Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet

How do Shakespeare and Heaney present strong feelings between fathers and their children in the texts you have studied?

Both Shakespeare and Heaney present relationships between fathers and their children. Shakespeare through Capulet and Juliet and Heaney through his poetry about his father. Both these differ in context, the Capulet trials and tribulations being fictional whereas Heaney has his own personal experiences shown in his poetry. In addition both contexts affect the relationships in hand.
In act 1 scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare portrays Capulet as an altruistic character and is conversing with Paris about the latter’s marriage proposal in a way that is protective. This protectiveness is shown by the Quote “She’s the
Heaney moves from the perspective of a young, admiring son to an exasperated one. The child literally followed in his father’s footsteps as he ploughed or worked around the farm but he also follows him in a generational way. Finally, he is ruefully aware of his father’s dependence upon him, realising that his responsibility “will not go away”. The opening stanza presents the poet’s father as a very strong farmer whose physical strength is exceptional. Heaney presents his younger self’s admiration for his father by using the “globed” shape to imply that his father was his world just as Juliet is Capulet’s world. The description of his “shoulders globed like a full sail strung” creates a strong visual image of physical effort. The second stanza opens with a short sentence that sums up the ploughman in just two words; he is “An expert.” The expertise claimed for the father by the admiring son is proven in the actual execution of the work in hand. The words “angled”, “mapped” and “exactly” tell us that the business of ploughing is very skilled and that being good at it requires a great deal of know how; there is a good deal more to it than meets the eye. The first three stanzas concentrate on the poet’s father in a sense of admiration but the last three focus upon his own position as a child. Like all little boys, the poet wanted to emulate his father. The fact that he
He displays this with insults and emotional blackmail. In this scene Capulet expresses strong feelings of anger towards Juliet and Juliet becomes very lachrymose once she finds out of her father’s decision. In act 3 scene 5 Juliet’s marriage is out of her control. This is demonstrated in the quote “Have you delivered our decree?” which is formal and in parental control. The word “delivered” is illustrated as a gift and should be a joyous occasion. This parental control is also demonstrated in the anger felt quote “A whining Mamet” as Capulet threatens to cut her strings. This could imply that he is warning her that he will destroy her ties to the family or it could imply that she is like a puppet that is being controlled by her father. On line 155 Capulet’s anger has escalated once you reach the quote “or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither...” A “hurdle” is a wooden frame on which traitors were dragged through the streets to execution and this implies that Juliet believes that marriage is a fate worse than death. In the quote “my fingers itch” presents anger as it could mean he wants to hit Juliet but it could also mean that he is coming into money. Finally, Capulet shows a threatening feeling in the quote “Hang, beg, starve, and die in the streets” which is short load speaking commands that