Juliet

• Juliet


  The female protagonist of the play, who makes up the "pair of star-crossed lovers" the tragedy is centred around
• Juliet is only 13 years old
• Capulet arranges Juliet's marriage to Paris in the first scene she is mentioned
• Juliet is presented as

  An object of desire whose only function is to be married
• Juliet


  • Displays complexity and maturity which contrasts with her young age
  • The only character who attempts to reject the societal pressures she faces
  • Insists on marrying for love and takes action against her circumstances
  • Becomes the catalyst that causes the metamorphosis of Romeo from a Petrarchan lover to a Shakespearean lover
• Juliet's close relationship with her Nurse


  Directly contrasts with how distant she is with her mother
• The Nurse's role


  Carries out the role of the traditional mother; gives Juliet advice, looks after her, and even elaborates that she breastfed Juliet
• Preserving Juliet's chastity


  The Nurse has to sleep in the same room as Juliet
• Sonnet form


  Traditionally used by men to write about women, who were usually portrayed as objects with no agency
• Shakespeare subverts the sonnet form as Juliet, a female character, speaks to Romeo in the sonnet form</b>
• The first 14 lines of dialogue between Romeo and Juliet is a sonnet
• Shakespeare's use of the sonnet

  Subverts the patriarchal dominance over the form and allows female agency to take place within the play
• Juliet


  • An atypical portrayal of an Elizabethan woman, as she transcends the cultural and societal boundaries of her time
  • Refuses to be subjected or reduced to her circumstances
  • A proto-feminist character that attempts to break down the patriarchy and reclaim her own fate
• Juliet's relationship with religion


  Explores it ambivalently, as she both upholds religion and subverts it
• Juliet describes Romeo as "the god of my idolatry", implying she perpetuates love as a religious experience
• Juliet ultimately commits the most sacrilegious act by committing suicide, which was considered a sin in the Bible
• Feminine and masculine contrasts in the play

  Most of the men have scenes set in the outdoors, while Juliet's scenes often take place indoors, demonstrating the domesticity she is subjected to
• Juliet


  • A figure who can be considered equal to Romeo within the play, as she is seen as being just as intelligent
  • A revolutionary character who does not perpetuate the narrative archetype she has been written into, as she rejects societal expectations and rules in order to pursue her love with Romeo
• Juliet's role in relation to violence

  • She is the antidote to the violence presented within the play, as her love makes Romeo unable to duel Tybalt
  • At the end of the play, Juliet is forced to take violent action against herself, suggesting that violence may be the only answer at times
  • Juliet's choice to use violence ends the feud, thus technically ending all of the violence of the play
• Juliet's key characteristics and character development

  • Love - the epitome of Shakespearean love, a complete and romantic relationship that undermines the tradition of Petrarchan courtly love
  • Fate - faced with the challenge of arbitrary fate, yet she has agency within the play which allows her to confront and overcome these obstacles, her suicide can be interpreted as a defiant act against fate
  • Isolation - in contrast to Romeo, she is never alone, which symbolises her lack of freedom and privacy, her final act of taking action alone connotes an emotional maturity and growth
  • Opposition - her journey is full of opposing forces such as hate and love, life and death, which become inextricably linked
• Juliet's self-autonomous nature


  • Antithetical to fate, which is the set of conditions she is placed within
• Isolation


  In contrast to Romeo, Juliet is never alone; she is never left in isolation. This symbolises Juliet's lack of freedom and privacy
• Juliet's journey within the play

  Full of opposing forces; antithetical themes such as Hate and Love, Life and Death become inextricably linked
• Liminality


  Juliet is caught between two states - adulthood and childhood
• Juliet's relationship with Romeo


  • Develops quickly, making it incredibly passionate. Their love for each other is potently strong, demonstrated by how they both end up committing suicide
• Juliet's relationship with Lord Capulet


  Changes drastically from an overprotective father to one who demands she marry Paris, even threatening to disown her
• Juliet's relationship with Lady Capulet

  Non-existent, as they are opposites of each other
• Juliet's relationship with the Nurse

  The Nurse is Juliet's maternal figure, and they have a strong bond due to the Nurse being Juliet's wet nurse
• Juliet's relationship with the Friar

  The Friar is a point of contact for advice for the lovers, but it is through his plan that the lovers die, making him a tool for fate
• Juliet's relationship with Paris


  One-sided on Paris' part, as he represents the duty that is inevitably a part of a young Elizabethan woman's life
• Juliet's relationship with Tybalt

  Tybalt is Juliet's cousin who is dedicated to protecting their family honour
• Capulet: 'My child is yet a stranger in the world, She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;'
• Nurse: 'Thou wilt fall backwards when thou hast more wit, Wilt thou not, Jule?'
• Lady Capulet: 'Speak briefly. Can you like of Paris, love? Juliet: I'll look to like, if looking liking move. But no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.'
• Romeo: 'O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!...As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-'
• Romeo: 'If I profane with my unworthiest hand. This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.'
• Juliet: 'Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.'
• Juliet: 'My grave is like to be my wedding bed'
• Juliet: 'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name;'
• Juliet: '"My grave is like to be my wedding bed".'