Romeo and Juliet

"...Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither/ Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!/ You tallow-face!" Why is this quote significant?

Act 3 Scene 5

Capulet says this to Juliet

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

Capulet is angry with his daughter for not carrying out his wishes for her to marry young Paris. The quote is interesting because it represents just how Shakespearean men view women. Her father, Capulet, has just called her an ungrateful strumpet and threatened to kick her out of his house if she doesn't marry Paris. Juliet is running out of options here. Girls were pretty much the property of their fathers until they got married. Although Capulet claimed earlier that Juliet needed to like Paris first, the truth is she was always subject to her father's decisions. When Juliet refuses to marry Paris, she goes from, in her father's eyes, a "Jewel" of his life to used "baggage". Later when she is found dead, Juliet will once again be his "jewel" that he now has lost. There is very little middle ground for Juliet and many women in Shakespeare's plays.