Lady Capulet Flashcards
- Calling Juliet to speak about marriage (A1S3)
“Nurse, where’s my daughter? Call her forth to me.”
• What: Shows emotional distance from Juliet
• How:
• Third-person reference to “my daughter” → formal, detached
• Asks Nurse to summon Juliet = no direct maternal bond
• Imperatives show authority, not intimacy
• Why: Highlights reliance on Nurse → absence of maternal warmth
• Themes: generational divide, gender, family loyalty, individuals vs society
- Encouraging Juliet to marry Paris (A1S3)
“So shall you share all that he doth possess / By having him, making yourself no less.”
• What: Presents marriage as transactional gain
• How:
• Rhyming couplet = rehearsed persuasion
• Materialist tone → love = property
• “No less” → reduces Juliet’s identity to social value
• Metaphor “share all he doth possess” = ownership-focused union
• Why: Marriage seen as economic advancement, not emotional bond
• Themes: love/relationships, social divide, gender, appearance vs reality
- Describing Paris (A1S3)
“Verona’s summer hath not such a flower.”
• What: Compares Paris to nature’s beauty
• How:
• Metaphor “flower” → Paris = symbol of perfection
• Hyperbolic praise → romanticises surface-level traits
• Irony → elevates Paris while Juliet loves Romeo
• Nature imagery masks social motivation
• Why: Appearance idealised over substance → parental priorities misaligned
• Themes: appearance vs reality, gender, love/relationships, social divide
- Juliet replies to her about marriage (A1S3)
“Speak briefly, can you like of Paris’ love?”
• What: Pressures Juliet to conform
• How:
• Imperative “speak briefly” = silencing device
• Cold tone = no interest in Juliet’s emotions
• Paris’ “love” framed as fixed, not negotiable
• Euphemism “can you like” → makes command sound like a choice
• Why: Highlights controlling role masked as care → Juliet’s voice ignored
• Themes: gender, family loyalty, love/relationships, generational divide
- Demanding justice after Tybalt’s death (A3S1)
“Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.”
• What: Calls for Romeo’s death
• How:
• Anaphora “Romeo…Romeo” = fixation on vengeance
• Modal “must” = moral absolutism
• Short, blunt clause = cold justice over compassion
• Contrast with Juliet’s grief → dramatic irony
• Why: Emphasises blind loyalty to family over daughter’s secret love
• Themes: conflict, family loyalty, love vs hate, fate
- Reacting to Juliet’s grief (A3S5)
“Evermore weeping for your cousin’s death?”
• What: Misunderstands Juliet’s sorrow
• How:
• Rhetorical question → tone of exasperation, not empathy
• “Evermore” = impatience → expects emotional conformity
• Dramatic irony → audience knows Juliet mourns Romeo
• Flat affect contrasts Juliet’s inner turmoil
• Why: Lack of emotional connection → family fails to see her pain
• Themes: appearance vs reality, generational divide, love vs hate
- Planning Juliet’s revenge (A3S5)
“I’ll send to one in Mantua… shall give him such an unaccustomed dram.”
• What: Vows to poison Romeo
• How:
• Euphemism “dram” = concealed violence
• Contrasts Juliet’s inner conflict → her mother offers death as comfort
• Irony: thinks she’s helping, actually deepens Juliet’s despair
• Secrecy = revenge disguised as love
• Why: Shows warped values → vengeance replaces compassion
• Themes: love vs hate, conflict, appearance vs reality, fate
- Telling Juliet about the wedding (A3S5)
“Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn.”
• What: Announces marriage as done deal
• How:
• Faux-affection (“my child”) masks control
• Juxtaposition of “child” and command = power imbalance
• Irony: Juliet is already married
• Tone = cheerful vs audience tension
• Why: Emphasises Juliet’s lack of autonomy → adult decisions forced on her
• Themes: gender, appearance vs reality, love/relationships, individuals vs society
- Reacting to Juliet’s refusal (A3S5)
“I would the fool were married to her grave.”
• What: Curses Juliet in frustration
• How:
• Irony → Juliet will die rather than marry Paris
• Juxtaposition of “married” and “grave” = love and death merged
• Metaphor “the fool” = diminishes Juliet’s reason
• Tone = bitter, vindictive
• Why: Parental cruelty framed as emotional punishment → fatal consequences
• Themes: death, family loyalty, fate, gender
- Reacting to Juliet’s ‘death’ (A4S5)
“O me, O me! My child, my only life, / Revive, look up, or I will die with thee!”
• What: Collapses in grief over Juliet’s apparent death
• How:
• Exclamatives + repetition = emotional intensity
• Shift from cold control to vulnerable desperation
• Irony: too late to show maternal love
• Metaphor “my only life” = Juliet as source of identity
• Why: Juliet’s ‘death’ finally evokes sincere emotion → love realised through loss
• Themes: death, love/relationships, generational divide, fate
- Mourning Juliet (A4S5)
“Accursed, unhappy, wretched, hateful day!”
• What: Expresses horror at Juliet’s death
• How:
• Asyndetic list = piling despair
• Tone = hysteria → overcompensating for earlier coldness
• Repetition of negative adjectives = no resolution
• Hyperbole = total emotional collapse
• Why: Emotional extremes reveal guilt + helplessness → power of death to expose truth
• Themes: death, love/relationships, fate, time
- After reconciliation (A5S3, implied presence)
She is present for final peace, but says nothing. (Stage silence)
• What: Physically present but silent during final scene
• How:
• Structural absence of voice = symbolic marginalisation
• Women seen but not heard in patriarchal resolution
• Silence reflects grief, guilt, or irrelevance in public matters
• Contrast with earlier noise + rage
• Why: Shakespeare critiques role of mothers → silenced by systems they upheld
• Themes: gender, individuals vs society, generational divide, fate
