The first impression we have of Capulet as a
father occurs in act 1, scene 2, when he is arranging his daughter's marriage with . He begins
by saying thatis too young to marry and that he wants Paris to wait another two years, then goes
on to speak movingly of his love for his daughter and, rather surprisingly, of her freedom in
choosing her partner:
The earth hath swallow'd all my
hopes but she,
She is the hopeful lady of my earth:
But woo her, gentle Paris,
get her heart,
My will to her consent is but a part;
An she agree, within her
scope of choice
Lies my consent and fair according voice.
Juliet is his only child. The others have died in infancy, and she is now the focus of
all his natural love and devotion. He will only give his consent to a marriage if she does, a
remarkably liberal position for a parent in medieval or even Renaissance Italy. (It is not
entirely clear when is set, but the story is older than Shakespeare's
play. Matteo Bandello's prose version of the story has a medieval setting).
Our first impression of Capulet, then, is that of a kind, doting, generous father who
loves his daughter deeply and is willing to give her an unusual amount of freedom. We later have
a completely different view of him. In act 3, scene 5, he appears as a tyrant and a violent
maniac, concerned only that his daughter should submit entirely to his will, but the first
impression we have of him is quite the opposite of this.
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