‘Gallop, apace you fiery-footed steeds`
Towards Phoebus’ lodging!’.
The educated Elizabethans would have understood this since they were quite familiar with Greek mythology. There is dramatic irony here since the audience knows that Romeo has been banished to Mantua. Juliet does not however and is waiting for him which is also increasing the tension.
Juliet sees the night as a matron ‘Thou sober-suited matron all in black’. Juliet wants the matron to give her confidence
‘Till strange love grow bold’. Juliet visualizes the night as an experienced woman and wants the night to teach her how to make love. They will use the night as a curtain to conceal themselves from everyone else ‘Spread thy close curtain’.
Shakespeare compares Juliet’s passionate love to an untamed falcon
‘Hood my unmanned blood, bating in my cheeks’. Falcons were trained by using hoods and most educated Elizabethans would have understood this because falconry was a hobby of many Elizabethans.
Romeo and Juliet compare each other to light on several occasions. ‘It is the East and Juliet is the sun’ and ‘Lovers can see to do their amorous rites by their own beauties’ saying that lovers are tremendously radiant. Juliet deeply displays her passion for Romeo when she says:
‘Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night’
And pay no worship to the garish sun’.
Juliet is saying that Romeo is so radiant that if he was a star he would be brighter than the sun. This shows Juliet’s deep passion and admiration for Romeo. This also increases since the tension since the audience know Romeo has been banished and this is also ironic since Romeo dies not long after.
Romeo and Juliet both use contrasts such as ‘Whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back’. This demonstrates their love and links the lovers together.
The audience finds that Juliet has matured since previously. Juliet was obedient and more like a girl rather than a woman. When Juliet was asked about marriage before she met Romeo she replied
‘I’ll look to like, if looking liking move;
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.’
This meant that she will look at him and may like him but will want her parents’ permission to fall in love. However, after Juliet met Romeo she had became more independent and she had passion in her life. The audience can
tell that Juliet is still quite young and to some extent impetuous
‘As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them’.
This shows how much Juliet desires Romeo and that waiting for him is like the night before a festival with new clothes but cannot wear them till the next day.
In conclusion the imagery used to describe Juliet’s passion for Romeo heightens the dramatic irony. We are also given an insight to Juliet’s character and emotions. We are shown how Juliet matures in such a short space of time from the beginning of the play. Juliet was quite unusual as an Elizabethan girl. Unlike most Elizabethan girls she was daring and independent and was unafraid to marry without her parents’ consent which in Elizabethan times would have been unheard of.
