Juliet Flashcards
Capulet: “My child is yet a stranger in the world,/ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;” (I.ii.8-9)
Shakespeare emphasises how Juliet is stuck in a period between childhood and adulthood: Capulet describes her as a “stranger”, yet discusses her forthcoming marriage to Paris.
This alludes to how Julliet is constantly caught between opposing forces. Juliet is only 13, which was still an uncommon age to get married in Shakespeare’s time.
Lady Capulet: “Speak briefly. Can you like of Paris, love?/ Juliet: I’ll look to like, if looking liking move./ But no more deep will I endart mine eye/ Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.” (I.iii.97-100)
Dialogue indicates her emotional maturity and headstrong nature- she rejects the ideals that society propagates. Shakespeare uses half-rhyme to reply to Lady Capulet’s question, which illustrates Juliet’s dissidence. It also foreshadows her future rebellion against her family and society.
Active verbs used with prominent first-person pronoun, “I’ll look to like…”, conveys an assertion of agency. Juliet makes her own decision, thus opposing the forces of oppression- her family, and the patriarchy.
This means Juliet is atypical for her time, where women were conditioned into subjugation and submission.
Romeo: “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!…As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear-” (I.v.43-52)
Regular rhyming couplets heighten the feeling of love - they are two lines fit together as a singular unit/ anatomy. This suggests Juliet is able to reciprocate Romeo’s feelings. Juliet is metaphorically portrayed as transcendental in this extract, as she “teaches the torches,” is a “snowy dove” amongst “crows”, and her beauty is “for earth too dear”. Furthermore “dove[s]” generally have biblical connotations of good luck and crows have connotations of bad luck.
Shakespeare establishes the lexically cohesive conflict between light and dark in this extract. This alludes to the “artificial night” in Scene 1, which emphasises the weight of Juliet’s presence in the character’s narrative arc. Shakespeare also portrays the objectification of Juliet, with the metaphor “As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear-“
Romeo [To Juliet]: “If I profane with my unworthiest hand. This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”
(I.v.92-95)
Throughout this whole exchange, religious imagery and religious allusion are used which typifies Romeo and Juliet’s love as something sacred. Pilgrims were religious travellers who went on a pilgrimage which is a religious journey to a place of spiritual importance, for example, Christians in the Elizabethan time up until the present day still go to pilgrimages to Israel which is known as the Holy Land. Shakespeare uses an extended metaphor of pilgrims to suggest that Juliet’s body is the Holy land and that Romeo is the pilgrim trying to pursue Juliet.
Juliet: “My grave is like to be my wedding bed”. (I.v.134)
Shakespeare showcases a meta-theatrical foreshadowing of the play’s events. Freudian ideas of eros and thanatos can be identified in this quote; love and sex lead to death.
Shakespeare allegorically links the “wedding bed”, a symbol of intimacy, sex and love, to a grave which is associated with death and decay. Demonstrates how oppositions are intertwined in the play.
Juliet: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?/ Deny thy father and refuse thy name;” (II.ii.33-34)
Juliet reveals the futile and trivial nature of the feud that separates them by acknowledging that is only due to a name. This demonstrates her wisdom and shows a more spiritual and wise understanding of the cogs of Veronian society.
“Deny”, and “…refuse” are imperatives, which suggests a conflict with fate: she wants Romeo to take action. When she asks Romeo to “refuse [his] name”, it indicates a youthful sense of idealism and naivety. This highlights two sides of her character, her wisdom and her youthfulness; she is intelligent but naive.
Juliet: “O swear not by the moon, th’inconstant moon…/ Do not swear at all/ Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self who ist the god of my idolatry” (II.ii.109-113)
Shakespeare presents Juliet as favouring actions as she rejects the ideas of traditional fake love and encourages Romeo to follow a love more spontaneous and unrehearsed.
Juliet’s half-line imperative riposte “Do not swear…” emphasises her decisive nature.
Shakespeare’s monosyllabic phrases highlight how assertive she is; this is antithetical to Romeo’s lyrical language.
The caesura in line 13, puts more weight in the imperative command of Juliet’s. This means she is not a passive participant in this event.
Juliet: “O, I have bought the mansion of love,/ But not possess’d it, and though I am sold/ Not yet enjoy’d…”. (III.ii.26-28)
The half-rhymes “possess’d” and “enjoy’d” are placed in the internal lines, which means that Juliet’s experience has been incomplete. By describing herself as “sold”, the character is seen as objectifying herself.
The mercantile lexicon is delivered by Juliet. The character informs audiences that she is self-aware of her commodification. She is the “mansion”, a transactional object that can be “bought” and “sold”.
Spondaic substitution, “O,I…” puts stress on the first-person pronoun “I”, and this is dominant in the section.
This quote is one of the rare moments when Juliet is by herself; in this isolated soliloquy, she is able to assert her “self”- indicated by the prominent “I”.
Juliet: “Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!/ Dove-feather’d raven, wolvish-ravening lamb!/ Despised substance of divinest show!” (III.ii.75-77)
The sequential use of oxymorons for example “Beautiful tyrant”, “fiend angelical”, conveys the conflict that plagues Juliet. Echoes Romeo’s Petrarchan suffering; in this instance Juliet laments thee opposing familial and romantic love.
Revolutionary for the Elizabethan era- Juliet is a complex character like Romeo. She is able to use oxymorons attributed to Romeo, and is able to use language to invert Romeo’s imagery, “Dove-feather’d raven”.
This shows her proficiency in language that educated men had. In order to purportedly hurt Romeo, she uses his language against him. Broken syntax evokes the violence of this turmoil- makes the dialogue more potent, and expresses her anger.
Capulet: “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!” (III.v.160)
The asyndetic listing of pejorative epithets, “young baggage,” “disobedient wretch” creates the effect of the torrent of insults. Ironic, as this is the only time the relationship resembles a normal family - whilst Capulet is chastising Juliet. Broken syntax emphasises Capulet’s fury.
Juliet: “…O happy dagger,/ Taking Romeo’s dagger/ This is thy sheath;/ Stabs herself/ there rust, and let me die.” (V.iii.169-170)
Uses inverted metaphors; the dagger is personified as “happy”, whereas her body becomes its “sheath”.
This shows the idea that love and death are inextricably linked. Shakespeare lexically cohesively phrases Juliet’s dialogue with monosyllables, which highlights her affirmative and assertive quality.
In Roman tradition, stabbing was the most honourable and noble form of suicide. Thus, Shakespeare presents Juliet as a tragic hero. Tragedies are often linked with the conflict between individual action and arbitrary fate.
This is her only act of violence, but is also the play’s final act of violence. Juliet’s action, thus exerts a change in society. Shakespeare therefore is promoting the idea that action is necessary to bring about a new order.
