Is Lord Caplet a Good Father? In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare wrote that Juliet married Romeo without the consent of her father, Lord Caplet. Without Lord Caplet having that knowledge, it was reasonable for him to find a husband for his daughter. When he was angry with Juliet for not being happy about the arrangement of marrying Paris, it was rude to yell at her the way he did. He had no thoughts on how she would feel, and did what he thought would be best, thinking of nobody but himself in the process of what he thought was his duty.
Lord Caplet is a well intended father who thought he was only owing what he was born to do. When caught in the problem of finding a husband for Juliet, Lord Caplet took it too far by rejecting Gullet’s thoughts and feelings, and imposing his intentions. In the play, when Gullet’s father had just told her Of the marriage, Juliet had been going through her cousin’s death and Romeos banishment. These problems alone were enough to put her on the breaking point, and when her mother told her that she would be getting married in a few short days it pushed her off the edge.
She put her foot down and said, “He shall not make me there a joyful bride, pray you; tell my lord ND father, madam, will not marry yet” (III. V. 122. V. 1 25). Juliet then didn’t know what to do, or where to turn. She was already married to a person that she knew she would rather die than live without. Of course, she could not tell her parents that. So Juliet did all she could, and that was to say no. Caplet would not take that for an answer. This is a reason why Juliet believes Caplet is a bad father.
When Lord Caplet heard her thoughts he told Juliet that she was ungrateful and unworthy. He said that she was spoiled and that she would marry on Thursday whether she like it or not. If she did not do as she was told, she would have to find another roof to live under. From Gullet’s and the reader’s point of view, he is treating his daughter wrong, and is way out of line to be talking to her like that. He is not acting as a good father, and does not have her best interest in mind.
Lord Caplet is doing what the head of house is supposed to do, but he is putting himself in consideration more than his daughter. For this, Lord Caplet is more of a bad father than he is a good one. As head of house, it is Lord Capsules job to find Juliet a husband. So, room his point of view, that’s exactly what he did and more. He thought he found his daughter the best there was, and that she would be really excited to hear about Paris.
He also told Paris to court Juliet, and make her fall in love so she would feel great about everything. When Table (Gullet’s cousin) was killed, Caplet felt it was best to rush the marriage and get her mind off of it. This may seem like Caplet is the perfect father, but his actions that seem good have all of the wrong intentions. Paris is a very wealthy count, and the son of another kinsman. This only proves that Lord Caplet is motivated by rower and money, not finding his daughter happiness.
It may seem as Lord Caplet was a well intended father, but he really only thought of what affected him and not his daughter or her feelings. Juliet had to do what was right for her, and who she loved, but her father only threatened her more for doing that. It is easy to see that he never really had his daughters interest in mind, putting her with somebody that would only really suit him. Yes, it did seem as Lord Caplet was doing only what was expected of him, but he did it for all of the wrong reasons, which is why he is not a good father to Juliet.
