Question

Capulet: But saying o’er what I have said before:
My child is yet a stranger in the world,


10

She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;
Let two more summers wither in their pride
Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.

Answer 1

Here’s a plain-English paraphrase plus a brief note on meaning and context.

Paraphrase:
“I’ll repeat what I said before: my daughter is still inexperienced in the ways of the world. She hasn’t even turned fourteen yet. Let two more summers pass before we consider her old enough to be a bride.”

Meaning/context:
- Speaker: Capulet (talking to Paris, who wants to marry Juliet).
- He’s saying Juliet is too young — not yet fourteen — and he prefers to wait about two years before marrying her off.
- “Stranger in the world” = inexperienced; “the change of fourteen years” = reaching her fourteenth birthday; “let two more summers wither in their pride” = allow two more summers to pass while she’s still in her youthful prime; “ripe to be a bride” = mature enough for marriage.
- This shows Capulet’s relative protectiveness and also the era’s concern with age and readiness for marriage.

If you’d like, I can: translate more lines around this passage, explain how other characters react, or discuss how productions stage this moment. Which would you prefer?