Friday, December 5, 2014

What reason does Paris give for not having spent much time courting Juliet?

In Act IV, Scene I, Paris reveals his reason for not spending much time courting Juliet. Specifically, he says that she is too sad about what happened to Tybalt:


Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt’s death.



Paris therefore does not spend time courting Juliet because he knows that she is not in the right frame of mind for romance. In his opinion, it is pointless to talk about love when somebody is in the depths of a bitter grief:



For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.



In Roman mythology, Venus is the goddess of love. By referencing her, Paris implies that he knows Juliet will not reciprocate his amorous feelings when her mind is dominated by Tybalt's death.


Juliet's sadness, however, does not ultimately stand in the way of their marriage plans. Juliet's father, Lord Capulet, believes that marrying Paris will expedite his daughter's recovery, and so he insists that the two are wed as soon as possible.

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