lady c

• 'Speak briefly can you like of paris' love?'

  • can- verb, is Juliet able to force herself to love Paris, whether or not she currently has feelings for him
  • love- abstract noun, love to Lady C was more about political alliances than feelings, as Juliet and Paris have not even met yet and she already claims he loves her
  • AO3- Juliet and her mother have a formal relationship as she was raised by a wet nurse, LC purpose in her life now is to obtain the best alliance to her family by marrying her off to a wealthy noble
• 'Prince, as thou art true, for blood of ours, shed blood of montague'

  • true- adjective, using manipulative language to achieve what she wants, it serves as a reminder to prince of his duty to uphold the law
  • shed- imperative verb, instructing prince to take violent, barbaric action against romeo
  • although appearing distraught in this quote she is calculated and manipulative to get what she wants
  • AO3- elizabethen audience would have been aware murder was punishable by death, people often protected themselves by killing those who posed as a threat
• 'O me, O me, my child, my only life! Revive, look up, or I will die with thee.'

  • will- modal verb, emphasises her certainty, even if they were not close the maternal bond they share is strong enough that LC is willing to die to be with her child
  • me- pronoun, is she blaming herself for juliets death?
  • AO3- while life expectancy was shorter in the 16 century and it was common for children to die before their parents, the grief was still overwhelming, this could be linked to Shakespeare himself as one of his children died at only 11, supposedly when he was writing R and J