Juliet

• Juliet Capulet


  One of the main characters in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet
• Meeting Romeo Montague and the swift events that follow


  Bring out the real Juliet with qualities that have been lying dormant, but are now sparked by a powerful hormonal surge
• Juliet: '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.'
• Juliet's development


  • Moves into the realm of being one of Shakespeare's strong women
  • The demure, respectful obedient girl's inner strength now comes fully into play
• Juliet proposes the marriage, with complete confidence that it's what she wants
• Juliet defies her father when he demands that she marry Paris, something that takes him by surprise, and that he is unable to cope with, leading him to resort to violence
• Juliet


  • Displays remarkable courage
  • First in her assertion that she would kill herself rather than marry Paris, something she means
  • Then in her willingness to accept the hazardous plan of the reckless friar
  • When she wakes up in the tomb, unwilling to live without Romeo, she has the courage to kill herself
• Juliet Capulet is one of the reasons that Romeo and Juliet has been so successful over the past four centuries
• Juliet: 'My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy.'
• Juliet: '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.'
• Juliet: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.'
• Juliet: 'Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow.And yet I wish but for the thing I have; 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.'
• Juliet: '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 And pay no worship to the garish sun.'
• Juliet: 'This is thy sheath [stabs herself]; there rest, and let me die.'
• 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


  • She is presented as an object of desire whose only function is to be married
  • She displays complexity and maturity which contrasts with her young age
• Juliet


  She is the only character who attempts to reject the societal pressures she faces
• Juliet


  She insists on marrying for love and takes action against her circumstances
• Juliet


  She becomes the catalyst that causes the metamorphosis of Romeo from a Petrarchan lover to a Shakespearean lover
• Juliet and Romeo meet a tragic end
• Juliet's action at the end of the play

  It signifies the lengths to which the character is able to go in order to assert her freedom
• The Nurse


  Juliet's close relationship with her Nurse directly contrasts with how distant she is with her mother
• The Nurse carries out the role of the traditional mother; she gives Juliet advice, looks after her and even elaborates that she breastfed Juliet
• The Nurse has to sleep in the same room as Juliet


  As a way of preserving Juliet's chastity (her virginity)
• Female sexuality

  It was seen as dangerous, therefore it was important to subdue female sexuality
• Sonnet form


  Traditionally, it was 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
• Juliet's ability to communicate with Romeo on an equal footing


  It would have been unusual at the time, showing the audience that she wasn't a stereotypical Elizabethan woman
• The first 14 lines of dialogue between Romeo and Juliet is a sonnet
• Shakespeare's use of the sonnet

  It subverts the patriarchal dominance over the form, allowing female agency to take place within the play
• Mercutio's misogynistic lines


  Juliet completes his rhymes with wit and intelligence, contrary to the sexist attitudes of the time
• Juliet


  She is an atypical portrayal of an Elizabethan woman, as she transcends the cultural and societal boundaries of her time
• Juliet


  She is a proto-feminist character that attempts to break down the patriarchy and reclaim her own fate
• Religion in the play


  It is explored ambivalently, as Juliet 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 is considered a sin in the Bible
• Feminine and masculine in the play

  They are contrasted greatly, with most of the men's scenes set outdoors and Juliet's scenes often taking place indoors
• Juliet


  She is a figure who can be considered equal to Romeo within the play, as she is seen as being just as intelligent as she finishes Romeo's rhymes