Juliet is less developed than Romeo. The play only shows her as the object of admiration and not much of a character herself. Do you agree with this critical opinion?

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‘Juliet is less developed than Romeo. The play only shows her as the object of admiration and not much of a character herself.’

Do you agree with this critical opinion?

In some parts of the play, it can be argued that Juliet is a less developed character and is only shown as an object of admiration. The first section of the play shows that Juliet is keen to obey her parents and play the role of the innocent daughter.  However, later on in the play, Juliet’s character changes and she appears much more developed as she meets new obstacles and problems and takes more control.  Juliet becomes more independent and self-contained although she is still seen as an object of admiration. For instance in Act 4 Scene 2 when she seems to apologise profoundly to her parents but the audience know that she is lying and has no intention of marrying Paris. Juliet’s behaviour at the beginning of the play is typical of a girl in the Shakespearean/ Jacobean period as girls were expected to be respectful and submissive. However, as the play progresses, her behaviour becomes more erratic as she goes against what is expected of a girl in Shakespearean times, and as a result she is more interesting to the audience.

At the beginning Juliet is seen as an obedient and compliant person who is used to listening to orders and following her parents every command.  This is shown in Act 1 Scene 3 where she responds to her mothers calling with a formal ‘Madam, I am here, what is your will?’ The word ‘madam’ shows that Juliet is extremely formal when addressing her mother and doesn’t treat her in the way that modern teenagers would treat their mothers. This is understandable because in Shakespearean/Jacobean times daughters were expected to be act proper in front of both their parents especially if they were from a higher class. This is different to modern times because children in the 21st century are more likely to contradict their parents rather than obey them.

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Juliet is respectful to her mother in the first half of the play. Her mother is waiting for her to give her views on marriage to which Juliet replies ‘It is an honour that I dream not of.’ She says that the idea of marriage is an honourable concept but she has never given any thought to it. The word ‘honour’ shows respect for her mother’s suggestion which is understandable as girls in her time were expected to obey and respect their parents without question. However, although she replies in a respective way Juliet is also shrewd in the ...

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