Juliet as a Character Analysis
Quotes are in red.
Notations of where each quote is from are in purple.
Links to context are in blue.
Juliet Basics:
At first, her character appears to be quiet, obedient and innocent.
She meets Romeo and is not as shy as we think.
Juliet tells the audience of her love for Romeo, knowing her family
is hated by his.
Her thoughts are complex, showing her intelligence, and her love
of Romeo is sincere.
She shows her independence by proposing marriage.
Juliet doesn’t doubt Romeo even when he kills her cousin.
She is prepared to commit suicide for him, she bravely carries out
the Friars plans and disobeys her parents while taking a huge risk.
Juliet
Having not quite reached her fourteenth birthday. Juliet is of an
age that stands on the border between immaturity and maturity.
She makes the transition from an innocent adolescent to
responsible adult during the course of the play.
There is a heightened sense that she has been forced to mature
quickly due to circumstances that come about in the play.
There is emphasis throughout the play on Juliet’s youth, despite
her growing maturity it establishes her as a tragic heroine.
Act 1 Scene 3
At the beginning of the play Juliet seems obedient, sheltered and a
naive child.
Many girls her age, including her mother, get married; Juliet has
not given the subject any thought.
Juliet possesses inner strength that allows her to have maturity
beyond her years.
When her mother suggests she should marry Paris, she responds:
“It is an honour I dream not of” (Act 1 Scene 3)
, Juliet gives glimpses of her determination and strength in the
opening scenes.
In Juliet’s acquiescence to love Paris, there is some seed of
determination, she promises to consider Paris as a possible
husband but she will not go out of her way to fall in love with Paris.
Act 1 Scene 5
Her first meeting with Romeo propels her into adulthood.
Although she is profoundly in love with him, she is able to see and
criticize his rash decisions.
“you kiss by th’ book,” (Act 1 Scene 5)
Meaning that he kisses according to the rules, while proficient, his
kissing lacks originality. Rosaline, of course, slips from Romeo’s
mind at first sight of Juliet. The love Juliet shares with Romeo is far
deeper, authentic and unique than the clichéd puppy love Romeo
felt for Rosaline.
Romeo’s love matures over the course of the play from the shallow
desire to be in love, to a profound and intense passion. This could
be due to Juliet’s presence. Her level-headed observation, such as
the one about Romeo’s kissing. It seems just the thing to snap
Romeo from his superficial idea of love and to inspire him to begin
to speak some of the most beautiful and intense love poetry ever
written.
Using religious language to describe their feelings for each other,
Romeo and Juliet tiptoe on the edge of blasphemy.
Romeo compares Juliet to an image of a saint that should be
admired, a role that Juliet is willing to play. The Anglican church of
Elizabethan times saw this as blasphemy.
His statements about Juliet border on unorthodox. Juliet commits
an even more profound blasphemy in the next scene when she
calls Rome the “god of her idolatry” (Act 2 Scene 2) effectively
installing Romeo in God’s place in her personal religion.
When Romeo and Juliet meet they speak fourteen lines before
their first kiss.
These lines make up a shared sonnet, a sonnet is a love poem.
The use of a sonnet serves a darker purpose, it creates a link
between their love and their tragic fate due to the play’s prologue
being a single sonnet of the same rhyme scheme, the prologue
introduces the play and the eventual death of the protagonists.
Linking their sonnet of love to the prologue which foretells their
eventual death.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller laurenfeeney. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.91. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.