The final piece of advice Juliet receives is when her father has changed his attitude dramatically and she is married to Romeo. The change in her father’s attitude has resulted in Juliet being forced to marry Paris. Juliet is left powerless, dependent on other and is in a desperate situation. After her fathers outburst Juliet attempts to seek aid from her mother. Sadly and irresponsibly her mother turns tell her to “talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word.” How is Juliet to be guided or helped if both parents turn on her? Her parents have not contemplated about her thoughts at all and they expect her to marry someone who is still to “woo” her. Juliet is without a doubt helpless and has no one to turn to except the nurse. The nurse is Juliet’s last hope of providing her with advice to help her and comfort her in her current situation. The nurse tells Juliet what some of the audience would agree to. The nurse tells her that The nurse also tries to emphasise her piece of advice by referring to Paris as “a lovely gentleman” and Romeo as a “dishclout”. The nurse has actually given Juliet some good advice and she refuses it, and then comes to recognise that the nurse is not on her side and she doesn’t understand. Juliet now observes the nurse as an “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend! This was Juliet’s last chance to contemplate what has happened and decide whether or not to marry Paris. Juliet has been given guidance and it is for her best, her life. Nevertheless, Juliet disregards the nurse’s advice and decides to take measures that could kill her. The advice the nurse has given, leaves Juliet shocked. Juliet cannot comprehend what could happen if she does not give these past events serious thought. This was sadly, Juliet’s last chance to change the events to come. She decides that “if all else fail, myself have power to die."
On the other hand, it is brought to the reader’s attention that the nurse’s advice could prove to be illegal and harmful. The nurse inadvertently advises Juliet to commit bigamy, a serious crime at the time. This erroneous advice could only worsen the situation for Juliet. Consequently, adding guilt to her conscience and affecting her judgement in the situations that awaits her. Furthermore, since it is only the people around her who caused the problems, perhaps Juliet is the victim. Consequently, arousing sympathy for Juliet in the reader.
However, what led Juliet to think that “if all else fail, myself have power to die” could have been that she did not receive enough guidance. While her parents were forcing her to marry Paris they disregarded anything she would have to say. She could have said something that would have changed her life. But Despite Juliet’s pleas she is abruptly cut off by her father’s mockery and threats. Her father has not given her a choice in the matter and he is forcing her to marry Paris. The consequences of her unwillingness will lead to her father disowning her, leaving her to “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets". The audience have to be sympathetic with Juliet by the way her father has treated her, as if she is an inanimate object without any concern of her feelings whatsoever. If her parents would not listen to her reasons for her refusal, who would? Juliet is left helpless and clueless and doesn’t know what to do. She has no one else to rely on apart from her nurse. It appears that she has been left with no advice or help and she must abide by what her father has dictated or she will be disowned. It has been made apparent that her desires are unnecessary. How can your sympathies not be with her? She has been left to linger with her terrifying thoughts, leaving her life distraught and hopeless.
In addition, Capulet has unexpectedly contradicted himself. Initially he was cautious and considerate to marry Juliet. However, he soon agrees for Paris to take her hand in marriage before she is even consulted about the matter as Capulet feels that “In all respects by me; nay, more, I doubt it not.” This portrays how Juliet is left helpless and at her father’s mercy. Although it can be considered that her parents are helping her, there is a major difference in helping somebody for the better and helping them for the worse. It is easy for the audience to distinguish that her parents are not helping her. The most obvious reason would be that she is in love with Romeo and the other is that she is not exactly taken with Paris and it gives the impression that she was not immediately captivated by him. Unlike how she was when she saw Romeo.
Furthermore, when the nurse meets Romeo it emerges that the nurse does have some sense and she is worried about Romeo’s faithfulness to Juliet. The nurse herself says that Juliet is young and she should not be toyed with. The nurse should recognise this and stop the marriage completely. The nurse does not see what their marriage could lead to; there is the hope that it would cause the families to reconcile which would end the feud. The hope that this would happen is farfetched and the nurse should relinquish such thoughts. The nurse should consider what would happen if the families became all the more enraged at this. As stated before the nurse should convince Juliet to put things off for a time to mull over what has happened. Love can blind people sometimes and this could be the case with Juliet if she had someone to attempt to persuade her or if she had time to consider the events that took place she could have come to her senses. Juliet is innocent in this as she is only a child blinded by love with no help or guidance to what she should do. Juliet allowed her heart to gain full control over her and she ceased any thought of logic in her mind. This was bound to happen since she did not receive any advice.
Lastly, another time in which Juliet was in need of advice was when the nurse educated her about Romeo’s banishment. When she is notified it is evident that Juliet is indecisive and at this point she craves for advice but does not receive any from her nurse. She leaps from one perspective to another. Initially she refers to Romeo as "O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!” and then she scolds herself for saying so. She has learned of Romeo’s banishment and this again would be an ideal moment for the nurse to advise her but she does not. Romeo being banished is as good as him being dead .” This is another chance that arises for the nurse to seize but alas she doesn’t. This leaves the innocent and helpless Juliet stranded and heart struck with thoughts that would lead her to consider suicide later.
In conclusion, it is comprehensible that throughout Juliet’s innocent and troublesome life, she received little help or guidance from her loved ones. This in turn resulted in her death. Ultimately, Juliet’s parents continuously influenced her to take the path they decided for her. Her parents disregarded anything she had to say on her behalf. Her mother not once asked her how she felt, apart from the time when she was trying to coax Juliet into marrying Paris. It has been made clear that Juliet’s part in the tragedy cannot be blamed on her. Juliet was a young girl, inexperienced and under a tremendous amount of stress. Although, she was mature for her age compared to society at the present time, it is difficult to deal with the ordeals she was put through. Juliet had no one to turn to; even her nurse didn’t give her much advice. To the audiences dismay Juliet took her life because Romeo, her only love died. Everyone’s sympathies should be with Juliet as she was left clueless, blinded by love to undertake what she was destined for. As no one attempted to guide her, fate guided her to her tragic and sorrowful death.
