Family

• "Deny thy father and refuse thy name" (Act 2)
• Imperative Verbs:

  • Shakespeare's use of imperative verbs "deny" and "refuse" signals Juliet's assertiveness. Invert traditional expectations of female subservience, revealing Juliet's impetuous resolve to challenge the authority of her father and the societal structures that bind her and Romeo's love.
  • Intensity of verbs evokes juliet's disillusionment with her inherited destiny as a Capulet and her vision of love as a transcendent force blonds her to the ramifications of such a plea and reflects a callow idealism, her desire for an emotional truth unburdened by name or duty
  • Juliet's assertiveness establishes her progression from passive daughter to tragic heroine through her revolt against familial duty, seeking instead to reconstruct her identity through love.
• Monosyllabic Diction:

  • Juliet's command to Romeo is dominated by monosyllabic dictation, producing a rhythm that is blunt, forceful and uncompromising. This mirrors Juliet's unwavering clarity as her youthful passion finds form in linguistic simplicity, a callow yet profound rejection of everything her name represents.
  • The sonic harshness of the line adds to its belligerent tone, contrasting her typically benevolent portrayal earlier in the pla. This moment introduces the tumultuous tension between love and familial loyalty foreshadowing their ultimate collision later in the play.
• Key context it relates to:

  • Great chain of being: The belief that God created the world with a clear hierarchical structure encompassing all matter and life where the King was situated at the top. This also reinforced patriarchal ideology where men were believed to be situated higher within the structure than women. Juliet's declaration that Romeo should "deny thy father" shatters this allegiance to the great chain of being, portraying her as a transgressive force, embodying the tragic heroine who dares to challenge the natural order.
  • Astrology: Juliet's belief that Romeo can defy his family contradicts the Elizabethan belief in the power of celestial bodies as her impetuous command ignores the inexorable trajectory the stars have set.
• WOW knowledge:

  Freytag's Pyramid:

  • Freytag's Pyramid divides the five acts of a tragedy into the following categories: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.