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The Character of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In the play 'Romeo and Juliet' written by William Shakespeare, the character Juliet progresses throughout to become a mature and wise young lady. Shakespeare emphasises on key moments, using varied linguistic techniques to develop the feeling of the scene. In act I scene III, The audience's first impression of Juliet is that of an innocent, naïve girl, who has barely thought about marriage. "It's an honour I dream not of." This creates audience sympathy for Juliet, due to her innocence. Even in one of the opening scenes, Shakespeare raises the issue of arranged marriages. A feminist critic agrees with this view. "The play challenges traditional familial duty, gender relations and the character and status of women." The play also shows male dominance. "Paris seeks you for his love." The men choose who they want to marry, and get them. The marriage becomes a key role in the play, and one of the main reasons for the death and hate. Upon hearing the news of the arranged marriage, the audience sees a wiser, coyer Juliet. "I'll look to like" This gives the audience a new perspective on Juliet, showing she is more complex than first thought. Nurse's bawdy humour is used to lighten the mood. "Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age" The juxtaposition from seriousness to comedy is a light relief in such a serious play, keeping the audience's interest. A Shakespearean audience would have seen Juliet as a normal teenager about to be married, however a modern audience would see Juliet as a sheltered teen, who doesn't have a good idea about men. This will also influence th... ... middle of paper ... ...ng positive said about love. Juliet has developed from a naïve, innocent and vulnerable child to a sure, strong and brave adult. Juliet lives a life in experience of love, hate and death in just two days, and this changes her from a girl to a woman. As I am the same age as the character, I know how it would feel for me to have that amount of peer pressure, and conflicting feelings. However, she lived all of this trauma in a 16th century upper class environment. She shows resilience in not collapsing under this great pressure, and there is a great admiration for this character. I think Shakespeare wanted the audience to connect with Juliet, and feel great sympathy for her conflicted position. Also, I think Shakespeare wanted Juliet to be admired and adored for her strength, and determination to let love succeed.
In an attempt to push away from medieval love conventions and her father's authority, Shakespeare's Juliet asserts sovereignty over her sexuality. She removes it from her father's domain and uses it to capture Romeo's love. Critic Mary Bly argues that sexual puns color Juliet's language. These innuendoes were common in Renaissance literature and would have been recognized by an Elizabethan audience. Arguably, Juliet uses sexual terms when speaking to Romeo in order to make him aware of her sexuality. When he comes to her balcony, she asks him, "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?" (2.1.167). Bly asserts that "satisfaction in her hands, becomes a demure play on the sating of desire" (108). Following this pun, Juliet proposes marriage. She teases Romeo with sexual thoughts and then stipulates that marriage must precede the consummation of their love. Juliet uses "death" in a similar sense. She asks night to "Give me my Romeo, and when I shall die / Take him and cut him out in little stars" (3.2.21-22). Death holds a double meaning in these lines. It connotes both "ceasing to be and erotic ecstasy" (Bly 98). Based upon this double meaning, one can infer that "she sweetly asks 'civil night' to teach her how to lose the game of love she is about to play for her virginity" (Wells 921). She tells her nurse, "I'll to my wedding bed, / And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!" (3.2.136-137). Placing death opposite Romeo highlights the irony of the situation; both death and Romeo should claim her maidenhead together. These sexual puns reveal Juliet's awareness of her sexuality. She entices Romeo, forcing her sexuality to act as emotional currency.
...se he believes Juliet to dead, drinks poison to take his own life as a last resort. What Romeo is unaware of is that Juliet is very much alive, so it is very ironic when he says, “Death, that has sucked the honey of thy breath,/ Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:/ Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet/ Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,/ And death’s pale flag is not advanced there” (V iii 101-105). This is fate in the works in the play. When Juliet sees that her love has not rescued her and rather is dead, she kills herself with a dagger found in the proximity. “O happy dagger/ This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die” (V iii 182-183).
We first meet Juliet in Act one scene three, where we learn a lot about her character. Juliet is very caring, well mannered and a loving girl. She is always willing to help others. At that time she is only thirteen years old and has never consid...
In act one scene three of Romeo and Juliet Lord Capulet states “…She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” This means that Juliet is not quite fourteen years old and her father is not sure if she is ready to become a wife and mother. There are many differences between how people marry today, and how they married in the time of Romeo and Juliet. Some of the differences are when the people marry, why people marry, and also the level of maturity people marry at.
In Romeo and Juliet it is very sad but also happy as even though they
The societal roles and expectations forced upon Juliet regarding her identity impact her actions and decisions. Juliet’s expected contributions to society were based on her gender,her social class and family name, and her age.
Juliet’s weakness to be controlled by love leads her to make unadvised and irresponsible decisions that contribute to her choice of ending her life. Characterized as a young and rash teenager, with no interest in love and marriage at first, Juliet wants to be independent. However, after she first lays eyes on Romeo, Juliet’s perception of love is quick to change. Their strong love easily manipulates and clouds her judgment. Even if she is cautious and realizes their love is too fast, the rush of feelings from having a first love overcomes her. Her soft-spoken words symbolically foreshadow the journey of Romeo and Juliet’s love. “Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee, / I have no joy of this contract tonight. / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;…/ This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, / May prove to be a beauteous flower when next we meet” (2.2. 117-123). The blooming flower is indicative of their growing love, especially Juliet. Being her first experience of true love, her actions become more rash the deeper she falls in, even ...
Juliet was a beautiful girl who was lovestruck and she would give her life away for love. She is obedient, eager and passionate young girl. She was deep in love with Romeo. Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time where the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arrange their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing into the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love and values social position rather than men themselves. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet centres on the relationship between two young protagonists, but much of what occurs during the play is as a result of the inequality between men and women.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is "a tragic hero.” This is according to Aristotle’s definition, a tragic hero is a character “who is neither completely good nor completely bad, but also a member of royalty.” Romeo is a tragic hero because he does many good things, but many bad things, as well. For example, he is a Montague and he marries Juliet, who is a Capulet. This is prohibited, so Romeo is bad. However, Romeo does everything he can to keep Juliet happy and risks his life for her, which makes him good. Romeo is also a man of royalty because he is Montague’s son. Romeo’s character has many contradictions, which makes the audience think, “is he good or bad?” Asking these questions and not knowing the answer leads us to believe that Romeo is a tragic hero, according to Aristotle’s definition.
We observe this from the very beginning in the prologue. The first five lines of the prologue aren’t about love but they are about hatred. As the prologue is in the form of a chorus and choruses generally repeat throughout the play it signifies that hate will be an eminent theme during Romeo and Juliet. There are many death and war references in the prologue which could suggest that Shakespeare is trying to introduce an important theme in the play, which is hate. Romeo and Juliet are described as “star crossed lovers and as having “death-marked love.” The image of a cross is negative and reminds us of death, as according to the Christian religion Jesus dies on a cross, also the phrase “death marked” also refers to death, these images can be linked with hate, this stresses that love and hate are undividable throughout Romeo and Juliet. The phrase “from forth the fatal loins of these two foes” links hatred with a bawdy form of love, which again emphasizes that hate and love are inseparable. The use of alliteration with the letter “f” sounds quite harsh, which again gives us a sense of hatred and because the “f” sound is repetitive it could imply that hatred will reoccur in the play. The use of stress on the words “fatal” and “foes” also underlines the importance of hate in the play. The theme of hatred is continued into Act 1 Scen...
In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Many of the recognisable themes are: youth and age, revenge, forbidden love, fate, action and hate. The main idea of the play is a feud that had been going on between two families, The ‘Montagues and Capulets’, the son of the Montagues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love and the story tells us how tragic, death, happiness and revenge find them throughout the play.
From the "fatal loins" (Prologue.5) of Lord and Lady Capulet, the protagonist Juliet is born in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Early on in the play, Juliet is portrayed as a very dutiful daughter to her family. However, after her encounter with Romeo, she undergoes a rapid transformation from a naive young girl into a woman. By the end of the play, Juliet's transformation evolves her from a dutiful daughter into a faithful wife who is willing to desert her family in the name of love. The audience is first introduced to Juliet in the exposition of the play.
In this essay, I will prove that Juliet is a dynamic character. What do you say to me? Can you love the gentleman? This night you shall behold him at our feast; Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight written there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content; And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes. This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him, only lacks a cover: The fish lives in the sea; and 'tis much pride For fair without the fair within to hide: That book in many's eyes doth share the glory, That in gold clasps locks in the golden story; So shall you share all that he doth possess, By having him, making yourself no less."
The value Romeo most cherishes is privacy between him and Juliet. The value of privacy is expressed through the metaphor of night. Through night, darkness is a veil that removes any obligations to social institutions and implications, rules and regulations. In short, night is the individual’s escape from the public world. In a way, the lover’s eventual suicides may be viewed as an eternal night. Romeo rejects the values of his surrounding public and social institutions. The placement of familial power on the head masculine figure of the household creates a profound obstacle between Romeo and Juliet. Both lovers must rebel against their lineage especially Juliet. Because of the patriarchal power structure, Juliet’s love is not hers to give away. There is a strong hostility between their two families that conflict with the renaissance value of honor.