Before Act 3, Scene 5, Romeo had just killed Tybalt in rage to avenge Mercutio’s death. After criticizing Romeo for his role in Tybalt’s death, and hearing the Nurse slander Romeo’s name, Juliet realizes that her loyalty must be to her husband rather than to her cousin, Tybalt, because this was the wife’s role in Elizabethan times. However she threatens to kill herself because Romeo has been banished from Verona, so the Nurse sends Romeo to her to make Juliet happy.
Romeo and Juliet is not only about the poetry and language, but also about the dramatic devices. In the beginning of Act 3, Scene 5, Juliet tries to convince Romeo it is not yet dawn and for him to stay with her, “It was the nightingale and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree…” the contrast between the two birds is a dramatic device used by Shakespeare to tell the time, allowing an Elizabethan audience know when the scene is set, as the theatres had no lighting and special effects etc. This illustrates Juliet’s desire to be with him, enough so to try and persuade him by perhaps trying to deceive herself, as well as Romeo. Without the use of dramatic devices words alone would not be powerful enough to create the emotion the audience feels, such as tension.
In Act 3, Scene 2, after they have been married, Juliet says, “O, I have bought the mansion of a love, But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold, Not yet enjoy'd”. She is talking about the importance of her wedding night, and having sex to consummate the marriage. Had Juliet not slept with Romeo, their marriage could have been annulled, and had they both agreed to it, would have ended all their problems. At the beginning of the play, Juliet is an obedient, sheltered naïve child, who seems to have no friends her own age. Though many girls her age, including her mother get married, Juliet shows no interest in the topic, and when Lady Capulet expresses Paris’s interest in marrying Juliet, she responds that she will try to love him, a response which seems an immature conception of love, and yet at the same time is a very mature reaction; she would have put up with an arranged marriage. She is also uncomfortable about talking about sex, shown by her discomfort when the Nurse goes on about a sexual joke at Juliet’s expense in Act 1 Scene 2. Romeo and Juliet’s intense love develops Juliet from a wide-eyed naïve little girl, into a self-assured, loyal, mature and capable woman, and in my opinion, one of Shakespeare’s finest early development of characterisation and certainly most memorable. This is shown in Act Scene 5, by her sudden change of mind from wanting Romeo to stay, to her acceptance that it is day and wanting him to leave, fearing for his safety.
As the Nurse enters to warn them that Lady Capulet is approaching, the lovers part tearfully. “Then, window, let day in, and let life out.” This is an excellent example of dramatic irony, because the audience knows Juliet never sees Romeo alive again after this. As Romeo descends the balcony, Juliet has a vision, “Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb. Either my eyesight fails, or thou look’st pale.” To which Romeo replies, “And trust me, love, in my eye so do you: Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!” This is very portentous; Juliet says to Romeo that you look like you’re dead and he says so you do, these final words are full of apprehension, and dramatic irony, because the audience knows that the next time they meet, will be on their deathbed.
Unaware that Juliet is married to Romeo, Lady Capulet mistakes Juliet’s tears as continued grief for Tybalt and tries to comfort her by telling her of her plan to poison Romeo. Juliet elaborates on this with double meanings in everything she says. She never actually lies to her parents because it is a sin and in Elizabethan times, Juliet was a very strict Catholic. “Indeed I never shall be satisfied With Romeo, till I behold him – dead – Is my poor heart, so for a kinsman vexed…” This quote by Juliet can be interpreted either way, to Lady Capulet this would come out as “Till I behold him dead…” however what the audience would hear is “Dead is my poor heart.” Her desire to “wreak her love”, the word wreak meaning either to inflict upon a person or to express; on Romeo’s body is obviously ambiguous; she wants to make love to him again, but her mother hears it as avenge her love for her cousin.
Shakespeare is very famous for his word-play, especially his sexual innuendo. Shakespeare’s use of double meanings and metaphors enrich his plays. Because double meanings have literal innocent meanings while the second meaning is often ironic or sexual, it requires the hearer to have some additional knowledge. The speech is full of dramatic irony since Lady Capulet’s hope of poisoning Romeo anticipates the method he chooses to take his own life in the final act of the play
Juliet’s reaction to the news that she must marry Paris is at first like simple teenager defiance using irony, but at the same time is ultimately very brave and resourceful. At first Lady Capulet is concerned for her daughter, but when Juliet defies her, she passes the problem on to her husband. “I will not marry yet, and when I do, I swear it will be Romeo, whom you know I hate, Rather than Paris.” When Juliet swears by “Saint Peter’s Church and Peter too,” her mother thinks she is just using a strong oath, but the Elizabethan audience would know that it is Saint Peter who decides who goes to heaven or hell, therefore she is swearing by the saint who would disallow a bigamous marriage. Lady Capulet is far from a loving maternal figure; she is cold and vengeful. Like Tybalt, she is prepared to continue the feud. Her venomous anger at Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris leads her to express that she wishes “the fool were married to her grave”, the image of Juliet’s grave as her wedding bed anticipates the lovers’ tragic reunion in death.
When Juliet’s father, Capulet, enters the room, he tries to comfort her for he also mistakes her tears for sorrow for Tybalt. Both parents use interesting comparisons for Juliet’s tears. Lady Capulet suggest that she is trying to wash Tybalt from his grave because she is crying too much, whereas Capulet uses an extended metaphor, he compares the dew overnight with the heavy downpour of Juliet’s tears for the metaphorical sunset (death) of his brother’s son, Tybalt, which he then develops into an idea of a ship in a storm at sea. Juliet’s eyes are the sea, her body is the ship and her sighs are the winds. As soon as Capulet hears of Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris, he becomes enraged and throws a range of insults at her. His sudden transformation from seemingly concerned parent to vengeful adversary illustrates his true character; cruel and reckless. He calls Juliet “green-sickness carrion”, “tallow-face”, “baggage, disobedient wretch” and “hilding”. To a modern audience these insults may seem mild but to a 16th century audience they were much more forceful and shocking. Capulet calls his daughter a “wretched puling fool” and a “whining mammet” before sarcastically mimicking her objections to the marriage, “I cannot love; I am too young…”. Of course the audience knows that she can and does love, and that she is obviously not “too young” to marry. Capulet threatens to disown Juliet if she does not obey him and marry Paris, “You be mine… and you be not, hang beg, starve, die in the streets, For my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee, Nor what is mine shall never do thee good.” This shows a lot about the relationship between fathers and daughters in that time. Men were a much higher status than women, who were subservient. Children, especially girls, were possessions; an Elizabethan audience would be shocked by Juliet’s attitude. While Juliet’s parents react with extreme bitterness, Juliet shows her full maturity. No longer the dutiful teenage daughter of the Capulets, she is a young woman, a bride, a wife. She dominates the conversation with her mother, and her answers are skilfully truthful yet rationally deceptive. Indeed, Juliet feels so strong that she defies her father, but soon learns the limit of her power and as strong as she may be, Juliet is still a woman in a male-dominated world. If Juliet were to be disowned, she would have nothing, no money, no house and no family. Juliet, as a woman, cannot leave society; and her father has the right to make her do as he wishes.
After Lady Capulet and Capulet leave, Juliet asks the Nurse how she may escape her predicament. The Nurse, who has been more of a mother figure to Juliet than her biological mother, fails Juliet at this critical moment. The Nurse advises her to go through with the marriage to Paris and forget the “dishclout” Romeo. Disgusted and betrayed by her Nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet sarcastically thanks her, “well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much” and tells the Nurse that she is going to make confession at Friar Lawrence’s. As she hurries to the Friar, she vows to never again trust the Nurse’s counsel, “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!”
Shakespeare has systematically taken away every support Juliet has, his intention is for the play to be a tragedy; her primary family had abandoned her, while Juliet’s isolation is nearly complete, she is calm and resolute and comments to herself “If all else fail, myself have the power to die.” This says a lot about her character; Juliet has no control over anything in her life, except for taking it.
If the play was written now, this scene would be completely different. The amount society has evolved compared to the 16th century is drastic; many conversations and factors that were shocking then would have no effect now. However what would always be the same is how Shakespeare portrayed love in Romeo and Juliet. It is a brutal, powerful emotion that captures individuals and catapults them against their world, and, at times, against themselves.
