Juliet Flashcards
What is Juliet’s character at the start of the play?
-At the start of the play, Juliet is an obedient child who listens to her parents.
-In Act 1 Scene 3, she actually speaks very little during a conversation about he potential future husband; Lady Capulet and the Nurse talk for the majority for the conversation. This highlights how quiet and obedient Juliet is at this point.
How does Juliet show hints of strength when talking about Paris?
-When Lady Capulet and the Nurse are talking about how handsome Paris is, and Lady Capulet tells Juliet to marry him because he’s very rich, Juliet says, ‘I’ll look to like, if looking liking move’.
-This suggests that Juliet is actually quite a strong person. She doesn’t agree to the match immediately but tells her mother she will think about it.
-But she also suggests that she will do her best to like Paris if her parents really want her to marry him, so she is still very much obedient.
How does Juliet change when she meets Romeo?
-By Act 2, she has made the decision to go against her parents’ wishes and go against societal expectations, to marry the enemy of her family, Romeo (a Montague).
-She swears that if Romeo cannot stop being a Montague, she will stop being a Capulet as long as he loves her (‘be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet’).
-The audience sees her defiant (rebellious) nature again in Act 3 Scene 5 when Lord Capulet tells her she will marry Paris on Thursday or he will disown her (stop calling her his daughter).
-Juliet responds that she would rather die than marry him.
How does Juliet show more maturity than Romeo in Act 2?
-In Act 2, she shows that she is more mature than Romeo because she sees that their desire to be together is ‘too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden’.
-You could see this quote as foreshadowing (warning about the future). Juliet may be warning of the terrible consequences they will face because of how quickly they fall in love and marry.
What are Juliet’s weak points?
-But Juliet still falls in love with Romeo. They continue to plan their life together and say they love each other.
-By the end of Act 2 Scene 2, it is actually Juliet who suggests marriage. She asks Romeo to send a message to her if ‘thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage’.
-In Act 3, Juliet is still quite naive (lack of experience and wisdom) at the beginning. She obsesses over her love for Romeo and ignores the potential consequences of their families finding out that they are married.
How does Juliet show sexual maturity?
-Juliet also shows a growing of sexual maturity.
-She waits for Romeo to return so they can enjoy their wedding night together, ‘I have bought the mansion of a love, but not possess’d it’.
How is Juliet presented as being isolated and without options when she’s preparing to take the sleeping potion?
-Juliet’s isolation and uncertainty is reinforced when she is preparing to take the sleeping potion.
-She questions the Friar’s motives - ‘What if it be a poison, which the friar subtly had minister’d to have me dead, lest in this marriage he should be dishonou’d’.
-She worries that Friar Laurence may not be being honest with her and may, in fact, be trying to kill her. She thinks he could be doing this so he doesn’t get into trouble for marrying her and Romeo.
-This quote shows Juliet to be a tragic heroine as she is facing this on her own. She is willing to risk death to be with Romeo.
How is Juliet presented as being isolated and without options when Lord Capulet tells Juliet that she must marry Paris?
-After Lord Capulet tells Juliet that she must marry Paris and both Lady Capulet and the Nurse refuse to help her, she can see no way out of the marriage, even though she knows she is already married.
-When she visits Friar Laurence in Act 4, she tells him, ‘I long to die’. The audience may feel a lot of sympathy for Juliet at this point. For the first time in the play, she is alone and without help - even her Nurse has taken away her support. She visits Friar Laurence because she has no other option.
-Juliet is tragic because she is trapped; she has no choice but to follow the Friar’s plan.
What does ‘Where is my Romeo’ signify?
-Juliet’s first thought is ‘Where is my Romeo?’.
-The audience knows that Romeo has killed himself because he thinks she is dead.
-Here, the tragedy reaches its highest point. The audience remembers that Juliet and the Friar had created this plan to fake her death so that Romeo and Juliet could be together.
-Instead, the plan has backfired and will (as the audience knows) result in the death of both protagonists (main characters).
What was Juliet’s response to seeing Romeo dead?
-When Juliet sees Romeo dead beside her, she picks up his dagger to kill herself.
-This highlights the tragedy of the story again because we are reminded of how simple her hopes were, she just wanted to be with Romeo, but the family feud (fight) has caused her to kill herself.
‘I’ll look to like, if looking liking move.’ (Act 1, Scene 3)
-Juliet does not just give in to her mother’s wishes that she should marry Paris.
-Instead, she tells her mother that she will try to like him and then decide if she will marry him.
‘too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden’. (Act 2, Scene 2)
-Juliet shows that she is more mature than Romeo here.
-She uses a triadic structure (rule of three) to tell him that their love is happening too quickly and that there could be some bad consequences if they let it get too serious too fast.
‘if that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage’. (Act 2, Scene 2)
-Although she had bad feelings at first, Juliet is the one who suggests marriage to Romeo (a few hours after they meet).
-She is still a bit unsure about Romeo’s motives, so asks him if his intentions are serious.
-She says that he should be thinking about marriage if he loves her.
-This could suggest that she is emotionally immature. They barely know each other and she is rushing towards marriage.
‘I have bought the mansion of a love, but not possess’d it’. (Act 3, Scene 2)
-This quote shows Juliet’s sexual maturity. She talks of her desire to consummate her marriage to Romeo by having sex with him on their wedding night.
-She understands that (in her Catholic society), she must wait until she is married to have sex, but also that sex is an important part of marriage.
-She wants to consummate her marriage because she wants to feel ‘properly’ married.
