JULIET
It is an honour that I dream not of.
Nurse
An honour! We’re not I thine only nurse,
I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat.
LADY CAPULET
75: Well, think of marriage now; younger than you,
Here in Verona, ladies of esteem,
Are made already mothers: by my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief:
80: The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.
Nurse
A man, young lady! lady, such a man
As all the world--why, he's a man of wax.
LADY CAPULET
Verona's summer hath not such a flower.
Nurse
Nay, he's a flower; in faith, a very flower.
LADY CAPULET
85: What say you? can you love the gentleman?
This night you shall behold him at our feast;
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen;
Examine every married lineament,
90: And see how one another lends content
And what obscured in this fair volume lies
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This precious book of love, this unbound lover,
To beautify him, only lacks a cover:
95: The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride
For fair without the fair within to hide:
That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story;
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
100: By having him, making yourself no less.
Nurse
No less! nay, bigger; women grow by men.
LADY CAPULET
Speak briefly, can you like of Paris' love?
JULIET
I'll look to like, if looking liking move:
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
105: Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.
In this section, Lady Capulet is telling Juliet that she must be married as soon as she turns fourteen. Juliet seems to accept it and her nurse seems to feel quite sentimental and happy about it. This key section is one of those I consider to be most important in the play, since it establish Juliet’s determined by her family and their name. This is the first scene in which Juliet appears and so, she is developed as a questioning young lady who is willing to accept what she has to do.
We can see that there is rhyme in some parts of the section. It is structured with an AA pattern and you can see it highlighted in green and blue. The rhyming makes emphasis in Lady Capulet’s words, since her speech is long and important in the scene. She is telling Juliet about marriage and the importance of Juliet being married to a man of wealth with whom she will be able to share all that he has.
We can also see that in this same dialogue (starting at line 85) she makes a metaphor of Paris as a work of art, a book with beautiful qualities that everyone would be willing to love. She also makes a personification of Juliet as a fish that has to be proud of being wanted by Paris. This creates an imagery of how he is.
As the nurse, she also makes a metaphor of Paris as being a man of wax. She means that he’s impeccable and pure, perfect for her, highlighted in yellow. And Paris is also described as a flower, flowers as symbols of beauty and splendor.
We can also find repetition of the words “marry” and “marriage” (highlighted in purple) on the first part of the section. It is repeated as it is the main subject in the section.
We can see the repetition of the word “love” (highlighted in red) on the last dialogues of the section. This can represent that at the beginning Juliet is obligated to get married but she may wonder if she will ever really love him.
We also have alliteration in this section. It is the repetition of sounds with the letter L, marked with red. It is also emphasizing the fact of Juliet’s wonderment on love and on she being obligated to love him.
We discover in this section that the nurse is quite close to Juliet and that he has certain bitterness and resentment for his ex-husband, who did not stint.
