The Not-So-Merry Wives of Verona

I know the primary focus of the play is on the young folk (especially the two eponymous lovers), but I never quite noticed before the relationships of the parents, especially the role of the wives. Instead of confining themselves to the weak, submissive role the men seem to feel they should play, Lady Capulet and Lady Montague seem to be rather powerful female figures – even feisty at times. They are comparatively more assertive, especially towards men, than the other two main female characters: more openly defiant than Juliet and much more purposefully so than the nurse. Right from their first appearance, the two wives have no scruples at all in chiding their husbands for their eagerness to plunge into the fray. Lady Montague, though she is much more silent than her Capulet counterpart, even physically restrains her husband while scolding, “Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe” (I.i.79). Lady Capulet enjoys a wittier attitude when dealing with her hot-tempered husband, as she sarcastically rebukes him for brawling in his old age: “A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” (I.i.75). Interestingly, it is the women who urge their men not to fight, not to continue the bloody feud, in this scene. Lady Montague is silent for the next three acts, but Lady Capulet remains a strong, fairly talkative character who is intensely interested in the welfare of her only child, as exhibited by her constant conversations with Juliet, especially regarding marriage. She even advises her child to “what obscured in this fair volume lies/ Find written in the margent of his eyes” (I.iii.85-86) – in other words, endeavor to look into Paris’s eyes (often poetically described as the window to the soul) and discover his true, inner qualities. This line, coupled with her reference to Lord Capulet as a former “mouse-hunt” (IV.iv.11), indicates that her own marriage was not as well-planned as the older, wiser her knows in retrospect, and she wants to shield Juliet – her “only life” (note that this leaves no room for Lord Capulet) (IV.v.19) – from making the same mistake. On the whole, the wives seem more aware of the potential for emotional loss that the feud poses, and seem more eager to prevent bloodshed than their husbands ever do. It is only after the loss of her beloved cousin, Tybalt, that Lady Capulet desires physical revenge upon a Montague and cries “Romeo must not live” (III.i.180). Thus, when their wisdom is not heeded, it is the women who suffer most by the loss of the men they love.