Vaughan 1

John Southgate Vaughan IV

Mr. King

English 1

May 30, 2017

Lord Capulet Has Emotional Problems

Lord Capulet is seen as one of the most rounded and emotional characters in Romeo and

Juliet. Throughout the story he continuously changes moods and is unpredictable in his actions.

Since those things are seen, it seems reasonable to think that he is bipolar.

You can see Capulets mood change drastically throughout the story. In Act 1 Scene

V(lines 15-30 and 86) Capulet goes from welcoming guests at his party to scolding Tybalt just

because he was making him aware that their mortal enemy was at the party in the form of

Romeo. Then in Act 3 Scene V(lines 130-170) Capulet goes from comforting the Nurse because

of Tybalts death to scolding and threatening his daughter Juliet with abandonment because she

wouldnt marry the man he wanted her to. Some symptoms for bipolar mania are rapid speech,

racing thoughts, and being more forceful, those are all showcased here. Capulets thoughts race

when he changes subjects quickly, hes forceful with Juliet about the marriage, and talks quickly

and wont let anyone get a word in during those sequences of events. With all of those things

going hand in hand, its easy to paint a picture of Capulet possibly having bipolar

disorder(WebMD).

Secondly Capulets actions are very unpredictable, you can see that at multiple points in

the story. In Act 4 Scene III (lines 41-49) Capulet randomly tells his wife that hes planning the

wedding, and he doesnt want any help with it. Also in Act 5 Scene III (Entire scene) Capulet

randomly tells Montague that their feud is over just because his daughter is dead. Thats really

odd because her death doesnt affect the feud at all, only the Capulets. This is a random action

that was unpredictable, thats a symptom of bipolar mania(WebMD).

 Vaughan 1

John Southgate Vaughan IV

Mr. King

English 1

May 30, 2017

The counterclaim to this would obviously be that Capulet wouldnt have bipolar disease,

so this will explain why that is incorrect. You can see this in Act 1 Scene V(lines 72-91) he stops

and thinks about how he has heard that Romeo is a good person and lets him stay at the party

even though he is a Montague. Despite the evidence against Capulet saying that he doesnt have

bipolar disorder because you can see that he does think thoroughly about a lot of his actions,

people fail to see the points where he is on the brink of sanity and insanity. Again in Act 3 Scene

V(lines 130-170) he was comforting the Nurse because of the death of Tybalt(sanity), then

immediately goes and hits his daughter after threatening her with disownment because she

wouldnt marry the person she didnt love(insanity).

Lord Capulet is seen as one of the most rounded and emotional characters in Romeo and

Juliet. Throughout the story he continuously changes moods and is unpredictable in his actions.

Since those things are seen, it seems reasonable to think that he is bipolar. I ask that whoever is

reading can see that this is a realistic possibility, there is clear evidence throughout the story and

its not hard to understand. Heres one last thought before I end this, being homosexual was

seen as one of the worst crimes possible in that time period, so what if him being that way and

since restraining thoughts and feelings you need to get out, caused him to obtain this disorder

and thats how the feelings expressed themselves.

Works Cited

"10 Subtle Signs of Bipolar Disorder." Health.com. Web. 01 June 2017.

 Vaughan 1

John Southgate Vaughan IV

Mr. King

English 1

May 30, 2017

Library, Folger Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Web. 01 June 2017.

"Warning Signs and Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder." WebMD. WebMD. Web. 01 June 2017.