Juliet speaks to her nurse as a mother, even though Lady Capulet is her mother. She says such things to the nurse as “Go ask his name...” (p.45) at the Capulet’s feast. She is talking to the nurse and asking her to go up to Romeo and ask his name and whether or not he is marry. She is asking the nurse because the nurse is closer to Juliet than her mother. This is probably because the nurse has been with Juliet for a large part of her life.
Juliet speaks to her mother as if she were just a friend, or distant relation. She calls her mother “Madame...” (p.25) which shows that she is not close at all with her mother. When Lady Capulet is talking about Juliet, she says “...Thou knowest my daughter’s of a pretty age” (p.25) and the nurse replies “... I can tell her age unto an hour.” (p.25) showing she is close to Juliet as most parents would be conscious of the precise age of their children. This shows that the nurse is closer to Juliet than Lady Capulet, and Lady Capulet has not spent a great deal of time with Juliet.
SECTION 2:
Juliet falls in love with Romeo, the Capulet family’s enemy. She marries Romeo in secret. This show Juliet is no longer the obedient little girl she was. She has gone against her parents wishes and married the Capulet’s worst enemy. It is clear she loves Romeo, as she no longer uses flowery and affectionate language. As you can see, Juliet’s language has changed from the start of the play. She talks in an innocent and obedient way at the start of the play. Such as when her mother calls her she replies “Madam , I am here, what is your will?” (p.25). But when Lady Capulet informs Juliet that she is to marry Paris, she reply’s “Now by Saint Peter’s Church and Peter too, He shall not make me there a joyful bride.” (p.131). She then tells her mother that “I will not marry yet, and when I do, I swear It shall be Romeo.” (p.131) which shows that she admits to defying her parents to get what she wants, to marry Romeo and not Paris. Her language is now very frank and to the point. This is more down to earth language than she normally uses. She is willing to defy her family because of the love she feels for Romeo.
Juliet chooses to defy her family again by continuing to love Romeo even after he has killed Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. Oxymoron’s are used in this scene. An Oxymoron contains two contradictory or incongruous words which are brought together to make a striking expression. When Juliet hears of Tybalt’s death, the description of him is “beautiful tyrant” and “damned saint”. These words contradict one another. Beautiful meaning nice and pleasant. Wail Tyrant meaning oppressive. Also, damned, meaning condemned to hell and saint referring to the heavens. When she hears of his death, she still wants to see Romeo. When the nurse asks Juliet “Will you speak well of him that has killed your husband?” (p.107) Juliet replies “Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?” (p.107).
The power of fathers in Juliet’s days saw their daughters as their property. Daughters were practically a commodity to there fathers. They would be married off to wealthy men to bring more money and power into the fathers family. Juliet defies her father by not doing as he asks her. This must have made Capulet, Juliet’s father, very angry that she defied him. So his actions when she refuses to marry would have probably not been his everyday emotions towards her. When she pleads to him for forgiveness, he reply’s “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!” (p.133) which shows that Capulet, Juliet’s father, is very angry with Juliet.
Juliet’s relationship with her father before this incident was quite reasonable. This is shown in the play when Capulet is shocked that she refuses to marry Paris. Her father reply’s to her “doth she not give us thanks? Is she not proud?” (p.133) which shows he is shocked she does not trust him enough to marry Paris.
Lady Capulet is very powerless in this scene once Capulet enters. She asks Capulet is he is “...mad?” (p.133) and says to him that “You are too hot” showing he is getting mad and Lady Capulet is unable to calm him down. Lady Capulet then exits the scene saying “Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word. Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.” (p.133). This shows that Lady Capulet is through with trying to reason with Juliet and has left her with the nurse. This is important because her mother has turned her back on Juliet and her father said that if she does not marry Paris on Thursday, then she will be disowned by him.
Juliet must feel betrayed by her nurse when she tells Juliet that “Romeo is banished” (p.137) and “I think it be best if you married with the County, I, he’s a lovely gentleman!” (p.137) because the nurse has cared for Juliet for the last 14 years of her life and now she has betrayed Juliet by siding with her parents. Juliet is shocked to hear the nurse speak this and says “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!” (p.137) to the nurse. She also questions the nurse’s remark by asking “Speak’st thou from thy heart?” (p.137) and with the nurses reply “And from my soul too...” (p.137) Juliet is even more shocked. The nurse, who looked after Juliet for all her life has now sided with her parents and Juliet finds this hard to come to terms with.
Juliet has to consider whether to take the poison or marry Paris. “Shall I be married then tomorrow morning? No, no, this shall forbid it...” (p.153) showing she does not want to marry Paris and she still loves Romeo after all that has happened. This shows how much love she feels for him. She is willing to betray her family and forget about Romeo killing Tybalt, her cousin, just to be with Romeo. She must also think about waking up in the vault next to all her ancestors and, of course, Tybalt.
SECTION 3:
Juliet shocks her father when she refuses to marry Paris. He cannot understand why she does not wish to get married. He asks her is if is because “...she is not proud?” (p.133) or “doth she not count her blest...” (p.133). Capulet thinks it is perfectly reasonable that Juliet should be married without any questions. This shows that it must have been reasonably common practice for young girls to get married in Juliet’s time. This would also explain why Capulet is so shocked with Juliet when she refuses to get married to Paris.
Capulet becomes angry now. “...I [Capulet] will drag thee on a hurdle thither. [to the church]” (p.133) and she pleads with her father “Good father, I beseech you on my knees, Hear me with patience but to speak a word.” (p.133) and her father then replies “Hang the, young baggage, disobedient wretch!” (p.133) and tells her to “...get thee to church a’Thursday, Or never after look me in the face.” (p.133) showing he will disown her is she does not marry Paris. This shows how deeply he wishes his daughter to be married to Paris. He threatens her by saying “My fingers itch.” (p.133) showing he is on the point of hitting his daughter, something which would not be allowed in today’s world.
Conclusion:
I think that Juliet is overwhelmed by her love for Romeo. She loses her sense and betrays her family and Tybalt, her murdered cousin. She behaved like this because she is so attracted to Romeo that she is willing to forgive him for his. Her family put pressure on Juliet to marry by threatening to disown her, like when Capulet said “...get thee to church a’Thursday, Or never after look me in the face.” (p.133) which must have shocked Juliet. I feel angry with her family over this because they do not listen to what Juliet wants and only think about what they want, more power and wealth. I think her actions at the end of the play were fitting with Juliet’s attitude. She dies saying “Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (p.185) showing that if she cannot be with Romeo, then she would rather not be at all. Juliet’s role in the play defies what her traditional role should have been, to obey her parents. She could not see sense and comfort once she fell in love with Romeo and this eventually lead to tragedy
