This speech is very interesting and reveals the thoughts and feelings of Juliet at a critical point in the play. During this speech, she feels a mixture of emotions, including confusion, pain, despair and love. At the start of this speech, Juliet is very confused: she does not know whether to condemn or love her husband:
“Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?”
The fact that she questions herself shows that she is bewildered and does not know what to do. We can see that Juliet is very hurt by what happened and that is, emotionally, in pain:
“Tybalt is dead and Romeo banishéd.
That ‘banishéd’, that one word ‘banishéd’,
Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts.”
The language shows that Juliet is unhappy about the death of her cousin but distraught over the banishment of her husband, as she repeats the word “banishéd” over and over again. By using repetition, Shakespeare reinforces the sadness that Juliet is feeling.
We can see that Juliet is also feeling a lot of desperation after having lost both her cousin and her husband:
“There is no end, no limit, measure, bound
In that word’s death, no words can that woe sound.
The imagery here reflects Juliet’s despair and sadness, saying that her woe will never end. The personification of “that word” (banished) and the rhyming couplet helps to enforce this feeling of unhappiness. However, Juliet does seem to love Romeo whatever has happened:
“But wherefore, villain didst kill my cousin?
That villain cousin would have killed my husband.”
Here, Juliet defends Romeo’s actions by saying that if Romeo didn’t kill Tybalt, Tybalt would have killed Romeo. By choosing her husband over her cousin, it shows Juliet loves Romeo. She risked everything by marrying Romeo as arranged marriages were common at the time and Capulet would not have approved of the young Montague. This scene has a lot of dramatic impact on the audience. They will, of course, understand what Juliet would be going through and might somewhat sympathise with her; appreciating the fact that Juliet has found the love of her life and lost it in a matter of hours.
This speech can be found at Act 4 Scene 3 Line 14-58. Juliet has taken counsel with the Friar to decide on what course of action they should pursue. She knows what she wants to do but not how they should do it. There is the added complication that Paris has asked Juliet’s hand in marriage. She doesn’t want to marry him for various reasons, but her father arranged this marriage and she has already angered Capulet by refusing the marriage. Therefore, the Friar suggests that Juliet should “die” and be placed in the family tomb. She would, of course, not die but simply take a potion that makes her look dead. The Friar would send a note to Romeo to tell him to go to the Capulet tomb the next night to collect his wife and, together, they can elope to Mantua. If this is successful, Romeo and Juliet can live their lives together and be happy. If not, Juliet will have to marry Paris or be disowned by her family.
As you would expect, Juliet has many fears as she takes the potion:
“What is this mixture does not work at all?
Shall I be married then tomorrow morning?”
By questioning herself, she is unsure of what to do because she fears the consequence, as she mentioned. Juliet has to put her life into the Friar’s hands whilst making a life-or-death decision. We see the childish and imaginative Juliet as a scared young child who is facing the real world on her own:
“I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins
That almost freezes up the heat of life:
I’ll call them back again to comfort me
Nurse! – what should she do here?
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.”
By using the antithesis of hot and cold and the effect of the words “dismal” and “alone”, Shakespeare makes us more aware of the immediate fears and feelings of Juliet. There is the feeling of foreboding throughout the play but most strongly so in this scene where Juliet is contemplating her own death:
“The horrible conceit of death and night,
Together with the terror of the place”
Here, we see Juliet’s feelings on the tomb. The use of the word ‘terror’ shows that she thinks the tomb is a horrible place. It is not just frightening but terrifying and death and darkness is the most important things in that place. However, after all of this, Juliet once again shows her love for Romeo by taking the potion:
“Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink, I drink to thee.”
We can see that after doubting herself and the questioning the Friar’s actions, Juliet plucks up the courage (from the thought of being with Romeo) and manages to drink the potion.
This scene is highly important and has great dramatic impact: there are so many things depending on the success of the potion. If the potion does not work, Juliet will wake up the following day having to marry Paris. If the Friar poisoned Juliet, she will be dead and only he will know it; a possible occurrence if the Friar did not want the families to find out that he married the two lovers. If the letter fails to reach Romeo, she will awake in the Capels vault alone: locked down there without food or water, and so will die anyway. However, if the potion works and the letter reaches Romeo, the pair will be able to flee and live a happy life together away from the two feuding families.
In Conclusion, we can see that Shakespeare uses many techniques in portraying the thoughts and feelings of Juliet at different points in the play. Imagery, personification and metaphors are all used to great affect and this helps the audience to understand the emotions that Juliet feels in the play. By using these techniques, Shakespeare helps the audience to fully appreciate the plot and dramatic impact that each scene has and to enjoy the play.