Count Paris
Encyclopedia
In William Shakespeare
's Romeo and Juliet
, Count Paris (or County Paris) is a suitor of Juliet Capulet
. He is handsome, somewhat self-absorbed, very wealthy, and is a kinsman of Prince Escalus. However, despite his occasional arrogance, he loves Juliet dearly.
adapted the story as Giulietta e Romeo and included it in his Historia novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti published in 1530. Da Porto drew on Pyramus and Thisbe and Boccacio's
Decameron. He gave it much of its modern form, including the names of the lovers, the rival families of Montecchi and Capuleti, and the location in Verona
. He also introduces characters corresponding to Shakespeare's Mercutio
, Tybalt
, and Paris. Da Porto presents his tale as historically true and claims it took place in the days of Bartolomeo II della Scala
(a century earlier than Salernitano). Montecchi and Capuleti were actual 13th-century political factions, but the only connection between them is a mention in Dante's
Purgatorio as an example of civil dissention.
, dies by her new husband Romeo's hand, proclaiming for the first time that she now despises Paris and wants nothing to do with him. Her father cannot believe his eyes and ears. Turning from shock to physically abusive rage, Capulet violently threatens for her to be hanged and then to make Juliet a lowly street urchin if she does not marry Count Paris, hitting his daughter, shoving her to the ground and screaming in her face. Juliet's mother, too, cruelly turns her back on Juliet shortly after her father storms out of the scene ("Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word; do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee"), as does the Nurse. Then, while at Lawrence's cell at the church, Paris tries to woo her by repeatedly saying that she is his wife and that they are to be married on Thursday. He kisses her and then leaves the cell, prompting Juliet to angrily threaten to kill herself with a knife. His final appearance in the play is in the cemetery where Juliet is "laid to rest" (not really being dead) in the Capulet family tomb. Believing her to be dead, Count Paris has come to mourn her death in solitude and privacy, sending his manservant away. He professes his love to Juliet saying he will nightly weep for her [Act V, Scene III]. Shortly thereafter, Romeo, deranged by grief himself, also goes to the Capulet's tomb and is confronted by Count Paris who believes Romeo came to desecrate Juliet's tomb. They both duel until Romeo wins and kills Paris. Romeo drags Paris's body inside the Capulet tomb and lays him out on the floor beside Juliet's body: Count Paris' final, dying wish.
However, his is a minor role in the play itself, which often leads his importance in the play to be misunderstood. He becomes unwittingly mixed up in the drama between the two families, and in the end, he, too, is slain. Physically, he is described by the Nurse in Act I, Scene III as "a man of wax", meaning that he is extremely handsome and well-built. He is also likely considerably older than Juliet, though his age is never specifically mentioned in the play nor any modern adaptation.
.
As a father, the chief role Capulet plays in Juliet's life is that of matchmaker. He has raised and cared for Juliet for nearly fourteen years, but he must find a suitable husband who will care for her for the remainder of her life. Juliet, as a young woman and as an aristocrat
in general, cannot support herself in the society of her day, with the only available career choices for her being either wife or nun
. Thus it falls upon her father and her husband to support her.
The Count Paris would be an excellent match for Juliet. He, too, is an aristocrat, and of a higher social order. He is a well-established and wealthy business/government person who could support and provide for Juliet rather well. He is also, most probably, well connected politically, making him a good family contact for Lord and Lady Capulet. This means, of course, that he is quite mature being at least twenty-five years old, while Juliet has not yet turned fourteen. Nevertheless, within the historical context of the play, there is nothing peculiar in their age difference at all. Though the typical age of marriage for Italian men in this period was 29 and women was about 25, for the higher class including the aristocracy and wealthy merchant class arranged marriage was common during the teenage years.
Shakespeare also uses sub-plots to offer a clearer view of the actions of the main characters. For example, when the play begins, Romeo is in love with Rosaline, who has refused all of his advances. Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline and how quickly he disavows her upon seeing Juliet serves to highlight the flightiness of Romeo's romantic interests. In a similar fashion, Paris' love for Juliet serves as a counterpoint to Romeo's love for her. He can support her and care for and about her in a mature fashion, while Romeo is but a love struck adolescent with no real job and no means of supporting his new wife. Meanwhile, Juliet clearly cares more for Romeo, as shown by the formal language she uses around Paris, as well as the way she talks about him to her Nurse. Beyond this, the sub-plot of the Montague–Capulet feud overarches the whole play, providing an atmosphere of hate that is the main contributor to the play's tragic end.
Petrarch
an sonnet
s were often used by men to exaggerate the beauty of women who were impossible for them to attain, as in Romeo's situation with Rosaline. This sonnet form is used by Lady Capulet to describe Count Paris to Juliet as a handsome man. When Romeo and Juliet meet, the poetic form changes from the Petrarchan (which was becoming archaic in Shakespeare's day) to a then more contemporary sonnet form, using "pilgrims" and "saints" as metaphors. Finally, when the two meet on the balcony, Romeo attempts to use the sonnet form to pledge his love, but Juliet breaks it by saying "Dost thou love me?" By doing this, she searches for true expression, rather than a poetic exaggeration of their love. Juliet uses monosyllabic words with Romeo, but uses formal language with Paris. Other forms in the play include an epithalamium
by Juliet, a rhapsody
in Mercutio's Queen Mab
speech, and an elegy
by Paris.
.
In Baz Luhrmann
's Romeo + Juliet, he is named "Dave Paris," and is played by Paul Rudd
. His familial relationship with Escalus (called "Captain Escalus Prince") is removed entirely from the film, and Dave Paris is not stated as being a nobleman
, but is rather a wealthy business magnate
and a governor's son; throughout the film, he speaks in a conceited and pompous manner around Juliet and her father implying that (since the movie's setting is in modern times) he also wants to marry Juliet secondarily to further inflate his already-large ego. After her parents threaten to disown her and the Nurse turns her back on her, Juliet's threat to kill herself is instead exclaimed while she brandishes a gun to her head and then at Friar Lawrence, rather than a knife as in the original story.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, Count Paris (or County Paris) is a suitor of Juliet Capulet
Juliet Capulet
Juliet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the other being Romeo. She is the daughter of old Capulet, head of the house of Capulet. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself....
. He is handsome, somewhat self-absorbed, very wealthy, and is a kinsman of Prince Escalus. However, despite his occasional arrogance, he loves Juliet dearly.
Sources
Luigi da PortoLuigi Da Porto
Luigi Da Porto was an Italian writer and storiographer, better known as the author of the novel with the story of Romeo and Juliet, later reprised by William Shakespeare for his famous drama....
adapted the story as Giulietta e Romeo and included it in his Historia novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti published in 1530. Da Porto drew on Pyramus and Thisbe and Boccacio's
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
Decameron. He gave it much of its modern form, including the names of the lovers, the rival families of Montecchi and Capuleti, and the location in Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
. He also introduces characters corresponding to Shakespeare's Mercutio
Mercutio
Mercutio a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend of Romeo, and Romeo's cousin Benvolio, and also a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, being neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is one of the few in Verona...
, Tybalt
Tybalt
Tybalt is a fictional character and the main antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. He is Lady Capulet's nephew, Juliet's hot-tempered cousin and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert/Tybalt the "Prince of Cats" in Reynard the Fox, a point of...
, and Paris. Da Porto presents his tale as historically true and claims it took place in the days of Bartolomeo II della Scala
Bartolomeo II della Scala
Bartolomeo II della Scala was lord of Verona from 1375 until his death, together with his brother Antonio I della Scala.The illegitimate son of Cansignorio della Scala, he obtained the power in Verona after the latter's death by assassinating Cansignorio's brother, Paolo Alboino...
(a century earlier than Salernitano). Montecchi and Capuleti were actual 13th-century political factions, but the only connection between them is a mention in Dante's
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
Purgatorio as an example of civil dissention.
Role in the Play
Paris makes his first appearance in Act I, Scene II, wherein he offers to make Juliet his wife and the mother of his children. Capulet demurs, citing his daughter's young age as a reason and telling him to wait until she is more mature. Paris disagrees, however. Nevertheless, he invites Paris to attend a family ball being held that evening with permission to woo and attract Juliet. Later in the play, however, Juliet refuses to become Paris' "joyful bride" after her cousin, TybaltTybalt
Tybalt is a fictional character and the main antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. He is Lady Capulet's nephew, Juliet's hot-tempered cousin and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert/Tybalt the "Prince of Cats" in Reynard the Fox, a point of...
, dies by her new husband Romeo's hand, proclaiming for the first time that she now despises Paris and wants nothing to do with him. Her father cannot believe his eyes and ears. Turning from shock to physically abusive rage, Capulet violently threatens for her to be hanged and then to make Juliet a lowly street urchin if she does not marry Count Paris, hitting his daughter, shoving her to the ground and screaming in her face. Juliet's mother, too, cruelly turns her back on Juliet shortly after her father storms out of the scene ("Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word; do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee"), as does the Nurse. Then, while at Lawrence's cell at the church, Paris tries to woo her by repeatedly saying that she is his wife and that they are to be married on Thursday. He kisses her and then leaves the cell, prompting Juliet to angrily threaten to kill herself with a knife. His final appearance in the play is in the cemetery where Juliet is "laid to rest" (not really being dead) in the Capulet family tomb. Believing her to be dead, Count Paris has come to mourn her death in solitude and privacy, sending his manservant away. He professes his love to Juliet saying he will nightly weep for her [Act V, Scene III]. Shortly thereafter, Romeo, deranged by grief himself, also goes to the Capulet's tomb and is confronted by Count Paris who believes Romeo came to desecrate Juliet's tomb. They both duel until Romeo wins and kills Paris. Romeo drags Paris's body inside the Capulet tomb and lays him out on the floor beside Juliet's body: Count Paris' final, dying wish.
However, his is a minor role in the play itself, which often leads his importance in the play to be misunderstood. He becomes unwittingly mixed up in the drama between the two families, and in the end, he, too, is slain. Physically, he is described by the Nurse in Act I, Scene III as "a man of wax", meaning that he is extremely handsome and well-built. He is also likely considerably older than Juliet, though his age is never specifically mentioned in the play nor any modern adaptation.
Historical Context
In the text, the character is always referred to as County Paris. "County" was in common usage at the time of writing, and Shakespeare's choice was dictated by the needs of the metreMeter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
.
As a father, the chief role Capulet plays in Juliet's life is that of matchmaker. He has raised and cared for Juliet for nearly fourteen years, but he must find a suitable husband who will care for her for the remainder of her life. Juliet, as a young woman and as an aristocrat
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
in general, cannot support herself in the society of her day, with the only available career choices for her being either wife or nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
. Thus it falls upon her father and her husband to support her.
The Count Paris would be an excellent match for Juliet. He, too, is an aristocrat, and of a higher social order. He is a well-established and wealthy business/government person who could support and provide for Juliet rather well. He is also, most probably, well connected politically, making him a good family contact for Lord and Lady Capulet. This means, of course, that he is quite mature being at least twenty-five years old, while Juliet has not yet turned fourteen. Nevertheless, within the historical context of the play, there is nothing peculiar in their age difference at all. Though the typical age of marriage for Italian men in this period was 29 and women was about 25, for the higher class including the aristocracy and wealthy merchant class arranged marriage was common during the teenage years.
Analysis
Although Paris is not as developed as other characters in the play, he stands as a complication in the development of Romeo and Juliet's relationship. His love of Juliet stands as a counterpoint to Romeo's impetuous love. In Act V, Scene III, Paris visits the crypt to quietly and privately mourn the loss of his would-be fiancée. Romeo eventually kills him during a swordfight in the same scene, and his dying wish is for Romeo to lay him next to Juliet, which Romeo does. This scene is often omitted from modern stage and screen performances as it complicates what would otherwise be a simple love story between the title characters.Shakespeare also uses sub-plots to offer a clearer view of the actions of the main characters. For example, when the play begins, Romeo is in love with Rosaline, who has refused all of his advances. Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline and how quickly he disavows her upon seeing Juliet serves to highlight the flightiness of Romeo's romantic interests. In a similar fashion, Paris' love for Juliet serves as a counterpoint to Romeo's love for her. He can support her and care for and about her in a mature fashion, while Romeo is but a love struck adolescent with no real job and no means of supporting his new wife. Meanwhile, Juliet clearly cares more for Romeo, as shown by the formal language she uses around Paris, as well as the way she talks about him to her Nurse. Beyond this, the sub-plot of the Montague–Capulet feud overarches the whole play, providing an atmosphere of hate that is the main contributor to the play's tragic end.
Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
an sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s were often used by men to exaggerate the beauty of women who were impossible for them to attain, as in Romeo's situation with Rosaline. This sonnet form is used by Lady Capulet to describe Count Paris to Juliet as a handsome man. When Romeo and Juliet meet, the poetic form changes from the Petrarchan (which was becoming archaic in Shakespeare's day) to a then more contemporary sonnet form, using "pilgrims" and "saints" as metaphors. Finally, when the two meet on the balcony, Romeo attempts to use the sonnet form to pledge his love, but Juliet breaks it by saying "Dost thou love me?" By doing this, she searches for true expression, rather than a poetic exaggeration of their love. Juliet uses monosyllabic words with Romeo, but uses formal language with Paris. Other forms in the play include an epithalamium
Epithalamium
Epithalamium refers to a form of poem that is written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber...
by Juliet, a rhapsody
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
in Mercutio's Queen Mab
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...
speech, and an elegy
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
by Paris.
Performances
A mock-Victorian revisionist version of Romeo and Juliet 's final scene (with a happy ending, Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio and Paris restored to life, and Benvolio revealing that he is Paris's love, Benvolia, in disguise) forms part of the 1980 stage-play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas NicklebyThe Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play)
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an eight-hour stage play, presented over two performances, adapted from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name by David Edgar. Directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn, it opened on 5 June 1980 at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The music and lyrics...
.
In Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...
's Romeo + Juliet, he is named "Dave Paris," and is played by Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...
. His familial relationship with Escalus (called "Captain Escalus Prince") is removed entirely from the film, and Dave Paris is not stated as being a nobleman
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
, but is rather a wealthy business magnate
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
and a governor's son; throughout the film, he speaks in a conceited and pompous manner around Juliet and her father implying that (since the movie's setting is in modern times) he also wants to marry Juliet secondarily to further inflate his already-large ego. After her parents threaten to disown her and the Nurse turns her back on her, Juliet's threat to kill herself is instead exclaimed while she brandishes a gun to her head and then at Friar Lawrence, rather than a knife as in the original story.
External links
- The Four Leaves of the Truelove - Rossell Hope Robbins Library, Medieval collection.