Juliet

• Capulet​: "My child is yet a stranger in the world,/ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;" (I.ii.8-9)


  Shakespeare emphasises how Juliet is stuck in a ​period between childhood and adulthood: ​Capulet describes her as a ​"stranger", yet discusses her forthcoming marriage to Paris.

  This ​alludes​ to how Julliet is constantly caught between opposing forces. Juliet is only 13, which was still an ​uncommon age​ ​to get married​ ​in Shakespeare's time.
• Nurse​: "...Thou wilt fall backwards when thou hast more wit,/ Wilt thou not, Jule?" (I.ii.43-44)


  Shakespeare ​illustrates​ how ​patriarchal ​Verona is, as the Nurse and her husband had discussed Juliet reaching ​sexual maturity​ even when she was a child.

  This highlights how ​Juliet has always been seen as an object to be married off.The use of the ​rhetorical question​ is ​ironic,​ as Juliet is not being given a choice. It rather cements the​ inevitability ​of Juliet's circumstance.
• 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." (I.iii.97-100)


  Dialogue indicates her ​emotional maturity and headstrong nature- she rejects the ideals that​ ​society propagates​. ​Shakespeare uses half-rhyme​ to reply to Lady Capulet's question, which​ ​illustrates Juliet's dissidence.​ It also ​foreshadows​ ​her future rebellion against her family and society.

  Active verbs​ ​used with ​prominent first-person pronoun, ​"I'll look to like...",​ conveys an ​assertion of agency.​ ​Juliet makes her own decision, thus ​opposing the forces of oppression-​ her family, and the patriarchy.

  This means Juliet is ​atypical for her time,​ ​where women were conditioned into subjugation and submission.
• Romeo​: "​O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!...As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-" (I.v.43-52)


  Regular rhyming couplets​ heighten the feeling of love - they are two lines fit together as a ​singular unit/ anatomy​. This suggests Juliet is able to reciprocate Romeo's feelings. Juliet is ​metaphorically portrayed as ​transcendental​ in this extract, as she ​"teaches the torches,"​ is a ​"snowy dove"​ amongst​ "crows"​, and her beauty is "for earth too dear".​ Furthermore​ "dove[s]" ​generally have ​biblical connotations​ of good luck and crows have connotations of bad luck.

  Shakespeare establishes the ​lexically cohesive conflict​ between light and dark​ in this extract. This alludes to the ​"artificial night"​ in Scene 1, which emphasises the weight of Juliet's presence in the character's narrative arc​. Shakespeare also portrays the objectification​ of Juliet, with the ​metaphor​ ​"As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-"
• Romeo​ ​[To Juliet]: "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."(I.v.92-95)


  Throughout this whole exchange, ​religious imagery ​and ​religious allusion ​are used which ​typifies ​Romeo and Juliet's love as something ​sacred​. ​Pilgrims ​were religious travellers who went on a pilgrimage which is a religious​ journey to a place of spiritual importance​, for example, Christians in the Elizabethan time up until the present day still go to pilgrimages to Israel which is known as the Holy Land. Shakespeare uses an ​extended metaphor​ of pilgrims to suggest that Juliet's body is the Holy land and that Romeo is the pilgrim trying to pursue Juliet.
• 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." (I.v.96-98)


  Juliet is saying here that when Pilgrims travel to the Holy land all the pilgrims need to do is touch the statues of the saints and that is enough for them. It can be suggested that Juliet is trying to follow the courtly lover rules of a woman as she tries to play ​'hard to get' ​as it is what any self-respecting woman at the time would do.
• Juliet:​ ​"My grave is like to be my wedding bed". (I.v.134)


  Shakespeare showcases a ​meta-theatrical foreshadowing ​of the play's events. ​Freudian ideas​ of ​eros and thanatos​ can be identified in this quote;​ ​love and sex ​lead ​to death.

  Shakespeare​ allegorically ​links the ​"wedding bed"​, ​a symbol of intimacy, sex ​and ​love​, to a grave which is​ associated​ with ​death and​ decay. ​Demonstrates how ​oppositions are intertwined​ in the play.
• Juliet:​ "​O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?/ Deny thy father and refuse thy name;" (II.ii.33-34)


  Juliet reveals the ​futile ​and​ trivial nature ​of the feud that separates them by acknowledging that is only due to a name. This demonstrates her wisdom ​and shows a more​ spiritual and wise understanding​ of the cogs of Veronian society.

  "Deny"​, and ​"...refuse"​ are ​imperatives,​ which suggests a ​conflict with fate:​ she wants Romeo to take action. When she asks Romeo to "refuse [his] name", it indicates a ​youthful sense of idealism​ and naivety.​ This highlights two sides of her character, her​ wisdom and her youthfulness;​ she is ​intelligent but naive.
• Juliet:​ "​If they do see thee, they will murder thee." (II.ii.70)


  Shakespeare establishes Juliet's character as a ​reasoned​ ​and realistic​ person.Her transition to ​simple one-liners ​emphasises her cautious thinking. The use of the ​dominant monosyllabic wording​ adds ​realism and steadfast nature​ to her character."Murder"​ is the only word that is​ not monosyllabic,​ indicating it's importance in the line. The ​presence of violence ​drives this line and unlike love, it is not poetic, but real and definite like the​ simple syntax of the line.
• Juliet:​ "O swear not by the moon, th'inconstant moon.../ Do not swear at all/ Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self" (II.ii.109-113)


  Shakespeare presents Juliet as ​favouring actions ​as she rejects the ideas of traditional fake love ​and encourages Romeo to follow a love more spontaneous ​and ​unrehearsed.Juliet's ​half-line imperative riposte ​"Do not swear..."​ emphasises her decisive nature.

  Shakespeare's ​monosyllabic phrases​ highlight how assertive she is; this is ​antithetical to Romeo's lyrical language.The ​caesura ​in line 13, puts more weight in the ​imperative command of Juliet's. This means she is ​not a passive participant ​in this event.
• Juliet:​ "​O, I have bought the mansion of love,/ But not possess'd it, and though I am sold/ Not yet enjoy'd...".(III.ii.26-28)


  The​ half-rhymes ​"​possess'd"​ and​ "enjoy'd"​ are placed in the internal lines​, which means that Juliet's ​experience ​has been incomplete.​ By describing herself as​ "sold"​, the character is seen as objectifying herself.

  The ​mercantile lexicon​ is delivered by Juliet. The character informs audiences that she is ​self-aware of her commodification. ​She is the "mansion",​ a ​transactional object ​that can be ​"bought​" and ​"sold".

  Spondaic substitution,​ ​"O,I..."​ puts stress on the ​first-person pronoun​ "I",​ and this is dominant in the section.This quote is one of the rare moments when Juliet is by herself; in this isolated soliloquy, she is able to ​assert her ​"self"-​ ​indicated by the prominent​ "I".
• Juliet:​ "​Can heaven be so envious?" (III.ii.40)


  Shakespeare in this ​rhetorical question​ conveys the ​dichotomy between ​fate ​and the ​individual.This shows how ​physical matters ​have no effect on love, but only spiritual alluded to by ​"heaven".​ Echoes the idea of how the macrocosm affects​ and ​impacts the microcosm.​ The heavens dictate the events on earth.
• Juliet:​ ​"​What storm is this that blows so contrary/ Is Romeo slaughter'd? and is Tybalt dead? My dearest cousin, and my dearer lord?/ Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom..." (III.ii.64-68)


  Syntactical patterning​ "​Is Romeo...", "...is Tybalt",​ sets up the two characters as oppositions.The ​Low-frequency lexis ​used to refer to Romeo, indicates that ​Romeo is more significant ​to Juliet.The superlative​ ​"dearest cousin"​, is​ negated by the comparative "dearer lord",​ highlighting Romeo means more to Juliet.

  Shakespeare uses the​ apocalyptic images​ to ​describe the death of Tybalt of Romeo.​Their supposed deaths signal the end of her two worlds - the ​romantic ​and the​ familial.​The two characters referred to, allude to the ​dichotomy between familial and romantic love. Displays the ​internal conflict ​in Juliet's mind; she will have to choose one.
• Juliet:​ ​"​Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!/ Dove-feather'd raven, wolvish-ravening lamb!/ Despised substance of divinest show!" (III.ii.75-77)


  The ​sequential use of oxymorons​ for example ​"Beautiful tyrant", "fiend angelical",​ conveys the conflict that plagues Juliet. ​Echoes Romeo's Petrarchan suffering; ​in this instance Juliet laments thee opposing familial and romantic love.

  Revolutionary​ ​for the ​Elizabethan era-​ Juliet is a ​complex character like Romeo. She is able to use oxymorons attributed to Romeo, and is able to ​use language to invert Romeo's imagery,​ ​"Dove-feather'd raven".

  This shows her ​proficiency in language ​that ​educated men had.​ In order to purportedly hurt Romeo, she uses his language against him. Broken syntax evokes ​the violence of this turmoil- makes the dialogue more potent, and expresses her anger.
• Juliet:​ ​"O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle;/...Be fickle, Fortune:/ For then I hope thou wilt not keep him long..." (III.v.60-64)


  Anthropomorphism ​of ​"Fortune",​ makes fate's presence more real. Fricatives ​of "​Fortune"​ with ​"fickle",​ draws attention ​to these words. The ​form of address​ "thou",​ shows that Juliet is on equal footing with ​"Fortune"​. This could be attributed to the fact that "Fortune"​ was ​personified as a female​ during the Elizabethan era. Indicates a relationship between Juliet and "Fortuna", who are both women.
• Juliet:​ "​Good father, I beseech you on my knees,/ Hear me with patience but to speak a word./ She kneels down." (III.v.158-59)


  Stage direction​ of ​"kneel[ing]"​ makes this ​action religious​- like praying.The word ​"father"​, both literally ​means biological father,​ but also the religious holy ​"father",​ ​who is God.This indicates that Capulet is in ​charge and dominates ​the family, whilst Juliet must be ​subservient.
• Capulet​: "​Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!" (III.v.160)


  The ​asyndetic listing​ of ​pejorative epithets,​ "young baggage," "disobedient wretch" creates​ the effect of ​the torrent of insults. Ironic,​ as this is the only time the relationship resembles a normal family - whilst Capulet is chastising Juliet. ​Broken syntax​ emphasises Capulet's fury.
• Juliet:​ ​"...And what I spake, I spake it to my face."/ Paris: Thy face is mine , and thou hast slander'd it."

  (IV.i.22-36)

  The use of​ ​stichomythia​ and ​riposte​ ​builds an intensity between Paris and Juliet, which is antithetical to Juliet's interaction with Romeo.

  The ​clever evasion​ of Paris' questions and comments from Juliet helps to show her maturity. It also conveys her highly moral nature as she doesn't lie to Paris.The use of stichomythia also ​indicates her quick minded nature and wit. Paris views Juliet as a possession, ​"Thy face is mine"​ shows marriage for men meant ownership​ of their wives.
• Juliet: ​"I pray thee leave me to myself tonight.../To move the heavens to smile upon my state,/ Which, well thou knowest, is cross and full of sin." (IV.iii.2-5)


  This shows her ​final detachment ​from the ​two maternal figures​ of her life.It indicates that she asserts her​ ​independence and growth​ ​into a new level of emotional maturity.

  Use of ​dramatic irony​,​ "thou knowest"​, exposes how Juliet is attempting to make the nurse feel guilty.Maidens ​had to sleep with Nurses as ​a symbol of​ ​preserving their virginity​. This alludes to​ ​patriarchal pursuit ​of ​controlling female sexuality.
• Juliet:​ ​​"...O happy dagger,/ Taking Romeo's dagger/ This is thy sheath;/ Stabs herself/ there rust, and let me die." (V.iii.169-170)


  Uses​ ​inverted metaphors;​ the ​dagger is personified​ as ​"happy", whereas her body becomes its ​"sheath".This shows the idea that ​love and death​ are ​inextricably linked. Shakespeare ​lexically cohesively ​phrases Juliet's dialogue with monosyllables,​ which highlights her affirmative and assertive quality.

  In Roman tradition,​ ​stabbing was the most​ ​honourable and noble form of suicide.​ ​Thus, Shakespeare presents Juliet as​ ​a tragic hero​. Tragedies are often​ linked with​ the ​conflict ​between ​individual action ​and ​arbitrary fate.

  This is her ​only act of violence,​ ​but is also the ​play's final act of violence. ​Juliet's action, thus ​exerts a change in society. Shakespeare therefore is promoting the idea that ​action is necessary to bring about a new order.