Growing up, Juliet
The timeless story of lovers, Romeo and Juliet is horribly tragic. In Act III, Scene V of the play the tragedy begins to unfold. Although the entire play is rather dramatic, this scene reveals the effects of past decisions and is the beginning of a tragic series of misunderstandings and fatal reactions. Important relational transformations occur amongst the characters, and the tone for the rest of the play is revealed in this scene. Through language, Shakespeare presents these changes through exquisite puns, as well as foreshadowing the eventual suicides of Romeo and Juliet. From this point on in the play there are no more comedic or romantic scenes. Through Juliet's marriage and first sexual encounter she
Juliet's first visible transformation to adulthood is revealed here. In Romeo's desire to be with Juliet, he is willing to risk capture, and most probably death, in being found within the Capulet walls. Romeo, although maturing in his feelings of love and intimacy is still young and reckless in his behavior. One must also take into account, Romeo knows that he is a fugitive and that being found and killed is very likely, this may shed some light onto Romeo's recklessness. However, Juliet is more pragmatic than the reckless Romeo eventually pleads for Romeo to leave "O, now be gone! More light and light it grows" (III.v.35). Unto which Romeo responds, "More light and light- more dark and dark our woes" (III.v.36). Upon his exit, in a foreshadowing tone, Juliet thinks she sees his body not on the ground, but "as one dead in the bottom of a tomb" (III.v.56). In prior scenes Juliet would have been persuaded by the desperate and thoughtless Romeo, however in this scene Shakespeare shows that Jul...
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...ng that although she now considers herself independent, she still does not have much power. She knows that the only power she has is to keep or end her own life.
All throughout the play Juliet is maturing, but this scene is the focal point. Shakespeare seems to tie this focal point to her first sexual experience and marriage. She now feels like more of a woman after experiencing these two parts of life. Her defiance of her parents shows more independence than maturity, however, it is hard to blame the misfortuned Juliet for reaction in the manner she did. Also, the somewhat tragic ending of Juliet's confidence of the Nurse shows she is willing to be own her own, so that she can have what she wants. What she wants though was probably not the best decision, because when all the foreshadowing was finally enacted she and the person she loved the most lied dead.
This shows that the nurse is really more like a maternal figure in Juliet’s life. Juliet trusts the Nurse and turns to her for support in times of need, especially after the dispute with her father about marriage. Juliet was upset about the arranged marriage, and she was already married to Romeo, so after her parents left she turned to the nurse for guidance. “O God!-O Nurse, how shall this be prevented?/ My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven…”(Ⅲ,ⅴ,205-206). Juliet asked the Nurse how she can prevent the arranged marriage from happening. She stated that her husband, Romeo, is on earth, but she loves her parents and doesn't want to disappoint them. Juliet had the opportunity to talk to her mother at this part, because her father left giving her the opportunity, however she waited for her mother to leave so
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play commonly viewed and known as a true love story; however, after analyzing several hints portrayed by the protagonists, it is evident that Shakespeare did not intend to make Romeo and Juliet seem like a true love story but a criticism of how superficial society’s view on love is.
Romeo and Juliet is known as one of the greatest love stories, but it has its fair share of tragedy as well. The story riddles with themes throughout. Love is the first theme and there is no greater love than the love Romeo and Juliet share. Shakespeare offers his audiences just as much hate as love in Romeo and Juliet. The families of both Romeo and Juliet involve themselves in centuries of feuding. The ongoing feud between the Montagues and Capulets drives Romeo and Juliet into a life of secrecy, which ultimately causes their deaths. Youth is another theme and ties directly to how young both Romeo and Juliet are both in their age and their relationship. The story of Romeo and Juliet uses sex as a theme as well although not in the intimate details of more modern stories. The two lovers concerns are not with the wishes of their warring families, they just want to be together “Deny thy father and refuse thy name / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn by my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.34-36). Love is the first theme Shakespeare displays in this play.
Firstly, Juliet is misguided by the Nurse – a bawdy woman who is too caught up in her own sentimental feelings to support and direct Juliet through hers. She is responsible for encouraging Juliet’s marriage with Romeo (her lover) shortly after they meet, despite knowing that
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
Another thing that happened was that children would always obey their parents without question. This is why when Juliet refuses to marry Paris her father. gets so angry with me. In act 1 scene 3 we first meet Juliet and Nurse and see the strong mother/ daughter type bond between her and Juliet. We can immediately see that Nurse plays a big part in the play from the way that she talks.
This quote shows how Shakespeare handled an emotion, then translating it into something that gave Juliet strength to continue the Friar’s plan to be with Romeo. The love between Romeo and Juliet makes them forget about their commitments to the world and everyone around them, they both get consumed in a self-centered world of their own, overlooking their commitments to everyone else. The nurse acts as a parental figure to Juliet, where she cares for her as if Juliet is her own child, and gives advice and help whenever she is in need for it. The nurse believes that Juliet is still gentle and young, therefore is always on the look out for Juliet, making sure she doesn't get hurt.
Juliet’s character is a collection of innocence, youth and naïveness. Her portrayal, however, did not fit well with the stereotypical view of how an Elizabethan women should have been. Women back then had to obey their fathers and husbands. They weren’t granted free will and so Juliet initial portrayal is girl who is an obeying daughter but when she discovers love she becomes a disobedient daughter to be faithful to her husband (Romeo).
Romeo and Juliet is a timeless tale of lovers who's misfortune and immaturity was a cause of their own destruction. The characters individually show immaturity and together demonstrate how ignorance of the world effects more than just their own lives. Romeo and Juliet, as expressed in the succeeding examples, fall in love quickly as a result of their naivety.
Unlike Romeo’s adolescents Juliet once again breaks free from that stereotype right before she is going to drink the potion that makes her look dead. She is worried about if she “wake[s] before the time that Romeo comes to redeem [her]” (4.3,35-end). By this she means that she fears that Romeo will not be there by the time she wakes up and she will be stuck in the tomb with all the dead bodies which will inturn make her go crazy. Juliet though she is not as bad as Romeo still makes some adolescent choices that really affect he life like marrying Romeo and also killing herself.
She arranges the wedding of Juliet, exiting the Capulet household to locate Romeo to inform him about “[proposing] to [Juliet], which [she thought was] the gentlemanly thing to do”. Now that the two ‘star-crossed’ lovers were married, their bond in the sense of love was absolutely unbreakable, introducing more unique actions they would commit simply to physically be near each other. She was constantly supportive of Juliet’s feelings and strived to “find Romeo To comfort [her]” whenever they were separated due to the town’s banishing of Romeo. Coordinating the unity of Romeo and Juliet under the circumstances of two families possessing an immortal hatred for each other wielded many risks and potential sacrifices for the Nurse. The risk resides within her efforts to support Juliet in pursuing a relationship with Romeo and the irony of the second quote. Her motive to find Romeo was simply for the sake of “comforting” Juliet, however taking the risk of having her cling to this long distant relationship resulted in an abundance of tragedies rather than the long awaited comfort. She risked her connection with the Capulet family, as well as her personal relationship with Juliet. Due to the Nurse, Juliet was submerged into an environment of a true ‘star-crossed’ love, causing her thoughts and emotions to be hindered by the influence of her new
Just as the Friar says in the beginning of the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, “Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast.” (II.iii.94). this was a sign of foreshadowing for for the death of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Even though fate was a factor that had contributed to a tragic end, there was also personal choice involved, and ultimately, the story may have had a different ending if it weren’t for the flaws of the lovers and their inability to have a grip on reality in dire circumstances. Over the course of the play, the lovers from the conflicting households have not matured and remain rather static in development. Furthermore, in this tragedy, the only son of the montages remains rather childlike, Juliet still seems immature and their relationship over all seems more like a play act on lover rather then something mature and sustainable. Overall, from start to finish, Romeo and Juliet were living in the moment, being absurd and silly rather then focusing on the future and trying to work problems out effectively.
To add to the issue, the Nurse later betrays Juliet when Juliet begs her for help. “I think you are happy in this second match, For it excels your first, or, if it did not, Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were, As living here and you no use of him.” (3.5.226-238). The Nurse goes against her previous actions and expects Juliet to forget about Romeo by dispraising him. Juliet wants to remain faithful to her husband and this betrayal, along with Capulet’s ultimatum, causes Juliet to act hastily and want to die if she wasn’t with Romeo.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, is a well known play. That it is still performed in theaters and English classes to this day. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play about two star crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. They fall in love, despite of the feud between their families. They were forced to keep their love secret because of their families, and they also got married without their families figuring out. This story is still read now because of its strong usage of literary elements. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet endures time because of its expert use of literary elements including foreshadowing, metaphor, and simile.
The significance of Juliet’s change in character is to show her accelerated transformation from a young girl into a mature woman. In the beginning of the play Juliet is unable to make her own decisions. However after her meeting with Romeo, Juliet becomes more assertive and defends her love for Romeo. In conclusion, individuals cannot be forced to love; love is nurtured and nourished but also is always put to test.