In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, two suitors, Paris and (of course) Romeo, have their eyes set on the quivering thigh and red lips of Juliet, eager for her betrothal. Strangely, the similarities and differences in these gentlemen are strikingly equivalent; they are as different as they are the same. For one, both are extremely self-centered in their wills toward Juliet. Upon first bringing up his proposal to her father, Capulet, Paris is so intent on having Juliet for himself that he disregards Capulet’s insistence that Juliet has not yet ripened and to “Let two more summers wither in their pride/Ere [he] think her ripe to be a bride.”(1.2.10-11) Instead, he responds that “Younger than [Juliet] are happy mothers made”, not caring about how she feels on the matter. Similar to Paris, Romeo is so eager for marriage that courtship is out of the question which is further indication that neither of them really care for her to a great extent and rather just want her “…quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie.” This is further proved by their easily impressionable minds where Romeo has a tendency to jump for girl to girl with haste and Paris being described as “a man of wax”, suggesting that he was just superficial beauty without genuine character. As for social standings, Both men are presumingly wealthy, as Romeo has servants (Abram and Balthasar ) and upon the couple’s death, the families plan to get gold remembrance statues. Seeing as Capulet agreed and knew Paris as a friend, he also must be well connected politically and from a good family. Next, straying from the negative side, both men show levels of integrity in the tragedy. Romeo shows this by proving his love through his undying devotion (no pun intended) by proving his love through his actions. Paris does the same when he tries to uphold the law by making a citizen’s arrest upon seeing Romeo at the tomb.
On the contrary, both men show significant differences in age, personality, and finance. Physically, though both are attractive, Romeo is a “blooming flower”, only sixteen at the time, while Paris is closer to Juliet’s mother’s age, obviously making him more mature and arguably a better suitor. Additionally, Paris was a kinsman of the Prince, well-loved and a good friend of the Capulets. Contrarily, Romeo was a Montague (do matter how much he swore of his name), an ancient enemy of the Capulets. Also, their personality traits and means of interest differed highly. Romeo was a head-strung lovesick boy with no means of supporting his new wife, where Paris is already established with a fair job. Furthermore, Romeo’s love was untraditional and ruled by passion, climbing in through her window to compensate their marriage. However, Paris is more conventional in his ways and asks Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage instead of hoping for the night to shield his entrances and using “lover’s wings” to soar above her wall (ah hm, breaking and entering even if poetically). Lastly, Romeo never treats Juliet as if she were his property while Paris dares to say her face is not her own, acting presumptuously before they even got married. To conclude, both males exhibited traits that one may see husband-material, but are similarly lacking a trait the other possess that they do not.
