“It is an honour that I dream not of.” Here Juliet is summing up how she really feels about the option of marrying Paris. Although she is being polite to her mother by saying it would be “an honour” but she also makes it clear that it is not an honour that she doesn’t want to have.
Then Lady Capulet starts to explain how many girls the same age or even younger than Juliet become wives and even mothers and she too was Juliet’s mother around the same age. This might seem to Lady Capulet that she is convincing Juliet that marrying is a good thing and she can do it at that young age but she could easily be making Juliet second guess the chance of getting married because she can most likely see what Lady and Lord Capulet’s relationship is like and that they are very detached from each other and are not very close as a married couple.
Today the idea of getting married at an age of 13 or 14 sounds absurd and it is even illegal under today’s laws. But back in the Juliet’s time it was common and accepted that men would usually marry women much younger than them, sometimes even half their age. Women did not have many rights such as voting, they rarely went to school and any money they inherited or managed to earn if the were lucky enough to have a job would go straight to their husband or the closest man to them such as their father or brother. This was not only accepted by the men but by everyone. Women just accepted that their sole purpose was really to make babies, look after them and as sex toys. But in today’s society it is very different as women are allowed to make any choices they want, they have the same rights as men and they are allowed to choose themselves when they want to get married or have a child as long they agree with their partner.
Juliet’s father’s thoughts also changed over time as at first he says to Paris that although he can give him Juliet’s hand in marriage, he must also woo her and get her to love him. As soon as their marriage is put in jeopardy when one of Paris’ kinsmen is killed, Lord Capulet is desperate to have the wedding and not have Paris shy away from Juliet so he instantly says to Paris that he can marry Juliet straight away and he comments on how they should marry three days time, as two would be too short notice. “But fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, to go with Paris to St. Peter’s church.” This also shows that Lord Capulet is not in complete control of everything and when the marriage of Juliet and Paris is put into danger, Lord Capulet desperately fights to save the marriage to rushing it to three days time.
When Romeo and Juliet first meet at Capulet’s party they instantly fall in love and they have a fatal first kiss which sends them into the turmoils of love. Afterwards, when they both find out who the other is, they realize that they are meant to be on opposite sides of a bitter family feud. “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy; thou art thyself, though not a Matague.”
Before their kiss, which Romeo is much more eager to have, Romeo and Juliet exchange words which are in the form of a sonnet, the only one in the whole story. This sole use of a sonnet accentuates the feelings in their words and importance of the scene. Romeo starts by talking about how he needs to soften Juliet with a kiss but Juliet holds back and says how in praying pilgrims pray and kiss by holding their hands against someone else’s. Romeo comments on how hat they do with their hands, they should do with their lips. “O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.”
As Juliet tempts and holds Romeo back, the text is written in the form of a sonnet as Shakespeare tries to emphasize the deep feelings being exchanged between Romeo and Juliet. The sonnet uses rhyming to add a feeling of a poem to the text. The use of this single sonnet in the whole story also singles it out for the reader to know that it is very important and highlights a key point in the relationship of Romeo and Juliet as it is the first time they met each other.
“Which mannerly devotion shows in this…And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”
“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer…They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
As shown in these alternate rhyming sentences, the text shows both Juliet’s teasing and Romeo’s eagerness. It is also rhythmic and adds flow to the conversation between the two star crossed lovers.
The balcony scene is where Romeo and Juliet first express their true and deep feelings for each other. The balcony that at firsts separates Romeo and Juliet from touching each other acts as a symbol of the barriers of their family’s history against each other. The balcony scene is an intense and decisive scene in the story as it is the point from where Romeo and Juliet cannot turn away from each other.
“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon.” When he talks of the east he is talking about how the sun (Juliet) rises and that she is the one which lights up his heart. Moon is often coincided with virginity and she, the sun, must kill the moon, or her virginity, and he is the one to help her do so.
“I am too bold, ‘tis not to me she speaks: two of the fairest stars in all the heaven” This could come as a certain amount of surprise to a reader as it shows how Romeo does not have incredible amounts of confidence about getting to Juliet’s heart. But then he also talks how she is a star and that she is something out of this world and when she rests her chin in her hand he wishes that his hand was her’s just so that she could get the opportunity to touch her face. “See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!”
As Juliet calls for Romeo she offers to give up her family name without hesitation and that her family name does not mean anything because she is in love. “And I’ll no longer be a Capulet…thou art thyself, though not a Montague… what’s in a name?”
“With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out.” Here Romeo is talking about the wall of Juliet’s house which he has to climb to get to her is like the family difference which separates Romeo and Juliet from being happy together. But Romeo explains that like the high boundaries of the wall, the family feud they are tied up in is no match for the love Romeo has and he will not be stopped from loving her.
Juliet is much more cautious and nervous about Romeo being caught and facing the punishment if he does. “If they do see thee, they will murder thee.”
Romeo, as shown before is much more eager to be one with Juliet while Juliet is constantly slightly holding back. While Romeo is willing to swear on anything for his love for Juliet, Juliet says they are better off if they do not swear on anything at all as it is too sudden. And when Juliet insists that she has to leave Romeo asks why she has to leave him so unsatisfied. “O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”
But then Juliet proposes that if Romeo wants to prove his profound love for her he should set up their marriage as soon as possible. “If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow.” She also seems very reluctant to let him leave as she is forced to go back inside as she has been called for. “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.” Here, as like earlier in the balcony scene, the words of Juliet rhyme for more affect as it is a very heart felt sentence. Rhyming also shows up in the next two lines when Romeo is talking, so Shakespeare must have felt that this was an important or true moment of love between Romeo and Juliet as there was earlier in the balcony scene.
The balcony scene is most likely the scene with the greatest amount of feelings being expressed which are revealed through language and forms of writing. Shakespeare does a very good job of making priorities stand out by making the language the text is written in different from text he usually writes. The sonnet is a fantastic way to capture the attention of a reader and create an atmosphere really felt between the two star crossed lovers.
In the two films, the original version and the modern version, the balcony scene is portrayed in different ways but they also have many similarities. In both films, Romeo and Juliet or on opposite sides of a bitter family feud and have to endure the fighting between the two families. The modern film, as expected, is very modernised. Rather than use swords for fighting, the two families have weapons such as guns and small hand knives.
