We already know that Lady Capulet is more distant from her daughter than the nurse because when Lady Capulet wants to talk to her daughter earlier on in the story she asks the nurse to leave but then she found it hard to talk to Juliet because she doesn’t know her that well and is very nervous so she calls the nurse back in. This was typical for noble ladies in those times because she would had been very young herself when she had children. Juliet was crying because Romeo had to leave but Lady Capulet though she was crying because of the death of her cousin Tybalt. She tries to talk Juliet out of her grief by saying a moderate grief, shows much of love, but excessive grief shows lack of sense.
The villain in Lady Capulet’s opinion is Romeo because he killed her nephew. She says she would like to take vengeance upon him by sending someone to Mantua, where that same banished fugitive wretch lives and to give him poison. We can see Juliet’s resourcefulness when she uses clever language towards her mother in order to disguise her love for Romeo by saying she will never be satisfied until she see him-dead- is my poor hart. This is Ambiguity because her mother will think she will never be satisfied until Juliet sees him dead but what Juliet is really saying is that her heart is dead because she’s not seeing Romeo. Juliet’s words on lines 96-102 extend the dramatic irony of associating Romeo with poison and at the same time disguising her love for him by saying if you could find to one to sell me a bottle of poison I would temper it.
Lady Capulet brings news from her husband that Juliet is going to get married and Lady Capulet feels this will help cheer Juliet up. A Shakespearian audience would not have found it unusual for a 14year old girl to marry at this age especially in noble families. It was manly done as a business arrangement between families not for love. A Shakespearian audience would have still felt sympathy for Juliet but would understand more than a modern audience. This produces a forceful reaction in Juliet because she doesn’t want to marry Paris because she is married to Romeo. Were she to get married to Paris she would be committing bigamy. In her religion if you were married to two people you would lose your soul because it’s a sin. She again uses clever language to disguise her love for Romeo and to prevent the marriage by saying she would rather marry Romeo. Juliet says this because Lady Capulet thinks Juliet hates Romeo more than anyone else in the whole world and she couldn’t put it any more strongly that she doesn’t want to marry Paris. Following the entrance of Capulet Shakespeare again uses dramatic irony in the words by which Lady Capulet sides with her husband rather than her daughter by being sarcastic. She does this by saying “ay, sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks” which means in modern English she won’t have anything to do with it, thank you very much. When Juliet turns to her mother her words extend the dramatic irony earlier used by her mother; she unconsciously anticipates her tragic outcome. Lady Capulet, although shocked at the force her husband’s anger still refuses to offer Juliet any support showing she is being deserted by everyone.
Our first impressions of Capulet as a father are formed when he is first approached by Paris in act 1 scene 2 lines 9-10 and 14-19. We see him showing consideration for Juliet. This shows she was loved completely. We have also formed impressions of Capulet during the banquet when Tybalt insists that Romeo is removed. He is probably enjoying the party and doesn’t want any trouble in his house, showing he likes to be in charge and likes to rule the household. He compares Juliet to a storm when he first makes his entrance believing that Juliet is crying for her dead cousin. He is also shown being authoritarian when he arranges the marriage without Juliet’s knowledge or consent. The word decree which means decision changes his outlook because he says have you told her our decision. Capulet’s tone and choice of words change dramatically as he meets Juliet’s refusal of his plans because he gives Juliet abusive treatment by calling her names like tallow-face and baggage. In his final threat to Juliet he says if you don’t meet our decision you can beg, starve, die in the streets. In a sense Capulet’s conforms to a typical attitude of his day in families of the rich by wanting to make a good match for his daughter. Capulet tries to justify his choice of Paris by revealing the economic advantages this would bring. Capulet’s angry words to Juliet and those before his exit which were “I’ll not be foresworn” remind us of the patriarchal stance that he won’t be gone against. Juliet shows her strength of character and determination by saying if you don’t delay this marriage for a month, make the bridal bed a coffin. One might not expect these words from a young girl during this abusive treatment by her farther particularly given the expectation of her family and of these times.
Juliet now turns to her trust for some comfort. Up to this moment the nurse has been Juliet’s confidante. There are two points in the play where the nurse has been emotionally close to Juliet by acting as her confidante. One of these is where the nurse is sorting out the marriage, and she tells Romeo that if he is to marry Juliet he has to treat her write. The second time is when the nurse tells Juliet to go to Friar Lawrence’s cell where her husband to be will make her a happy wife. When Juliet says “my husband is on earth, my faith in heaven: how shall that faith return again to earth” which when brought up to date means my marriage vow is registered in heaven, and so as long as Romeo is alive, I cannot be released from it. This would remind a modern audience of the important role of religion in those times because they are criminal offences in our modern day. A Shakespearian audience would have understood this to be a terrible dilemma for Juliet because they were all religious. The nurse showed support for Juliet during the fierce argument with Capulet by sticking up for her to a point. She advises Juliet to compromise but Juliet exhibits moral superiority. The nurse then advises Juliet to marry Paris. The nurse totally betrays Juliet emotionally as her trusted confidante and both morally and spiritually as a responsibly adult by saying Romeo is a dishrag by comparison with Paris. We now she Juliet’s inner strength as she says you have comforted me a lot to disguise her true reaction to the nurses judgement. Juliet gives the impression that she is going to make confession and to be absolved when she tells the nurse she’s going to visit Friar Lawrence. Juliets short soliloquy now reveals forceful language towards the nurse because she is being immoral by saying she should marry Paris thus committing bigamy. Juliet also accuses the nurse of hypocrisy towards Romeo because in the beginning the nurse says he’s “an honest gentleman, and a courageous, and a kind, and a handsome” and at the end of the play she says he’s nothing compared to Paris. The idea of being “deserted by everyone” connects with Juliet’s views that the nurse is no longer her trusted confidante because Juliet says I will no longer confide my inmost secret thoughts with the nurse. The statement “deserted by everyone” is not true in every sense because Juliet now turns to Friar Lawrence. If there is no remedy Juliet considers killing her self which gives the scene its final dramatic irony. Our impressions of Juliet at the beginning of this scene contrast with the way in which is has stood up to her parents and rejected the nurse’s advise, because it seems like she’s trying to make everything go her own way and so she will benefits from it. I think this because she tells Romeo at the being of the scene to stay because she doesn’t want him to leave her, but she knows if he’s stays and gets caught he will be killed. Now I think she’s making everyone desert her by going against them. By doing this she will be benefiting because she will get to be with Romeo. Juliet now finds the strength of her decisive character in order to stand alone, despite the expectations of her family by confiding in Friar Lawrence who is outside her family. In my own opinion she didn’t make the appropriate moral choice because if she and Romeo fail she will have no family to turn to. This scene has huge dramatic impact on the rest of the play, setting the scene for everything that follows. Shakespeare uses a variety of different language to put across different moods. At the start of the scene, the language and mood is very light and happy. This shows off Romeo and Juliet's love for each other. Shakespeare uses the language very cleverly here, putting across the playful and happy attitude of the two and then changing it suddenly to a dark mood as Romeo leaves, because Juliet wants him back.
