Romeo And Juliet Parent Child Analysis

Someone once said," Blood doesn 't make you family, it makes you related". In William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet, the audience constantly witnesses this strain of blood families. Beyond the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, there are quarrels in their own families. Through these altercations, the audience witnesses a greater challenge than the feud: the parent and child connections. The bond between parent and child in Romeo and Juliet is nearly nonexistent due to the absence of parental connections, which is demonstrated through the requirement of a caretaker or mentor, an obligation to marry Paris, and the parents’ ignorance of their children’s intentions.

The requirement of a substitute parental figure demonstrates the absence of a parent child relationship. The conversation between Romeo and Friar Lawrence in act two scene three demonstrates Romeo’s

When Romeo is melancholy in the beginning of the play, Montague aspires to comfort his son: “Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow, / We would as willingly give cure as know” (Shakespeare.1.1.145-146). Through his acknowledgement and desire to ameliorate Romeo’s spirits, one may infer a profound relationship between the two. As a result, critics can suggest a presence of a parent and child bond. However, the concern for a child’s well being is different from a genuine connection. Instead of informing the cause of grief to his father, Romeo confides in his cousin Benvolio: “What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours? Not having that which having makes them short. In love?” (Shakespeare.1.1.154-156). Despite Montague’s declaration of desperation, Montague cannot discover the origins of Romeo’s sorrow, but Benvolio understands Romeo’s indication of love being the cause after one question. Through the absence of informational exchanges between the parent and child, a sincere family bond is nearly