Romeo And Juliet Relationship Essay
Juliet Capulet and her relationship to Romeo in Act 3 Scene 2
Assignment for Literature 1
2012/2013
Name
Student number Juliet
O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!
…
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain;
And Tybalt’s dead, that would have slain my husband.
All this is comfort. Wherefore weep I then?
In my essay I aim to characterize Juliet’s relationship towards Romeo based on an excerpt of the play, namely 3.2.73-107. I will outline features of Juliet’s role in the play and contrast and compare difference of opinions between Juliet and her Nurse. Furthermore, I attempt to interpret the language Juliet uses to express herself in the passage.
I consider this particular scene when Juliet learns about Tybalt’s …show more content…
death and Romeo’s punishment to be an opening of the second and last part of Romeo and Juliet. What until now appeared to be a lighthearted comedy has turned into a pure tragedy. “For up to Mercutio’s death Romeo and Juliet is a romantic comedy. After it, it becomes a tragedy. The comic brawl that opened the play has been transformed by death.” This change has been undoubtedly brought forth by the death of Mercutio and the consequent death of Tybalt which resulted in Romeo’s banishment.
We can see Juliet grow emotionally throughout the play as a whole but I believe that is also the case in this particular passage. Juliet only appears in one scene (1.3) before she falls in love with Romeo, that is before she starts growing as a character. Up to this point, she has not been prominently featured and as a result she seems to be more of an underdeveloped background character. From the few things we learn about her, we get the impression of Juliet being an innocent but naïve girl, completely obedient to her parents , which is probably partly due to her very young age and lack of experience. Nevertheless, her role in the play moves out of the limelight and becomes increasingly pivotal after she meets Romeo (1.5.97 and later) and decides to follow her heart in spite of her parents’ wish to marry Paris.
When Juliet discovers what Romeo did, she is shocked and confused. I deliberately avoid the word angry here because she expresses rather other feelings than anger – she is torn apart, full of doubt that Romeo could have murdered someone, namely her cousin, her blood. She feels tricked by Romeo’s charm and beauty and sweet talks. “Was ever book containing such vile matter so fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell in such a gorgeous palace!” Juliet says in 3.2.83-85.
At the point when the nurse interrupts her soliloquy, Juliet is overwhelmed with emotions. The nurse is very clear about her attitude towards men. She is not at all surprised for Romeo – a man – to be able to kill and betray, even a woman whom he deeply loves. In her eyes no man is to be trusted and she makes no effort to hide her lack of respect for them . Juliet strongly disagrees with this female chauvinistic presumption saying : “Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish!” (3.2.91-92). And that is when Juliet’s transformation begins and she stops being a well-behaved child and becomes an independent woman. Juliet is forced by circumstances to choose between her family and Romeo but knows that after she has pledged herself to Romeo, she now has to stand by and support her husband. She has given up her name and chosen Romeo over her family and her dead cousin. Juliet defends Romeo against what the nurse has to say in this matter.
Later in the play we see she completely commits herself to love and is ready to die in order to preserve it. In the last verses of the cited text Juliet justifies Romeo’s actions and is grateful for him staying alive. “All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?” Juliet says in 3.2.107. She is aware of the fact that if Romeo would not have killed Tybalt, he would have been the one to die instead. Again, we see here her courage to put love before all else.
“Critical estimation of Juliet has moved from regarding her as a passive victim of “star-crossed love” to lauding her as a self-willed, courageous, intelligent young woman who initiates and controls action in her struggle to preserve her integrity and autonomy in a world that is hostile to women.” Juliet has ripened into a mature woman that understands what her tasks as a woman and wife are. She forgives Romeo the killing of her cousin, which suggests her evolvement into a complete woman prepared to take responsibility for her and her husband’s (wrong)doings. “Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?” Juliet says in 3.2.97. Moreover, she apprehends the seriousness of Romeo’s actions and the consequences it brings and despite Romeo being her first love and lover, she forms her own idea of the situation and does not follow him blindly without a further thought.
Nowhere in the passage do we see Juliet’s desperation. Her initial reaction is a shock which turns into slight irritation and rapidly resolves in Juliet’s decision to stand behind Romeo. She tries to stay calm and concentrated : “Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!” (3.2.102). She comforts herself with the fact that Romeo stayed alive but later on as we continue reading we find the real cause of her sorrow – Romeo’s banishment.
The language Juliet uses brings another dimension to the text.
Play of contrasts is a very symbolic aspect of the play – consider significance between light and dark, nobility vs. servants, fate vs. own will, rebellious Romeo vs. obedient Juliet. We can also observe the contraries in the cited passage where Juliet addresses Romeo in a very distinctive way using oxymora. A good example is 3.2.75 where she calls Romeo “Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!”. She is asking herself “who is Romeo?”. Is he beautiful or is he a tyrant? Is he angelical or a fiend? She suddenly doesn’t know what to believe anymore. If we look in the commentary in the back of the book we see that angelical means “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (Pp. 205). Here we see again the idea of light where Satan is the darkness and angel is the light. Romeo often refers to Juliet as the light while he prefers dark. “Even before he meets Juliet, Romeo seeks darkness.” Juliet’s choice of words here probably corresponds with her state of mind. Her feelings are ambivalent, clashing with one another, which is projected in the
utterance.
Although the play Romeo and Juliet is relatively short, we can find countless hidden meanings from the very first word of the text until the very last. We can consider many different aspects and points of view when analyzing the text. I offer just a short introduction to Juliet’s world and nature of her decisions that result into deaths of the two lovers.
Assignment for Literature 1
2012/2013
Name
Student number Juliet
O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!
…
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain;
And Tybalt’s dead, that would have slain my husband.
All this is comfort. Wherefore weep I then?
In my essay I aim to characterize Juliet’s relationship towards Romeo based on an excerpt of the play, namely 3.2.73-107. I will outline features of Juliet’s role in the play and contrast and compare difference of opinions between Juliet and her Nurse. Furthermore, I attempt to interpret the language Juliet uses to express herself in the passage.
I consider this particular scene when Juliet learns about Tybalt’s …show more content…
death and Romeo’s punishment to be an opening of the second and last part of Romeo and Juliet. What until now appeared to be a lighthearted comedy has turned into a pure tragedy. “For up to Mercutio’s death Romeo and Juliet is a romantic comedy. After it, it becomes a tragedy. The comic brawl that opened the play has been transformed by death.” This change has been undoubtedly brought forth by the death of Mercutio and the consequent death of Tybalt which resulted in Romeo’s banishment.
We can see Juliet grow emotionally throughout the play as a whole but I believe that is also the case in this particular passage. Juliet only appears in one scene (1.3) before she falls in love with Romeo, that is before she starts growing as a character. Up to this point, she has not been prominently featured and as a result she seems to be more of an underdeveloped background character. From the few things we learn about her, we get the impression of Juliet being an innocent but naïve girl, completely obedient to her parents , which is probably partly due to her very young age and lack of experience. Nevertheless, her role in the play moves out of the limelight and becomes increasingly pivotal after she meets Romeo (1.5.97 and later) and decides to follow her heart in spite of her parents’ wish to marry Paris.
When Juliet discovers what Romeo did, she is shocked and confused. I deliberately avoid the word angry here because she expresses rather other feelings than anger – she is torn apart, full of doubt that Romeo could have murdered someone, namely her cousin, her blood. She feels tricked by Romeo’s charm and beauty and sweet talks. “Was ever book containing such vile matter so fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell in such a gorgeous palace!” Juliet says in 3.2.83-85.
At the point when the nurse interrupts her soliloquy, Juliet is overwhelmed with emotions. The nurse is very clear about her attitude towards men. She is not at all surprised for Romeo – a man – to be able to kill and betray, even a woman whom he deeply loves. In her eyes no man is to be trusted and she makes no effort to hide her lack of respect for them . Juliet strongly disagrees with this female chauvinistic presumption saying : “Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish!” (3.2.91-92). And that is when Juliet’s transformation begins and she stops being a well-behaved child and becomes an independent woman. Juliet is forced by circumstances to choose between her family and Romeo but knows that after she has pledged herself to Romeo, she now has to stand by and support her husband. She has given up her name and chosen Romeo over her family and her dead cousin. Juliet defends Romeo against what the nurse has to say in this matter.
Later in the play we see she completely commits herself to love and is ready to die in order to preserve it. In the last verses of the cited text Juliet justifies Romeo’s actions and is grateful for him staying alive. “All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?” Juliet says in 3.2.107. She is aware of the fact that if Romeo would not have killed Tybalt, he would have been the one to die instead. Again, we see here her courage to put love before all else.
“Critical estimation of Juliet has moved from regarding her as a passive victim of “star-crossed love” to lauding her as a self-willed, courageous, intelligent young woman who initiates and controls action in her struggle to preserve her integrity and autonomy in a world that is hostile to women.” Juliet has ripened into a mature woman that understands what her tasks as a woman and wife are. She forgives Romeo the killing of her cousin, which suggests her evolvement into a complete woman prepared to take responsibility for her and her husband’s (wrong)doings. “Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?” Juliet says in 3.2.97. Moreover, she apprehends the seriousness of Romeo’s actions and the consequences it brings and despite Romeo being her first love and lover, she forms her own idea of the situation and does not follow him blindly without a further thought.
Nowhere in the passage do we see Juliet’s desperation. Her initial reaction is a shock which turns into slight irritation and rapidly resolves in Juliet’s decision to stand behind Romeo. She tries to stay calm and concentrated : “Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!” (3.2.102). She comforts herself with the fact that Romeo stayed alive but later on as we continue reading we find the real cause of her sorrow – Romeo’s banishment.
The language Juliet uses brings another dimension to the text.
Play of contrasts is a very symbolic aspect of the play – consider significance between light and dark, nobility vs. servants, fate vs. own will, rebellious Romeo vs. obedient Juliet. We can also observe the contraries in the cited passage where Juliet addresses Romeo in a very distinctive way using oxymora. A good example is 3.2.75 where she calls Romeo “Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!”. She is asking herself “who is Romeo?”. Is he beautiful or is he a tyrant? Is he angelical or a fiend? She suddenly doesn’t know what to believe anymore. If we look in the commentary in the back of the book we see that angelical means “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (Pp. 205). Here we see again the idea of light where Satan is the darkness and angel is the light. Romeo often refers to Juliet as the light while he prefers dark. “Even before he meets Juliet, Romeo seeks darkness.” Juliet’s choice of words here probably corresponds with her state of mind. Her feelings are ambivalent, clashing with one another, which is projected in the
utterance.
Although the play Romeo and Juliet is relatively short, we can find countless hidden meanings from the very first word of the text until the very last. We can consider many different aspects and points of view when analyzing the text. I offer just a short introduction to Juliet’s world and nature of her decisions that result into deaths of the two lovers.