Shakespeare introduces tension and a change of pace with the nurse’s entrance with the use of a stage direction. The stage direction is “Enter Nurse in a hurry”. If this was acted out on a stage you would be able to see clearly that the reason for her dramatic entrance was either very exciting or very bad. The stage direction has an effect on the dialogue. Before the nurse’s entrance the dialogue was long and slow, but after the nurse enters the tempo picks up, the dialogue is jilted and the sentence structure becomes shorter creating dramatic tension, and a sense of urgent panic. Romeo and Juliet part on the balcony of Juliet’s room. Juliet has a premonition she sees someone dead in the bottom of a tomb. The quote which states this is “As one dead in the bottom of a tomb; either my eyesight fails or thou look’st pale”. She is saying when Romeo leaves Juliet he looks like he is dead, it also relates to the theme of fate because at the climax of the play Juliet sees Romeo dead at the bottom of the tomb, just before she kills herself.
The main reason why Lady Capulet enters is to tell Juliet she will marry Paris on Thursday. The conversation between Lady Capulet and Juliet is deeply ambiguous. An example of ambiguity in the conversation is when Juliet says “Feeling so the loss, I cannot choose but ever weep the friend.” This is deeply ambiguous because the term friend in this instance is used instead of “lover”. Juliet is grieving for the loss of Romeo, however her mother assumes that it is Tybalt Juliet is weeping for. Another example of ambiguity is when Juliet says “To wreck the love, I bore my cousin”. This quote could either mean that she wants to avenge the love for Tybalt or secretly she is trying to physically express her love for Romeo. Lady Capulet is unsympathetic towards Juliet once she tries to calm her down. Lady Capulet then goes on to talk about how she plans poison Romeo. Juliet shares her opinion on the matter by saying “To bear a poison, I would temper it”. This is deeply ambiguous because she is saying she would mix the poison for Lady Capulet or if she were to have it on her possession she would weaken the poison, making it harmless. Juliet could even mean to say that she wants to make the poison stronger to punish Romeo for leaving her to fend for herself. Lady Capulet then moves on to the main reason why she is present. When she says “But now I’ll tell thee joyful tidings, girl” she is trying to sweeten the pain that Juliet is feeling. She tells her that “a sudden day of joy” has been arranged “That thou expect not, nor I looked not for” (Lady Capulet is blaming Capulet because it is he who has arranged this). Juliet responds by saying it is the right time. Then Lady Capulet tries to persuade her daughter why Paris is just right for her. She describes Paris as “The gallant young child and noble gentlemen, The County Paris, at St. Peter’s Church”. St. Peter’s Church is a reference to heaven. This is deeply ironic because if Juliet marries Paris she will not be able to go to heaven. Juliet refuses to marry Paris at this moment in time. Lady Capulet responds by saying she doesn’t want to become involved, and when Capulet enters and enquires about Juliet’s decision she says “I wit the fool were married to her grave!” This quote shows that Lady Capulet wishes her daughter dead. This is ironic because we know that at the end of the play Juliet is dead and Capulet is in tears about this. We have learned the relationship between Juliet and her mother is fragile. Juliet feels that the Nurse is more of a mother figure than Lady Capulet because it is the Nurse that has looked after her since she was born.
Lord Capulet enters to see Juliet’s reaction. When Lord Capulet enters and sees Juliet weeping he thinks that she is still upset about the death of Tybalt little does he know about what as just conspired. Lord Capulet sympathises with the loss and uses water imagery to describe Juliet. He describes her as a “a bark, a sea, a wind” and he also describes her tears as “Sailing in this salt flood”. This suggests that Juliet’s eyes are like the sea pouring out salt water, her body’s like a boat tossed around by her emotions, and her sighs are like the wind in a terrible storm. She is so upset she could capsize. The imagery used is very long. This gives the audience more time and detail to help them form a picture in their minds of how upset Juliet is. It is also ironic because Lord Capulet experiences what Juliet is feeling at the time of the incident when he learns that her daughter is dead at the end of the play. Lord Capulet’s attitude dramatically changes when he hears what Lady Capulet had to say. In the course of one piece of dialogue he turns his disbelief of the situation, to shock and then it builds up into anger, which he takes out on to Juliet. Juliet tries to soften the blow by saying she appreciates the offer but, she will not marry Paris. Capulet is furious; he implies that Juliet is lucky to receive an offer from such a man of high status and wealth. In line 150 Capulet calls her daughter a “mistress minion” (spoilt brat) and then goes on to compare her to a horse (“fettle your fine joints”) Capulet also calls her daughter “young baggage” and tells her daughter if she does not marry Paris on Thursday she will be forced to live on the streets or Lord Capulet will give her daughter away to one of his friends. This relates to the Patriarchal society in Medieval Italy, where the father is the considered the alpha male, the head of the family and the men have authority over women and children. Capulet says “My fingers itch” meaning that he wants to hit someone. This proves that Lord Capulet is a violent man. He shows his dominance to remind Juliet that she has no choice. The theme of fate is used in the conversation on line 160 (“get thee to church o’ Thursday”). Lord Capulet orders Juliet to get to church on Thursday. The audience suspect that Juliet will go to church on Thursday, but she will be dead. This leaves the audience to empathise with Juliet because everyone around her (apart form the Nurse) has rejected her, Romeo has left, so she feels very isolated at this point. Juliet also threatens suicide at this point because she desperately doesn’t want the marriage to go ahead as planned.
Once the Capulets leave, Juliet asks the Nurse what she would do in this predicament. The Nurse is practical, she addresses the situation to try and think of a solution. She tells Juliet that Romeo will never come back, so it would be wise for her to marry Paris. The Nurse becomes very two-faced at this point because in the play it says “I think it best if you were to married with the County, O, he’s a lovely gentleman!” This quote shows that the Nurse is contradicting what she said earlier when she said Romeo is the one. The Nurse also says that Romeo is “a dishclout to him (Paris)” and Paris is “a lovely gentleman”. These quotes show the nurse is highly hypocritical, she calls Romeo unworthy. She also questions Romeo’s status in the marriage because she says what kind of an would leave her wife. The Nurse says Romeo might as well be dead. When describing Paris she compares him to an eagle. This links in with the bird imagery Romeo and Juliet at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 5. The eagle is a bird of prey and will hunt down the lark and nightingale. The Nurse says “I think you will be happier in this second match”. This line is immoral because she is condemning herself to hell, just because she is trying to persuade Juliet to marry Paris. Overall the audience empathises with Juliet because the nurse is asking to betray Romeo, the nurse is agreeing with Lord and Lady Capulet when Juliet doesn’t want to marry again.
In conclusion, we have seen Juliet’s character dramatically change. She began Act 3 Scene 5 as an exciting young bride, risking the danger of Romeo being found out, prolonging the moment. She was also showing signs of immaturity. That all changed throughout the course of Act 3 Scene 5 when she was asked to marry Paris. This leaves her in a vulnerable situation; she had to choose between Romeo and Paris. She wanted to remain loyal to Romeo so she refused Paris’ proposal. She becomes isolated after being rejected by both her parents and betrayed by her nurse she left to seek advice from the Friar. This is ironic because theoretically it is the Friar’s fault why Juliet dies.
