Title: Why does Paris want to marry Juliet so soon? - eNotes.com
Headings: Why does Paris want to marry Juliet so soon?
Romeo and Juliet
Why does Paris want to marry Juliet so soon?
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Content: He says,
Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt’s death,
And therefore have I little talked of love,
For Venus [love] smiles not in a house of tears. Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous
That she do give her sorrow so much sway,
And in his wisdom hastes our marriage
To stop the inundation of her tears—
Of course, Paris has wanted to marry Juliet since the beginning of the play, so this reasoning about haste may well be a rationalization. Paris says to Juliet's father, when he decides on a Monday that Thursday will be the wedding day, that he would just as soon they married even faster. Approved by eNotes Editorial Team
Wallace Field
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We never learn explicitly why Paris wants to marry Juliet so soon. In Act 1, Scene 2, Juliet's father tries to persuade him to wait and pursue in her two more years, when she'll be nearly sixteen. But Paris says, "Younger than she are happy mothers made" (1.2.12). But Capulet feels that marrying too young can be detrimental to a girl, so he encourages Paris to court her and try to win her heart. Her feelings, he says, will certainly play a role in whether or not he gives his consent Paris's suit later on. Later on, after Tybalt's death at Romeo 's hands, Capulet is willing to broker the marriage between his daughter and Paris because he wants to pull her out of her mourning and give the family a happy occasion to celebrate. He proposes the following Thursday, just three days away, and Parris replies, "My lord, I would that Thursday were tomorrow" (3.5.32).