Juliet

Question 1

‘no more deep will i endart my eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly’ - juliet, act 1 scene 3

Answer 1

• Juliet claims that she cannot fall in love without her mother’s approval,
• It indicates how powerful the influence of her parent’s opinion is which was common in the 16th century

Question 2

‘fain would i dwell on form, fain, fain deny what i have spoke’ - juliet, act 2 scene 2

Answer 2

• Juliet wishes Romeo had not heard her confess her love - she wishes she could have kept her distance for the sake of ‘form’. the repetition of ‘fain’ highlights her regret

Question 3

‘i have no joy of this contract tonight: it is too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden; too like the lightning’ - juliet act 2 scene 2

Answer 3

• Juliet is anxious that the promises they make tonight will be meaningless + short lived,
• This parallels to Romeo’s quote in act 1 scene 4 (‘too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn’)

Question 4

‘had she affections and warm youthful blood, she would be as swift in motion as a ball’ - juliet, act 2 scene 5

Answer 4

• Juliet impatiently waits for the nurse to bring news because she’s frustrated, uses a simile

Question 5

‘but old folks, many feign as they were dead; unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead’ - juliet, act 2 scene 5

Answer 5

• Juliet believes that adults are incapable of feeling love - and so are effectively dead, uses a tricolon + then a simile to reiterate they’re dead inside

Question 6

‘can heaven be so envious?’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 6

• Juliet misunderstands the nurse + believes that Romeo is dead.
• ‘envious’ mostly means cruel, but also suggests that her good fortune, + Romeo himself, have made the gods jealous, so they’ve taken him away

Question 7

‘vile earth, to earth resign, end motion here!’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 7

• When she believes Romeo is dead, Juliet sees herself as worthless.
• It also suggests that she wants to die too (so they’re together in death) which foreshadows the end of the play

Question 8

‘madam, i am here. what is your will?’ - juliet, act 1 scene 3

Answer 8

• Juliet’s first words to her mother emphasise her obedience to her parents, especially the formal address of ‘madam’

Question 9

‘it is an honour that i dream not of’ - juliet, act 1 scene 3

Answer 9

• Juliet’s attitude to marriage, heavily in contrast to her mother who wants her to marry immediately
• This shows that Juliet has a lot of respect for the institution of marriage but it is not something that she thinks about.
• Through this Juliet strikes the audience as a girl that does not have love on her mind.
• This is dramatic irony as the audience knows that by the end of the play Juliet will not just have dreamed love but will have died for it.

Question 10

‘if he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed’ - juliet, act 1 scene 5

Answer 10

• Juliet’s line foreshadows the end of the play but also highlights how she already loves + adores Romeo
• 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.

Question 11

‘my only love sprung from my only hate!’ - juliet, act 1 scene 5

Answer 11

• Juliet states the paradox of her relationship with Romeo by using contrasting nouns + how she hates how it is via the exclamation

Question 12

‘o romeo, romeo, wherefore art thou romeo?’ - juliet, act 2 scene 2

Answer 12

• Juliet exclaims why his name has to be Romeo + her despair over it is symbolised by the ecphonesis + repetition of his name
• Juliet is apostrophising Romeo, augmenting the intensity of her love for him as she is trying to summon him from nothing.
• The repetition of“Romeo, Romeo […] Romeo foregrounds her love, as Romeo is both lexically and literally at the forefront of her thoughts.

Question 13

‘deny thy father and refuses thy name… but sworn my love, and i’ll no longer by a capulet’ - juliet, act 2 scene 2

Answer 13

• The quote highlights Juliet’s hamartia, her impulsiveness, + how she’s prepared to give up her family for Romeo who she has just met (she’s devoting herself to him)
• Juliet’s line reveals the many oppositions underlying her relationship with Romeo: between the Montagues and Capulets, between fathers and sons, between political relationships and loving relationships.
• The lexis of negation (“Deny […] refuse […] not […] no longer”) foregrounds these tensions and oppositions which underpin their relationship
• 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.

Question 14

‘tis but thy name that is my enemy […] nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face […] o be some other name!’ - juliet, act 2 scene 2

Answer 14

• Juliet idealistically believes r
  Romeo can give up being a m
  Montague, also highlights how much importance a name holds + how she wishes it didn’t

Question 15

‘if they do see thee, they will murder thee’ - juliet, act 2 scene 2

Answer 15

• Juliet is far more realistic + anxious than Romeo here - she seems to understand the real danger they are facing in this violent and brutal city.
• It also reminds the audience of the conflict in the city even in the face of love
• A more straightforward expression of the threat posed to Romeo by the Capulets.
• The juxtaposition between Juliet’s intimate use of the pronoun “thee […] thee” and the verb “murder” highlights the conflicts underpinning their relationship.
• Shakespeare establishes Juliet’s character as a reasoned and realistic person.
• Her transition to simple one-liners emphasises her cautious thinking.
• The use of the dominant monosyllabic wording adds realism and steadfast nature to her character.
• “Murder” is the only word that is not monosyllabic, indicating it’s importance in the line.
• The presence of violence drives this line and unlike love, it is not poetic, but real and definite like the simple syntax of the line.

Question 16

‘come, night, come, romeo, come thou day in night’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 16

• Juliet shows her desperation to be with Romeo - she wishes badly that the night could change to day via the use of repetition

Question 17

‘o god, did romeo’s hand shed tybalt’s blood?’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 17

• Juliet realises what Romeo has done + her conflicted + sudden rush of emotions is represented by the ecphonesis

Question 18

‘o serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face! […] beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical! […] a damned saint, an honourable villain!’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 18

• Juliet sees Romeo as being outwardly beautiful but inwardly wicked which she indicates using lots of oxymorons + juxtaposition.
• The contrast between the two short phrases + exclamations symbolise her betrayed + conflicted emotions
• The confusion that Juliet is feeling is reflected through her oxymoronic language, Juliet no longer knows what to think of Romeo.
• Before this Juliet believed Romeo to be perfect and now the information that she is getting from the Nurse no longer fits this picture and so the image in her mind is distorted creating contradictory images

Question 19

‘o what a beast was i to chide at him!’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 19

• Juliet cannot bring herself to admit that romeo has done anything wrong + dehumanises herself as discipline

Question 20

‘that ‘banished’, that one word ‘banished’ had slain ten thousand tybalts’ - juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 20

• Juliet sees Romeo’s banishment as being far worse than the death of Tybalt
• She officially chooses love over family - what tortures Juliet more is that can’t be with Romeo at all anymore

Question 21

‘methinks i see thee now, thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb’ - juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 21

• Juliet seems to have a premonition of romeo’s death. the next time she sees him (in act 5) he will indeed be dead, therefore foreshadowing the end of the play

Question 22

‘he shall not make me there a joyful bride’ - juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 22

• Juliet flatly rejects the idea of marrying Paris.
• This emphasises Juliet’s defiance + strong character + how she reigns against the patriarchal society of the 16th century which the audience would frown down upon

Question 23

‘make the bridal bed in the dim monument where tybalt lies’ - juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 23

• In pleading + begging her mother to delay the wedding, Juliet’s words foreshadow the end of the play

Question 24

‘thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain’ - juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 24

• Juliet breaks off her relationship with nurse.
• Her last words to the nurse are very sarcastic + she uses a lot of imperatives to highlight their relationship change

Question 25

‘or bid me go into a new-made grave’ - juliet, act 4 scene 1

Answer 25

• Juliet’s words to the f
  Friar show her desperation and courage - they also ironically foreshadow the end of the play.
• Her speech is filled with dramatics underlining her desperation. it also shows that she is extremely loyal to Romeo

Question 26

‘i have learnt me to repent the sin of disobedient opposition’ - juliet, act 4 scene 2

Answer 26

• Juliet pretends that she is going to be an obedient daughter to Capulet
• Shows the patriarchal society but also how Juliet is very sly + is tricking everyone

Question 27

‘my dismal scene i needs must act alone’ - juliet, act 4 scene 3

Answer 27

• Juliet prepares to take the potion + how she’s a brave + courageous young girl
  Shakespeare shows that for Juliet to be rejoined with her lover she must be alone.
• Her on stage isolation is paradoxical; Shakespeare shows that Juliet must be alone and in isolation in order to be with her one true love, Romeo.

Question 28

‘i will kiss thy lips […] thy lips are warm’ - juliet, act 5 scene 3

Answer 28

• Extremely sad line in the play, Romeo has just died + she just missed him

Question 29

‘o happy dagger, this is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die’ - juliet, act 5 scene 3

Answer 29

• Juliet’s short and simple final speech contrasts to Romeo’s, highlights that she desperately wants to be with him again in death - uses an oxymoron
• 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

Question 30

‘il look to like if looking like move. But no more deep will I endure mine eye. than your consent gives strength to make it fly’ - Juliet, act 1 scene 3

Answer 30

• Juliet is saying here that she will give Paris a chance if she sees something that she likes, however she will not fall for Paris.
• By saying “no more deep” suggests images of falling and in this case of falling in love which juxtaposes the idea of giving consent to “fly”.
• It is possible that this could mean that despite all efforts Juliet will still fall in love

Question 31

‘the orchard walls are high and hard to climb; /and the place death, considering who thou art, / if any of my kinsmen find thee here’ - Juliet, act 2 scene 2

Answer 31

• The “orchard” acts as a metaphor for the obstacles surrounding Romeo’s love for Juliet - he may surmount them, but at great cost.
• The ominous reference to “death” is proleptic if the tragic ending of the play and undercuts the frivolity and young love which otherwise underpins this scene.

Question 32

‘I pray thee speak; good, good nurse, speaker.. is thy news good or bad? … Let me be satisfied.. What says my love?… Come, what says Romeo?’ - Juliet + nurse interaction, act 2 scene 5

Answer 32

• By inserting this impatient exchange between Juliet and the tired Nurse, Shakespeare increases the dramatic tension which reflects the anxiety felt by Juliet.
• The repetitious nature of these lines also characterises Juliet as an impatient child rather than a desperate lover which somewhat undermines the sincerity of their affair.

Question 33

‘love’s heralds should be thoughts / which ten times faster glide than the sun’s beams / driving back shadows’ - Juliet, act 2 scene 5

Answer 33

• Juliet uses natural and pleasing imagery (“love’s heralds […] glide […] sun’s beams”) which signals a return to the pure imagery of love which has been so absent in the previous scenes.
• Again, this is an exploration of the different kinds of love within this world.
• However, there is an ominous undercurrent in her words.
• Her impatience points to a degree of childishness within her love; this undercurrent is highlighted by the juxtaposition between the “shadows” (which “should be” driven back, but aren’t) and the “sun’s beams”

Question 34

‘give me my Romeo. and when I shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night’ - Juliet, act 3, scene 2

Answer 34

• Juliet is looking forward to Romeo coming to her room.
• The image is quite startling to the reader because of how graphic the image of cutting is. * Juliet’s words also foreshadow the death of Romeo as they foreshadow Romeo returning back to the stars.
• It also adds to the concept of Romeo and Juliet as star-crossed lovers and their love as written in the stars.

Question 35

‘upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit, for ‘tis a thorn where donor may be crowned’ - Juliet, act 3 scene 2

Answer 35

Juliet is telling the Nurse that she is supporting her husband because there is nothing that can shame him. Juliet calls his brow a “throne” which means she equates Romeo to royalty despite his sins. ○ The audience may perceive Juliet’s unconditional love in two ways, it could inspire them. Alternatively, it may prove Romeo and Juliet’s love to be unrealistic and just young children’s infatuation which is blinding them.

Question 36

‘then window, let day in and let life out’ - Juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 36

• Juliet echoes what Romeo has said in the quote above but in a more literal sense.
• She means that as the day comes it is as though her life is leaving her.
• Alternatively, it could mean that as Romeo is leaving, it is as though she is dying because of how strong her bond is with Romeo.

Question 37

‘yon light is not daylight, I know it, I. It is some meteor that the sun exhales’

Answer 37

• Juliet does not want Romeo to leave and so wills it that the sun will not come out. Juliet personifies the sun, it “exhales” as though it breathes.
• This again links Romeo and Juliet’s love to something out of this world, that needs some kind of ‘out of this world’ or above this world intervention.

Question 38

‘be fickle, fortune, for then, I hope, thou wilt not keep him long,’ - Juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 38

• ‘Juliet is appealing to fate now, which could suggest how desperate she is.
• It is also ironic because throughout the play it seems that every power that could be is against the two lovers and has tried to pull them apart, even fate.

Question 39

‘I will not marry yet. and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,’ -Juliet, act 3 scene 5

Answer 39

• Juliet says this to her mother which is both a truth and a lie, it is true that she does not want to marry Paris but the lie is that she hates Romeo.
• It is possible that Juliet may have made a mistake which is evident through the comma after Romeo which signifies a pause.
• The extra clause may be her trying to redeem herself before she reveals the lie that she has been hiding.

Question 40

‘if […] thou canst give no help, / do thou but call my resolution wise / and with this knife I’ll help it presently’ - Juliet, act 4 scene 1

Answer 40

• The depths of Juliet’s sorrow are here made explicit in an almost throw-away reference to suicide.
• The euphemism of “help it” foregrounds the juxtaposition between her innocence and her suicidal intent.

Question 41

‘o, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris / from off the battlements of any tower […] and I will do it without fear or doubt / to live an unstained wife to my sweet love.’ - Juliet, act 4 scene 1

Answer 41

• Juliet’s use of a morbid and macabre lexis(“thievish […] lurk […] serpents […] roaring bears […] charnel house […] bones […] skulls [etc.]”) reflects the depression into which she has been driven by her engagement to Paris.
• Death is on her mind, and these images leak into her language.
• This reflects the potentially harmful nature of Petrarchan love in so far as it so easily morphs into ideas of hate and death, rather than those of love.

Question 42

‘pardon, I beseech you. / henceforth I am ever ruled by you’ Juliet, act 4 scene 2

Answer 42

• The falsity of Juliet’s apology is hinted at by its hyperbolic nature.
• The repetition of “you” allows her to implicitly take attention away from her actions.
• The phrase “I am ever rul’d by you” demonstrates the “male-female ruler-ruled” nature of male-female relations in the Elizabethan era.
• Juliet’s submissiveness to her father and to Paris, however, is contrasted with her egalitarian relationship with Romeo in other scenes, demonstrating the purity of their love.

Question 43

‘I fear it […] there’s a fearful plot’’ - Juliet, act 4 scene 3

Answer 43

• The repetition of “fear” reflects Juliet’s youthful overactive imagination and reinforces the odd fact that she should be in these circumstances.
• Furthermore, this increases the tension for the audience (who expect a tragic ending).

Question 44

‘shall I not then be stifled in the vault / to whose foul mouth no health some air breathes in / and there die strangled ere my Romeo comes’ - Juliet, act 4 scene 3

Answer 44

• Juliet’s utmost fear is not death, but isolation
• This is foregrounded in the separation between “I” at the start of the sentence and 
  “Romeo” at the end, as well as the content of her message.
• This further demonstrates the extent of her love and how it has overtaken all other aspects of her life.

Question 45

‘or if I live, is it not ver like / the horrible conceit of death and night […] desperate brains’ - Juliet act 4 scene 3

Answer 45

• This large section is erratically punctuated and all one sentence, reflecting Juliet’s almost hysterical anxiety.
• She is endlessly spilling out words to prolong the inevitable.
• Her eventual drinking of the potion looks as though it’s a spontaneous and foolhardy decision, which is proleptic of its failure.
• Furthermore, there is a lexical set of morbid words in this section (“horrible […] death […] terror […] bones […] bloody […] fest’ ring”), reflecting Juliet’s depressed thoughts and foreshadowing the upcoming onset of much death.