Thread by @GCSE_Macbeth

#SummerOfJuliet

Act 1 Sc 5

R&J's first meeting. A very familiar scene -- let's try to find some upgrade-worthy ideas.

Counter-intuitive as it seems, I'm going to start with the Montague and Capulet parents, and how this scene relates to them.

1/

I really recommend this article (bl.uk/shakespeare/ar…) from the British Library on Elizabethan relationships, especially this passage:

2/

This is the type of context I love to teach -- showing social norms as dynamic and changing, not the fixed ideas of "In Shakespeare's time people thought..."

And this scene speaks directly to both the young and old in Shakespeare's time.

3/

For the young, this is the thrill of re-centering relationships around attraction and romantic love. The agency that R and J have in finding each other, away from parental supervision.

For the parents, it's a source of anxiety. This scene is all of their fears come true.

4/

Look at what Lord Capulet says to Paris in 1.2:

"My will to her consent is but a part;
An she agree, within her scope of choice
Lies my consent and fair according voice."

But in asking Paris to wait and respect J's agency, he's opening the door to the vicissitudes of love.

5/

Of course, Lord Capulet's insistence that Paris wait until Juliet is older seems to be based on a naive assumption that she won't fall in love until *HE* thinks she's ready.

Now, Lady Capulet...

6/

Lady Capulet recognises, and has been an exponent of, Juliet's sexual readiness and she hopes to channel it towards Paris. Like Lord C, her plans are undone by the new unpredictability of a society in which passion overrules parental wishes.

7/

My favourite phrase when teaching context is "exploits contemporary anxieties". Here, Shakespeare exploits contemporary anxieties about the role of romantic love and attraction in relationships and marriages between the young.

More in a bit!

8/8