Once with her mother, Shakespeare’s use of language allows Juliet to be ambiguous for a lot of this scene, “I will not marry yet and when I do, I swear it will be to Romeo, whom you know I hate.” As an audience we realise this because Juliet is married to Romeo and loves him, not hates him. When Lady Capulet enters, Juliet does not know the reason of why her mother has come to see her because Lady Capulet does not get straight to the point. “What unaccustomed cause procures her hither?” Shakespeare then shows Juliet to be crying, Lady Capulet believes it is still because of the death of Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, “evermore weeping for your cousin’s death?” however, the audience knows that it is because of the loss of Romeo. Juliet’s relationship with Lady Capulet is distant, Shakespeare shows the audience this by Lady Capulet echoing Juliet’s words, “…let me weep for such a feeling of loss,” “… so you shall feel the loss…which you weep for.” During this dialogue with Lady Capulet and Juliet Shakespeare’s uses Juliet’s feeling to portray ambiguity in a large amount of what she says, “I will not marry yet, and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo whom you know I hate…” To create dramatic irony, Shakespeare presents a character that hates Romeo and one that loves him. “With Romeo, till I behold him – dead – is my poor heart,” Lady Capulet believes the Juliet wants Romeo dead, however the audience realises the Juliet is being ambiguous and would rather have a dead heart, so she does not have to cope with all the emotions she is during the play.
When Lady Capulet tells Juliet the ‘good news’, Juliet’s reaction is not at all what she expects however Juliet does not know it was coming and so is panicked and shocked and so is too outspoken, “now by Saint Peter’s Church and Peter too, He shall not make me there a joyful bride…” In the century that the play is set, this sort of comment was considered blasphemy, as it was deemed to be swearing by the church. I would have set this particular dialogue between Lady Capulet and Juliet to be distant and I would have the Nurse in the background wanting to interrupt but holding back because we know that the Nurse likes to talk when the subject applies to Juliet.
During this scene, when Lord Capulet is on stage, Shakespeare shows the audience how his anger builds because Juliet does not want to marry Paris. Capulet is surprised because during Act 1, Scene 3, Juliet is open-minded about the possibility of being married off, “speak briefly; can you like of Paris’ love?” “I look to like, if looking liking move.” Shakespeare shows us Capulet’s anger by making him echo Juliet’s words, “‘I thank you not’, and yet ‘not proud.’” Capulet also insults Juliet because he finds it hard to understand why Juliet will not marry Paris when he truly believes it is the right thing to do, “out, you green-sickness carrion!” However before Lord Capulet mentions the marriage to Paris, he seems caring because he says, “evermore show’ring? In one little body…” which shows that he feels sorry for her. Shakespeare also uses imagery to show sympathy, “Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs…”
Shakespeare also uses Lady Capulet’s line to be dramatically ironic, Capulet asks Lady Capulet if she has told Juliet about the marriage and Lady Capulet says, “Ay sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks. I would the fool were married to her grave.” We realise that Lady Capulet has little sympathy for Juliet because she had to marry young, and she knows that if she argued with Capulet she would not be being loyal. As Capulet’s anger builds, Shakespeare shows us the full extent of his anger, “my fingers inch,” which suggests that he wants to hit her but doesn’t, however he knows that because he is the dominant figure in the house he has the most power and so Juliet should respect it. We also realise that Lady Capulet does not speak much because she has turned her back on Juliet.
In this scene, when Juliet tells her father she does not want to marry Paris, Shakespeare shows us that Capulet cannot contemplate what his daughter is saying – he only wants the best for her. As an audience we realise this because he loves Juliet – being his daughter – and so wouldn’t think of putting her out on the streets or disowning her, we know this that he has only reacted like this because he is hurt and upset. Shakespeare has shown us Capulet’s love for Juliet in Act 1, Scene 2. Capulet and Paris talk about a possible marriage, however Capulet does not seem sure about the idea of arranging a marriage yet for his only daughter as she is so young, “and too soon marred as those so early made.” Capulet, during Act 3, Scene 5 hasn’t really understood what Juliet has been saying but does understand the underlying meaning, “how how, how how, chopt logic?”
Lady Capulet does not really say anything because she knows she is supposed to be loyal to her husband and go along with what he says. (In the times that Shakespeare was writing and has set his play, the wife of the household was expected to do exactly as the man desired and if that meant not defying him and not expressing her own opinions, she would not.) However, the audience knows that Lady Capulet would not want to hurt Juliet and so must be increasingly worried. I think that this should be shown on stage if Capulet is up close to Juliet when the tension builds, and Lady Capulet could pull her husband away to show that she does not want Juliet to think that she does not care and so that Lord Capulet does not hurt Juliet physically.
Later on in the scene when Capulet’s anger builds, we hope that he doesn’t mean what he says but is just hurt and angry, “hang, beg, starve, die…” Capulet also shows his dominance and authority by putting characters in place. In the century that the play is set in, men were the most important people in the house and so they could say whatever they wanted. Capulet speaks rudely and severely to the Nurse, but is allowed to because she is a servant, “hold your tongue,” “peace you mumbling fool.”
We know that Capulet reacts the way he does because he is so surprised by what Juliet thinks and how she reacts to the concept of marriage to Paris. We know that he wants what is best for Juliet and so when she refuses to marry him, Capulet’s first reaction is that she is defying her father, Shakespeare shows us this reaction by the anger we see on stage.
Juliet’s reaction to the proposal of marriage is as expected, the audience realises this because she has just spent her last night, perhaps for ever, with her love and now is being forcefully asked to marry someone who she does not have any feelings for. It is quite the opposite to earlier in the play when Juliet is open-minded to the idea of marriage but her change of heart is understandable.
By the end of this scene, Shakespeare shows the audience that she is decisive by the way she tricks the nurse and the rest of her family into thinking that she is going to ask Friar Laurence for forgiveness, when the audience knows that she is going to see him for advice or a potion to kill herself, “I’ll go to friar to know his remedy; if all else fail, myself have power to die.”
Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet reacts in a way that makes the audience wonder if she feels anything for Juliet, “Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word. Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.” She does not help Juliet and does not comfort her when Capulet exits. This could either be because she fears Capulet and so does not want to defy his wishes. Also Shakespeare may have wanted the audience to believe that she does not comfort Juliet because needs to convince herself, Lady Capulet was married to Capulet when she was young and so perhaps wasn’t happy, maybe this means that she needs to grasp that it is happening to her daughter, Juliet.
The Nurse’s reaction in this scene is not to be expected. She has been supportive of Romeo and Juliet’s love from the beginning but when Capulet puts across his point, the Nurse’s opinion changes. This surprises Juliet, “…that same tongue which hath praised him above compare so many thousand time.” I think that the Nurse’s opinion changes because she sees Capulet’s reaction and is scared of his response if he found out that she went against his word, also it could be a practical response because the Nurse realises that Romeo and Juliet’s love has too high a risk and is pointless. Maybe she is also afraid of losing her job.
During Act 3, thehs of major characters, Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and Mercutio, a friend of both families. We know that Romeo kills Tybalt out of anger because Tybalt kills Mercutio. This creates tension between both families, Lady Capulet wants Romeo dead and Juliet knows this, which is why she has to be careful when Romeo comes to see her. It is the Nurse that tells Juliet about Tybalt’s murder but still convinces Juliet to stay on Romeo’s ‘side’, which is why it is a surprise to Juliet when the Nurse suddenly chooses to tell Juliet to forget about Romeo. Act 3, Scene 3 is when Shakespeare shows us that Romeo does not know who to turn to for help and so seeks Friar Laurence’s advice, however by the end of this act it is Juliet who does not know who to turn to and so she too turns to Friar Laurence for help.
