Act 3 Scen 5 Romeo and Juliet- Emotions Between Lady Capulet and Juliet

At the start of Act 3 Scene 5, Juliet has just, unknowingly, said her final words to Romeo and had a premonition of his untimely death, something that later comes true when Juliet awakes from her drug induced slumber to find Romeo lying dead on the floor of the Capulet tomb. It is at this moment the Nurse informs Juliet that her mother is coming to her chambers. When her mother arrives, she finds Juliet in tears. However, instead of showing kindness towards her, she places a death threat on Romeo… believing Juliet’s tears to be sadness over the death of Tybalt and anger towards Romeo for killing him. However, this just adds to the distress Juliet is under. It is then Lady Capulet makes an announcement that, to Juliet, is the worst possible thing that could happen. She tells her that ‘’the gallant, young and noble gentleman, the county Paris, at Saint Peter’s church will happily make thee there a joyful bride” Here Lady Capulet is expecting a positive response, believing that this marriage will truly bring here out of her grief. So, the response she receives from Juliet would have been shocking, not only to Lady Capulet but to the contemporary audience… as it was expected at the time, that girls would do as their fathers told them and not dream of disobedience. The main emotion Juliet expresses in her response to her mother is anger. This very sudden, strong expression of her feelings on this matter has emerged due to this hasty marriage proposal being placed upon her already fired up emotions. Juliet is only a young girl, 13 years old and yet she is having to try and cope with problems/emotions that many of us will likely never have to face. It is the way Shakespeare portrays this that gains the sympathy of the modern audience and even partly the contemporary audience. Now although Juliet’s anger does show her youthfulness, it is quite clear to the audience she is not innocent little girl that her parents believe her to be. Juliet’s complete response to her mother