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• In act 4 scene 3 amd act 5 scene 3, the audience sees Juliet's willingness to take her life into her own hands for Romeo, which shows her unbridled loyalty towards him. However, this loyalty only leads to more deception, resulting in the demise of both Romeo and Juliet.
• Firstly, in act 4 scene 3, the audience can see that Juliet is strong-willed and courageous through her decision to drink the sleeping potion: "I needs must act alone. Cone vial. What is this mixture do not work at all?"
• The use of interrogatives littered throughout Juliet's soliloquy by Shakespeare could hint at Juliet's uncertainty over the safety of the potion; however we then see that Juliet gathers herself to drink it, showing her inner strength.
• After her defeat by Capulet in act 3 scene 5, Juliet doesn't revert back to an innocent child but instead recognises that as a young woman from the Renaissance period, her supposed final act of deception, faking her suicide, is the only means of asserting her authority in a patriarchal world.
• Secondly, the audience see that Juliet may be pondering the corruption of her love and deception with Romeo.
• "Where for these many hundred years, the bones of all my buried ancestors are packed"
• This may be supported by Shakespeare's imagery of decay in writing, "Where bloody Tybalt, but green in earth, lies festering in his shroud", symbolising Juliet's deception and the effect it has on her rejection of the Capulet family.
• Furthermore, we can see how Juliet's courage is strengthened by her love for Romeo when she acts decisively and finally drinks the potion: "Romeo, I come! This I do drink to thee".
• In this decision, we see Juliet take her life into her own hands, showing her independence and maturity as she acts resolutely and perhaps even impulsively, but with reason and logic behind her decision.
• Finally in act 5 scene 3, the result of Juliet's deception comes to its tragic conclusion.
• However, this is a very impetuous decision from Juliet, who is now acting reckless and fuelled by emotion, contrasting her behaviour earlier on in the play where she is far more level-headed.
• This could symbolise the corruption of Juliet's character where her love for Romeo has caused her to deceive and act recklessly, ultimately resulting in her untimely death.