. By displaying these forms of affection the audiences' first impression of him is that he is a good father.

In Act 1 Scene 2 a noable young kinsmen of the Prince, asking Capulet for his daughter's hand in marriage. Capulet responds to Paris and tells him that Juliet has "not seen the change of fourteen years", he also describes Juliet as not yet "ripe to be a bride", this implies that Capulet believes that Juliet is too young for marriage, which in that society would seem slightly unusual as 14 is not an early age at which to get married, by saying this Tybalt respodes with "younger than [Juliet} are happy mothers made", which again shows that girls younger than Juliet are already mothers and that Juliet is not too 'young' for marriage, but when Capulet responds with a continued agrarian metaphor (lines 11-12, relating to land) " and too soon marred are those early made" turns things around indicating that he does not agree (or does not fully agree) with marrying at such a young age possibly because of the experience of Juliet and his previous children and furthermore, one could interpret the word 'marred', in a myriad of different ways, for instance the audience may well interpret as it meaning an expanding fruit ("ripen") , being marred (spoilt) by early marriage which alludes to how early marriage can cause young child birth and the...