Juliet

• Shakespeare presents Juliet as an atypical Elizabethan women who transcends cultural and societal boundaries. She is portrayed as the victim of fate and patriarchal society while suffering a lot internal conflict

  
• Look to like if looking liking more

  • submissive in her words- epitome of atypical passive aristocratic daughter
  • alliteration &iambic pentameter shows the control over her language as an upper class
  • She desires some form of control over her life foreshadowing her later rebellion which is ironic from the prologue (she can’t escape her fate )
  • Illicit fear from the audience as they fear women to defy patriarchy and societal expectations.
• Juliet: 'My grave is like to be my wedding bed'

  • Juliet immediately falls in love with R hinting the motif of fate and shows the irrational hamartia of youth
  • Grave- death imagery. Meta-theatrical foreshadowing both protagonist will die in J’s tomb- predetermined by fate
  • Audience feel sorrow for them as their relationship just began but it’s destined to end tragically.
• "wedding bed"

  • Throws away line showing her active desires, unusual in Elizabethan society where women should be passive
  • Foreshadows how she would transcend societal boundaries in later of play
  • Contrasts with the obedient aristocratic daughter showing the toxic of societal boundaries that requires people to have a facade
• "Grave" & “Wedding“

  • Represents lonely, sad, depressing which juxtaposes with "wedding"- happy, warm, hopeful
  • Alludes to their unusual relationship which foreshadows the oppositions they would face later on
• What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.


  • She is insightful as she knows the family Feud is futile.
  • “Rose” symbol of romance showing the duality of love as it could be beautiful yet dangerous. This shows her maturity as a 13 year old as she understands the risks involved.
  • She thinks name or identity doesn’t matter as she loves Romeo himself not his identify as a Montague.
  • She prioritise Romeo more than social convections and her Capulet identity which are all very important in Elizabethan society. This shows the extent of her love towards Romeo.
• Alternatively, she is impulsive & passionate showing characteristics of the star sign Leo. Elizabethans believed celestial bodies to massively influence a person’s disposition.
• My bounty is as boundless as the sea.'

  • She is unusual active Elizabethan women who also acknowledges the social expectations from her.
  • Simile shows how infinite and powerful her love is towards R.
  • She explicitly expresses her desires for R which shocks the audience as woman should be passive
• "Sea"


  Shows the duality of love as it could be both attractive, pretty and infinite while being dangerous and uncontrollable. This shows how J is still passionate about R after acknowledging the bad consequences - folly of youth to be “too rash too unadvised too sudden”

  This shows how nature holds omnipotent power over man, alluding to God and fate, showing how their future is predetermined.
• Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical- Act 3 Scene 2 


  She suffered from internal conflict after knowing Tybalt got killed by Romeo.

  • Oxymoron shows her mixed feelings of love and hatred towards Romeo, how it’s indistinguishable.
  • Religious imagery of ultimate evil Satan contrasts with pure symbol of angel. Makes Christian audience alert these extreme feelings.
  • Romeo’s significance is like religion, immense control over her just like the patriarchal society.
• Juliet still views love to be ultimately more important than hatred (futile and only brings damage)

  • Her lines are poetic- adapted characteristics of Romeo’s courtly lover speech- showing control of Romeo over her lexis.
  • This highlights significance of Romeo and love
• Juliet changed with more aggressive language

  She as a woman could only express violence through her words rather than physically.

  • Although she can’t escape obligation but she expresses anger to obligation showing how she is constrained by her femininity within the patriarchal society
• O happy dagger! This is thy sheath. She stabs herself and falls- Act 5 Scene 3


  She is willing and desperate to die with Romeo

  • Oxymoron & personification showing how she views the most sacrilegious act of suicide to be something joyful showing how she denies God like fate.
  • Exclamation mark shows how she got no hesitation and she is desperate to die with Romeo- further emphasize by the short sentence.
• In Roman tradition, stabbing is most honourable and noble form of suicide

  • She is presented as a tragic hero.
  • This is her only act of violence in play while her suicide ends all the violence and tragedy in the play - she is the cure of violence.
  • This shows the power of love and women and audience should get rid of patriarchy in order to end any suffering.
  • The violent imagery acts as a reminder of the motif of violence reinforcing she is the victim of violence and the futile family feud.
• Juliet’s suicide


  This is the only way for young women to gain back control over her life from her parents and fate.

  • Exerts a change in society- making Lord and Lady Capulet realise the futility of their feud and ending it. This shows how these toxic social expectations should be removed.
  • defiant act against fate & Elizabethan society showing her atypical Elizabethan women