Friday, February 20, 2015

What are some reasons to like Juliet in Romeo and Juliet?

Juliet is wonderfully innocent and wide-eyed at the beginning of Romeo and Juliet. She is obviously a beautiful girl who knows little of life. She has lived in the insulated world of her wealthy family and the loving arms of her nurse. She is steadfastly loyal, first to her parents and later to Romeo. Loyalty may be her most redeeming quality. In this loyalty she also displays a good deal of maturity and develops into quite a dynamic character as she transforms from a naive little girl into a responsible woman who takes full responsibility for her actions.


In Act I, Scene 3 she is quite aware that she needs to be the dutiful daughter and, when asked about marrying Count Paris, offers a vague answer which she knows will please both her mother and the Nurse. Even if she really likes Paris she won't do anything without permission:




I’ll look to like, if looking liking move.
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.



Once she meets Romeo her entire world changes. She is swept off her feet by the charming Montague, who compares himself to a pilgrim worshipping at a religious shrine when they first meet. She obviously feels a spiritual connection to Romeo and believes they must be soulmates. After their exchange of love vows in the balcony scene she is steadfastly committed to Romeo and nothing, not even the death of Tybalt and Romeo's banishment, can dissuade her from this loyalty. In Act IV, she carries out the ultimate sacrifice for Romeo by agreeing to Friar Laurence's plan to fake her death. Despite expressing numerous fears about taking the potion, she goes through with it in the hopes that it will bring her and Romeo back together again.



Juliet grows up right before the audience's eyes and one cannot but admire her transformation. In a play dominated by static characters who cannot break away from their personality defects (Mercutio, Tybalt), she is really the one dynamic character who displays growth over the course of the tragedy. She deserves better, but in the end, she is true to herself and Romeo.

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