| Count Paris | |
|---|---|
| Romeo and Juliet character | |
 Frderic Leighton's 1850s painting depicting Count Paris (right) seeing Juliet apparently dead | |
| Created by | William Shakespeare |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | Prince Escalus, Mercutio |
Count Paris (Italian: il Conte Paride) or County Paris is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He is a suitor of Juliet. He is handsome, wealthy, and a kinsman to Prince Escalus.
His name comes from the Prince of Troy, Paris, in Homer's Illiad.
Luigi da Porto adapted the story as Giulietta e Romeo and included it in his Historia novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti published in 1530.[1] Da Porto drew on Pyramus and Thisbe and Boccaccio's Decameron. He gave it much of its modern form, including the lovers' names, the rival Montecchi and Capuleti families, and the location in Verona.[2] He also introduces characters corresponding to Shakespeare's Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris, though the latter is only referred to as il conte di Lodrone. 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 dissension.[3] The name Paris was first given to il conte di Lodrone by Matteo Bandello, whose novella on the tragedy was first published in Lucca in 1554. Paris, or Paride, was the name of several of the historical Counts of Lodron, a minor noble family from Trentino.
Paris makes his first appearance in Act I, Scene II, where he offers to make Juliet his wife and the mother of his children. Juliet's father, Capulet, demurs, telling him to wait until she is older. Capulet invites Paris to attend a family ball being held that evening, and grants him permission to woo Juliet. Later in the play, however, after her cousin, Tybalt, dies by Romeo's hand, Juliet refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride". Capulet threatens to disown Juliet and turn her out of his house if she does not marry Paris. Juliet's mother, too, turns her back on Juliet shortly after Capulet 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, at Friar Lawrence's cell at the church, Paris tries to woo Juliet by addressing her as his wife and saying they are to be married on Thursday. As he leaves at the Friar's request, he kisses her. When he has gone, Juliet threatens to kill herself if the Friar cannot help her avoid this impending marriage.
Paris's final appearance in the play is in the cemetery where Juliet, who has taken something to put her in a deathlike state, has been laid to rest in the Capulet family tomb. Believing her to be dead, Paris has come to mourn her in solitude and privacy and sends his manservant away. He professes his love to Juliet, saying he will weep for her nightly.[4] 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. A duel ensues and Paris is killed. Romeo drags Paris's body inside the Capulet tomb and lays him out on the floor beside Juliet's body, fulfilling Paris's dying wish.
The earliest versions of the text (First Quarto, Second Quarto and First Folio) all call him "Countie Paris". Some versions of the text call him "County Paris".[5] "County" was in common usage at the time of writing,[6] and Shakespeare's choice was dictated by the needs of the metre.[7]
As a father, the chief role Capulet plays in Juliet's life is that of a 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, her only available career choices are either wife or nun. Thus it falls upon her father and her husband to support her.
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 Capulet and his wife. This probably means that he is a 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. Though the typical age of marriage for Italian men was about 25, for the higher class, including the aristocracy and wealthy merchant class, arranged marriages were common during the teenage years.[citation needed]
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 he overthrows Romeo's impetuous love.[8] In Act V, Scene III, Paris visits the crypt to quietly and privately mourn the loss of his would-be fiancée, before approaching Romeo whom he thinks has returned to Verona to vandalise the Capulet tomb. After refusing Romeo's pleas for him to leave, Paris and Romeo draw their swords and fight. Romeo eventually kills him during the sword fight, 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.
"Rosaline and Paris...are the subtlest reflectors of all...they are cast like a snake's skin by the more robust reality of Romeo and Juliet."
—Ruth Nevo, on the Rosaline-Juliet, Paris-Romeo comparison[8]
Men often used Petrarchan sonnets to exaggerate the beauty of women who were impossible for them to attain, as in Romeo's situation with Rosaline. Capulet's wife uses this sonnet form to describe Count Paris to Juliet as a handsome man.[9] 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.[10] 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?"[11] By doing this, she searches for true expression, rather than a poetic exaggeration of their love.[12] Juliet uses monosyllabic words with Romeo, but uses formal language with Paris.[13] Other forms in the play include an epithalamium by Juliet, a rhapsody in Mercutio's Queen Mab speech, and an elegy by Paris.[14]
