ABSTRACT
Romeo and Juliet hide their marriage because it would dishonour their families. The family has to appear united, of one mind; each member is subordinate to it but also represents it. But in addition, and despite this power of the family itself, the two families are internally highly differentiated-by gender and across the generations-with power residing unequivocally with the fathers. The story resonates with us still because now, as in Shakespeare’s time, the family can be seen as distinct from the relationships which comprise it. In the case of the families of Romeo and Juliet we observe several key relationship: between parents and children, wife and husband, boyfriend and girlfriend, cousins, nurse and child. We can therefore interpret the confl ict of the play not as the outcome of two dysfunctional families but as one between different (and confl icting) forms of relationship.
