In Act I Scene III you can tell that Juliet’s and Lady Capulet’s relationship is mainly formal. They know very little about each other, but Juliet’s respect for her mother is evident. “Madam, I am here. What is your will?” as Juliet refers to Lady Capulet as “Madam” it shows that they aren’t close and indicates the formality in their relationship. The speech also shows the respect that Juliet has for her, that she is willing to do what her mother wants her to do. However, it is evident that Juliet and Lady Capulet are strangers, “She’s not fourteen” Lady Capulet is arguing with Nurse over Juliet’s age. Juliet is in fact fourteen, as Lady Capulet doesn’t know her own daughters age it shows the distance in their relationship and that they seem to be strangers to each other.
In the Elizabethan period this relationship for an upper class mother and daughter was very common. Usually the child would be brought up by a nurse and not by the mother. Young women of this time would be expected to be obedient and dutiful to their parents and do what their parents wished.
In Zefferelli’s adaptation of the play he clearly shows the formality of Juliet’s and Lady Capulet’s relationship. He gets Juliet to pause before speaking to Lady Capulet to make it look like Juliet is thinking through what she is going to say to her. Juliet’s and Lady Capulet’s relationship in this scene seems distant and cold, Lady Capulet expects Juliet’s complete obedience in agreeing to the marriage. Juliet is clearly reluctant to agree to the arranged marriage. It contrasts with Act III Scene V were all the respect for her mother and her obedience disappears in her love for Romeo.
In Act I Scene III Juliet’s and the Nurse’s relationship is much closer than Juliet’s and Lady Capulet’s, Nurse is basically the loving mother figure to Juliet. “What lamb! What lady-bird!” as Nurse uses nicknames for Juliet it suggests how close they are. “Lamb” and “Lady-bird” are caring and innocent animals and as Nurse uses them to describe Juliet it indicates how close they are and that Nurse deeply cares for her. In this scene it is clear that the Nurse see’s Juliet as a daughter, “Susan and she-God rest all Christian souls” Nurse’s daughter died young so in a way Juliet has replaced her, Nurse had brought Juliet up from a child so she sees her as a daughter figure.
In Zefferelli’s adaptation of the play he clearly shows that Juliet prefers Nurse’s company than Lady Capulet’s. In the scene Juliet is shown cuddling up to Nurse and sitting on her lap, also before Juliet speaks to Lady Capulet she sometimes looks to Nurse for support. When Lady Capulet calls for Juliet and wishes Nurse to leave to talk to Juliet privately, Juliet looks worried that Nurse had left and that she is left alone with her mother.
In Act III Scene V Juliet behaviour is in complete contrast to how she acted in Act I Scene III. In the first part of the scene while she is with Romeo, Juliet uses happy, lively and poetic words. In the second part Juliet speaks aggressively towards her parents. In this scene there is a change in the language Juliet uses, “Yon light is not daylight… Therefore stay yet, thou need’st not to be gone” this sentence is a contrast from the balcony scene, where it was Juliet that was worried about Romeo being there, but now she is trying to persuade him to stay longer. The scene is very poetic showing her mature and passionate side. In Romeo and Juliet’s relationship there is a sense of equality, and as Juliet is no longer innocent to love she speaks a lot more and speaks freely.
Shakespeare uses foreshadowing to add tension to the scene, “I have an ill-divining soul” Juliet is having a premonition of Romeo’s death; this is dramatic irony, as the audience know from the prologue that Romeo and Juliet die.
“Villain and her be many miles… And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart” Shakespeare has Juliet say this to the audience, so Lady Capulet cannot hear it; this is the first sign of rebellion against her parents. This is a contrast to Act I Scene III where Juliet is obedient and only speaks when spoken to, however in this scene Juliet is finally speaking her mind and is becoming independent.
In the second part of the scene there is a lot of dramatic irony and Shakespeare builds up tension by getting Lady Capulet to say things like “that same villain Romeo”, this builds up tension because the audience know that if the Capulet’s find out that Juliet married Romeo then Romeo was sure to be slain and Juliet probably disowned, because Romeo killed Tybalt. In the later part of the scene Juliet responds to Lady Capulet’s request to marry Paris, “He shall not make me there a joyful bride” in this speech Juliet is directly disobeying her parents and defying society’s expectations. Juliet is aggressive and demanding towards her mother, this shows her child-like qualities again.
In the first part of the scene I would say that Juliet’s status was as equal as Romeo’s as there is an obvious sign of equality. However in the second part of the scene Juliet’s status is the lowest when her parents are around, even though she is disobedient and argumentative. This is a complete contrast to the early part of the scene, and there is an obvious change in her status.
In Act III Scene V Juliet’s relationship with her parents has completely changed. In this scene Juliet has lost all respect for her parents as they are demanding that she marries Paris, against her will. In response to Lord Capulet demand to marry Paris Juliet replies with, “Not proud you have, but thankful that you have” Juliet is standing up to her father which in Act I Scene III she wouldn’t have dared, in the other scene Juliet was a respectful daughter, and would have done what her parents wished, however in this scene she is directly disobeying their wishes. The way she screams at her parents you can tell that all respect is lost for them.
“Good father, I beseech you on my knees” as Juliet is begging it shows how desperate she is and it reminds the audience how child-like and young she is.
In this scene it is evident that Juliet’s parents only see her as an object, “And you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend; and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the street” as Juliet’s parents are forcing her into marrying Paris It indicates that there relationship is merely formal. And that they obviously don’t care about her wishes, as they are threatening to throw her out onto the streets if she does not marry Paris. In Elizabethan times arranged marriages was very common, it was expected that the parents would hand their daughter over to whoever they felt suitable, it was almost never the daughter’s choice.
In Act III Scene V Juliet’s and Nurse’s relationship changes, we find out that Nurse and Juliet aren’t as close as we had thought. “I think it is best you married with the County” Nurse is telling Juliet to marry Paris despite that Juliet loves Romeo. Juliet looked to Nurse for support after the fight with her parents, but only to feel betrayed when Nurse agrees with her parents. In this scene it is clear that there is a change in the relationship between Juliet and the Nurse, “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!” Juliet is upset with Nurse for betraying her, Juliet feels all alone. The audience feel sympathy for Juliet at the end of this scene because Romeo has abandoned her, Nurse and her parents have betrayed her, now Juliet is completely alone.
It is in contrast with the other scenes. In the early part of the play, Juliet and Nurse are really close and Nurse did almost anything for Juliet to be happy, Juliet confided in Nurse. However in this scene Nurse betrayed Juliet and Juliet told Nurse to leave. When in the other scene Juliet wanted Nurse to stay in the room while talking to Lady Capulet, this is an obvious change in Juliet’s attitude to the Nurse.
To conclude, Juliet’s behaviour in Act III Scene V is at complete contrast to her behaviour in Act I Scene III. In Act I Scene III Juliet is the ideal young woman, the expected behaviour for an upper class Elizabethan woman. However, in Act III Scene V Juliet is argumentative and purposeful disobedient. She is obviously more mature as she has started to stand up for herself, you can tell this from her body language and the language she uses.
