At first Juliet is skeptical of the whole arrangement. She says, “I have no joy of this contract tonight”. This shows she is hesitant and is not as impulsive as Romeo is.
Later on in the scene she changes her mind and starts to think along the same lines as Romeo. I think this is because she realizes she is in love with Romeo and discovers that something deep down within her is longing for him. She becomes optimistic and looks forward to the marriage. She decides that Romeo is the man she loves and that will not change. She says, “To cease thy strife, and leave me to my grief. Tomorrow will I send.” This is when she gives in and says that she will send someone trustworthy to him to arrange everything.
We learn Juliet is much more cautious than Romeo is. She keeps worrying about the guards and the wet nurse finding Romeo. She keeps worrying about his well being. She is very jumpy throughout the whole scene.
As we already know from the past Romeo is less mature that Juliet is and is in love with the idea of being in love. One could say that he is a drama queen. Juliet matures before Romeo does in the play. She is careful and thoughtful about every move she makes in front of a potential groom. She is much more sensible than Romeo is. Romeo and Juliet are put under pressure because of the circumstances they are in.
Romeo is constant about his feelings towards Juliet throughout the whole scene while Juliet is shaky and hesitant about nearly every decision she makes.
We sympathize with Romeo and Juliet because we feel that they are separated by the balcony as well as by their families. The balcony is like a metaphor of their families.
Shakespeare makes this scene dramatic in many ways. For example he makes the nurse call from inside the Capulet house. There is a slight possibility that Romeo will be found out when the nurse calls Juliet. The readers fear for Romeo’s safety.
Dramatic tension is also created before Romeo actually speaks to Juliet. The audience keeps thinking will Romeo talk to Juliet or not. He says, “Shall I hear more or shall I speak at this?” He doesn’t know whether to talk to her or to listen to what else she has to say. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
Another thing that gives the scene dramatic tension is that the audience already know how the play is going to end. So when Romeo and Juliet commit to marriage the audience is shaking their heads in despair, hoping that they could tell Romeo and Juliet themselves that it would end in pain and tragedy.
Shakespeare does something very simple to create dramatic tension in this scene. He makes it dark. He refers to the dark when Romeo says, “I have nights cloak to hide me from their eyes”. He would have to keep referring to dark in the dialogue to remind the audience that the scene is set at night, the audience needs reminding because in his times the play would have been watched in the morning.
Shakespeare explores the main themes of the play in this scene in many ways. The most obvious one is love. This is shown through Romeo and Juliet themselves. Romeo loves Juliet and Juliet loves Romeo.
Another theme is suspense. The fact that Romeo might be caught keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Juliet says, “I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu! -“. The audience thinks that Romeo is going to get caught when Juliet says this. They worry for his well being.
The last theme Shakespeare explores is hate. The ongoing feud between the two families is mentioned. Juliet says the word “enemy” when she is referring to Romeo’s name. Shakespeare has written this scene very carefully. He led the audience to know that Romeo and Juliet were in love but refreshed the audience’s memory and introduced the idea of hate into the scene.
Shakespeare uses many linguistic devices. He seems to use a various number of metaphors. For example, Juliet says, “A wanton’s bird”. She is referring to Romeo when she says that. She says this because she feels she can summon him from anywhere just by calling his name.
He is constant about relating Juliet’s beauty to the heavens and stars above. He makes the audiences think that Juliet is like a Goddess, in some way she is holy. Romeo says, “Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven”. He is referring to Juliet’s eyes in that phrase.
Shakespeare uses some humor in this scene. When Romeo asks, “O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”. Juliet misinterprets this and thinks Romeo is talk about having sex with her. She later learns that he is asking her to promise him that she is as sincere as he is. I think he is feeling a little paranoid after his case of unrequited love for Rosaline.
This play was written a long way back, but there is a clear class structure in the play. I say this because the wet-nurse whom is older than Juliet refers to her as “Madam”. This shows that this was written in a time where the wealthier you were the higher class you were. This play was written in Elizabethan times.
The amazing thing is that this play is as significant now as it was in Elizabethan times. I think this is because love has not changed since then. People still fall in love and people still die for their true loves. People’s reactions to that has not changed at all.
This scene puts forward the idea that some people actually find their true loves, just like Romeo and Juliet, and that love at first sight exists. If you look closely at this scene you will realize that this is the scene where the first commitment was made. This is also the scene where the first kiss was kissed. This is sort of convenient, because when they commit they seal their destiny and assure they will die. The kiss is sort of the sealing of their fate.