for his sword to enter the chaotic fray in the street that had been started by his own servants. In scene 2, however, he shows a good measure of common sense about the feud by pointing out that he and Montague are old men, and it is not hard "for men so old as we to keep the peace." He further demonstrates a conscientious nature in his views toward his daughter's potential marriage to CountParis. He correctly points out that Juliet is very young, "not seen the change of fourteen years," and that he will not agree to any marriage unless Juliet is truly in love:

But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart;
My will to her consent is but a part.
And, she agreed, within her scope of choice
Lies my consent and fair according voice.

Ladies that have their toes
Unplagued with corns will walk a bout with
you.—
Ah, my mistresses, which of you all
Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty,
She, I’ll swear, hath corns.

In "Romeo and Juliet" Lord Capulet is of a choleric temperament.  That is, he is 1)extremely quick to anger and (2) emotional change.  For instance, when he first hears the citizens expressing frustration over the feuding and violence as they shout, "Down with the Capulets! Down with the Montagues!" (l.48) he demands his sword (he is dressed for battle) and is immediately ready to fight against his foe, Lord Montague, who tells him, "Thou villain Capulet,--Hold me not, let me go" (l.52) as Capulet flourishes his sword threateningly.  (3)This bellicose nature of Capulet who is ready to "do battle" manifests itself later with Juliet when he threatens her after she refuses to marry Paris. 

We are shown far more about Lord Capulet than we are about Montague as Lord Montague only appears twice, once in the very first scene and again in the very last scene. However, we do learn a few things about his personality, especially when we compare the two.

Of the two, Capulet appears to be a bit more hotheaded and a bit more emotional in general. We can make this speculation due to a couple of facts. For one thing, Capulet is the first to join the servants in the brawl in the very first scene. He witnesses the servants fighting and is quick to assume that Montague is attacking. He demands his sword to join in the fight, saying that Old Montague is attacking, as we see in his lines, "My sword, I say! Old Montague is come / And flourishes his blade in spite of me" (I.i.73-74). By saying "in spite of me," he is saying despite me, meaning despite the fact that he, Capulet, is trying to maintain the peace. However, Capulet's claim that Montague is attacking is absurd as we see Montague enter the scene after Capulet, in the very next lines. Therefore, one thing we know of Capulet's personality is that he is very quick to become emotional and very quick to blame his actions on others. Montague, on the other hand, appears to be the much more sedate one, much more level-headed.

Another way in which we see Capulet being the far more emotional of the two is that, in the final scene, he is actually the first to respond to the Prince's chastisements and make amends. After Prince Escalus asserts that Romeo's and Juliet's deaths are God's punishment for the feud, saying, "All are punish'd," Lord Capulet is the first to ask Montague for his hand in reconciliation (V.iii.306). Montague then offers to build a statue of Juliet in pure gold to honor her while Capulet offers to do the same for Romeo. Since Capulet is the first to offer reconciliation, again, we see that Capulet is the more emotionally responsive of the two while Montague is much more sedate.

The Capulets and Montagues are both aristocratic Italian families in the Renaissance, and as well-to-do families they are autocratic in their opinions and decisions. The women acquiesce to the desires of their husbands.  Children of the Renaissance were considered miniature adults and were spoken to as such.  Lord Capulet is very controlling.  Although he loves his Juliet and wants her to enjoy her youth,

"My child is yet a stranger in the world--...Let two more summers...Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride" (I,ii,9-11) 

the prospects of more wealth and position if the Prince marries his daughter sway him to agree to her betrothal after an initial argument against this marriage. The other Capulets seem equally of a high temperament.  For instance, Tybalt is very hot-headed as he is easily irked in Act 3.

There is little dialogue with Lord and Lady Montague, so the reader cannot discern their personalities.  However, they do seem to love Romeo as they seek him in Act 1 and ask his friend Benvolio about him.  Certainly, honor is important to Lord Montague as he continues the feud with the Capulets.  Flourishing his sword in the first scene, Montague shouts, "Thou villain Capulet!--Hold me not, let me go" (I,i,52).  However, he seems to have less control than Lord Capulet since Lady Montague dares to scold him and tell him, "Thous shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe" (I,i, 53).