Romeo and Juliet - Juliet Character analysis

Question 1

HOW IS JULIET PRESENTED?

Answer 1

1) OBJECTIFIED (Her dad, Paris, Romeo - may not just be sexually, but with regards to abuse to eg Hang the young baggage)
- Dehumanised
- Disparaged
- Devalued
- Belittled
- Sexualised

2) DISOBEDIENT (defies patriarchal principles and upholds herself on equal footing when participating in sonnet in A1S5)

• Dissident
• Rebellious
• Obstreperous
• Defiant

3) ENAMOURED (Love for Romeo)
- Enchanted
- Infatuated with amorous love for Romeo
- Undying perpetual love and affection for Romeo
- Amorously enthralled
- Zealously in love

DARING (defies societal expectations for women, marriage to Romeo, defies religious values by 3 grave sins)
- Audacious
- Intreprid

DISLOYAL (to her family, to societal values, religion ALT - loyal to herself and her values - Shakespeare may be teaching us that loyalty is what we make it out to be)
- Duplicitous
- Duplicious
- Perfidious
- Deceitful

DISOBEDIENT^^ (links to disloyalty, disobedient to her family, society expectations, religion and ALT)
- Dissident
- Rebellious
- Obstreperous
- Defiantly resistant to authority

Question 2

What is an alternative argument for Juliet being obstreperous and defiant?

Answer 2

One could conversely argue that perhaps Juliet is simply a product of neglect and abandonment.

She is forsaken by her parents “hang thee young baggage” which suggests she’s a burden to them.

Juliet strives to fill the void and vacuum of love within her arguable fragile heart by engaging in lustful romance with Romeo, she doesn’t choose to be daring, it is unconscious.

Question 3

Juliet is portrayed to be sexually disparaged.

Question 4

Juliet is exhibited to be obstreperous.

Question 5

Juliet is displayed to be zealously enthralled.

Question 6

Juliet is illustrated to be intrepid.

Question 7

Juliet is showcased to be perfidious.

Question 8

WTF: Juliet

Answer 8

Shakespeare demonstrates Juliet to be a subservient and atypical Elizabethan to:

• Evoke a sense of catharsis from the pious Elizabethan audience

and

TEACH - the importance of individuality and the consequences of marginalisation.

HIGHLIGHT - the importance of equality and the fatal consequences that arise from division in society.

CRITICISE - the patriarchal principles posed against women in society that bound them to conceal their true selves.)

Question 9

JULIET - Quotation bank:

Answer 9

'’O she is rich in beauty, only poor that when she dies, with beauty dies her store’’

'’O doth she teach the torches to burn bright’’

'’As rich as a jewel on an Ethiop’s ear’’

'’O sweet Juliet, thy beauty hath made me effeminate’’ (the power she has over him)

'’Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!’’

'’Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical/ Dove feather’d raven’’

'’Give me my Rome and when I shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars’’

'’O swear not by the moon th’inconstant moon… Do not swear at all’’

'’My grave is to be my wedding bed’’

'’O Fortune, Fortune all men call thee fickle’’

'’If they do see thee, they will murder thee’’

'’My child is yet a stranger to the world’’

'’O happy dagger, this is they sheath, there rust and let me die’’
“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”

“Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night; Give me my Romeo; and, when he 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.”

Question 10

'’My grave is to be______’’

Answer 10

'’My grave is to be my wedding bed’’

Question 11

'’My child is yet a______’’

Answer 11

'’My child is yet a stranger to the world’’

Question 12

'’As rich as a jewel____”

Answer 12

“As rich as a jewel on an Ethiop’s ear”

Question 13

“If they do see thee___’’

Answer 13

“If they do see thee, they will murder thee”

Question 14

'’Hang thee, young baggage_____’’

Answer 14

“Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!”

• broken syntax = broken relationships.
  -asyndetic list of pejorative epithets.
• commas = division
• exclamation = assertion = no room for alternative interpretation of what he may mean - he is adamant about his hatred for J, this notion is reinforced through the adoption of a semantic field of disdain.

Question 15

'’O happy dagger____’’

Answer 15

'’O happy dagger, this is thy sheath, there rust and let me die’’

Question 16

'’Younger than she____’’

Answer 16

'’Younger than she happy mothers are made’’

• always discuss lack of punctuation reinforces outpour of emotions - his undying desires to marry J who is not of age - what could this teach….?

Question 17

'’O Fortune___”

Answer 17

'’O Fortune, Fortune all men call thee fickle’’

Question 18

'’O swear not by the moon______’’

Answer 18

'’O swear not by the moon h’inconstant moon….Do not swear at all’’

• Parallelism created through repletion of ‘moon’ creates a sense of Juliet’s inability to escape from the clasp of fate.
• Celestial imagery
• Power of women?

Question 19

'’O she doth teach___’’

Answer 19

'’O she doth teach the torches to burn bright’’

Question 20

'’Give me my Rome and when I shall die_____’’

Answer 20

'’Give me my Rome and when I shall die, Take him and cut him out into little stars’’

Question 21

'’Beautiful tyrant_____’’

Answer 21

'’Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical, dove feather’d raven’’

Question 22

'’My bounty is as____’’

Answer 22

'’My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep, the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite’’’