Romeo and Juliet Are Failed by Their Parental Figures; Discuss

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Romeo and Juliet are failed by their parental figures; discuss. One theme that is represented throughout the entirety of the Shakespearian play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is the idea of parents and children. Not only is this shown through Juliet’s relationship with her parents and Romeo’s with his, but also through their relationships with other characters who act as parental figures to them despite not being blood relations. These surrogate parent relationships are predominantly the Nurse to Juliet, and Friar Lawrence to Romeo. Different events throughout the play lead these relationships to change, and lead both Romeo and Juliet to distrust their parental figures. For example when the Nurse, whom Juliet trusts deeply, refers to Romeo as a “dishclout” despite knowing that he is Juliet’s husband, this then leads Juliet to distrust the Nurse. When Capulet’s “fingers itch” after Juliet has disobeyed him, this could also be seen as failure on Capulet’s part to be a good parent. Some may argue that these events are examples of how Romeo and Juliet are failed by their parents and parental figures. In Act 3 scene 5 it could be argued that Juliet is failed by both her parents. Her mother, Lady Capulet, may have failed her in the sense that she does not understand Juliet or have any knowledge as to what is going on in her life. Juliet is crying because Romeo has been banished, yet Lady Capulet believes her to be crying over Tybalt’s death. Juliet cries that “no man like he doth grieve [her] heart”, referencing how upset she is that Romeo is no longer in Verona but Lady Capulet believes this to be “because the traitor murderer lives”. This illustrates how Lady Capulet is ignorant to the fact that her daughter is now married to Romeo, leading to her inability to understand the meaning behind what Juliet is saying. Furthermore, Capulet could be said to have failed Juliet in this

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