Lord Capulet refers to Juliet as a flower in two separate scenes, but most specifically in Act IV, Scene 5 when the girl is found supposedly dead in her chamber. She is really faking her death after taking a potion mixed by Friar Lawrence so that she won't have to go through with the marriage to Count Paris and will eventually be reunited with Romeo. The Nurse first discovers the unconscious Juliet and alerts the...
Lord Capulet refers to Juliet as a flower in two separate scenes, but most specifically in Act IV, Scene 5 when the girl is found supposedly dead in her chamber. She is really faking her death after taking a potion mixed by Friar Lawrence so that she won't have to go through with the marriage to Count Paris and will eventually be reunited with Romeo. The Nurse first discovers the unconscious Juliet and alerts the family that she is dead. The Friar's potion not only slowed her pulse but also rendered her "stiff and stark and cold." When Lord Capulet sees his daughter, he uses a simile to compare her to a flower that has been struck down by the cold. He says,
Ha, let me see her! Out, alas, she’s cold.
Her blood is settled, and her joints are stiff.
Life and these lips have long been separated.
Death lies on her like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.
Lord Capulet personifies death here and a little later when he says,
Flower as she was, deflowerèd by him.
Much earlier in the play, Lord Capulet refers to "fresh fennel buds" (fennel buds turn into small yellow flowers) to describe the young girls, including Juliet, who will be at his party during his talk with Paris in Act I, Scene 2. Capulet is telling Paris to look at all the girls to make sure Juliet is really the one he wants.
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