Parenting in Elizabethan Times: Family

Parenting in Elizabethan Times: Family Influence in Romeo and Juliet

One of the most important themes in William Shakespeare's masterpiece Romeo and Juliet is the strength and influence of family ties.

Shakespeare incorporated Elizabethan views on parenting and children's behavior.

The influence of the family drives the plot. The story of Romeo and Juliet would not be dramatic if the houses of Montague and Capulet were not at war.

The star-crossed lovers come to a tragic end through a series of miscommunications. Had they been able to be together, with their parents' approval, their story could have had a happy ending instead.

The roles of the husband/father and wife/mother in Elizabethan households were carefully prescribed.

The word of the husband and father was law in the household. He was the authoritarian in the home and the sole decision-maker. Other family members were subservient and it would not have been unusual for them to be afraid of the man of the house.

B. Women of the Elizabethan era were considered second-class citizens, even in their own homes. Their purpose was to be wives and mothers and they were to obey all men, even those outside their own families. It is ironic that the era was named for a queen, an unmarried woman who ruled the land without a man by her side.

III. Romeo and Juliet behaved both as typical teenagers of the day and as young people who challenged the structure of family and society.

A. Romeo and Juliet were very young, by today's standards, to be involved in such a serious relationship with plans to marry. That would not have been unusual at the time, since life expectancy during Shakespeare's time averaged between thirty and forty years.

B. Children, especially girls, were expected to do as their fathers required of them. Both the Montague and Capulet families were well-to-do and their children's marriage partners would have been important considerations for maintaining, and even increasing, wealth and social standings.

IV. Romeo and Juliet both considered their relationships with their parents important, but that relationship became secondary when the two fell in love and were willing to do whatever necessary to be together.

A.

Romeo's parents are caring, evidenced in the beginning of the play by Lady Montague's questions about Romeo's whereabouts. At the end of the play, she dies of a broken heart following the death of her son. Romeo, by contrast, is a typical teenager. He probably loves his parents but does not give the relationship much thought or consider their feelings. As a typical teenager, he is self-involved.

B.

Juliet's parents care about her, but in the way that would have been typical ob

Elizabethan nobility. That is, Juliet loves her parents and respects them as a dutiful daughter should, but her relationship with her nurse is much closer. Since the nurse raised

Juliet, this is not surprising.

V. Relationships outside the immediate family are also important in Romeo and Juliet.

A.

Because of relatively short life expectancy in Elizabethan times as well as high infant mortality rates and mortality rates in general, extended families were not large. The play features several minor characters, men and women who are related in various ways to the Montagues and Capulets. Shakespeare's purpose in putting them in the play was to populate the houses of Montague and Capulet, thus underscoring the feud.

B.

Two nephews, cousins to Romeo and Juliet, symbolize the hatred between the two houses. Benvolio is Montague's nephew and a loyal friend to Romeo. Tybalt is the hotheaded nephew of Lady Capulet who is always ready for a right.

VI. The family relationships change during the course of the play.