Juliet speaks to the Nurse
JULIET
“Ay, those attires are best. But, gentle nurse,
I pray thee leave me to myself tonight,
For I have need of many orisons
To move the heavens to smile upon my state,
Which, well thou knowest, is cross and full of sin.”
Explanation:
- “Ay, those attires are best.” → Juliet says that the clothes they have chosen for the wedding are fine.
- “But, gentle nurse, I pray thee leave me to myself tonight,” → She politely asks the Nurse to leave her alone.
- “For I have need of many orisons” → She says she needs to pray a lot. (“Orisons” means prayers.)
- “To move the heavens to smile upon my state,” → She hopes that heaven will look kindly upon her.
- “Which, well thou knowest, is cross and full of sin.” → She admits that her situation is difficult and full of trouble.
Analysis:
- Dramatic irony → Juliet is pretending to be focused on religious prayers, but in reality, she is preparing to take the potion.
- Tone → Gentle and respectful, but also filled with hidden anxiety.
- Themes → Fate vs. free will (Juliet seeks divine favor for her dangerous plan).
Lady Capulet enters
LADY CAPULET
“What, are you busy, ho? Need you my help?”
Explanation:
- “What, are you busy, ho?” → Lady Capulet asks if Juliet is busy. (“Ho” is just a way to get someone’s attention.)
- “Need you my help?” → She offers to help Juliet prepare for the wedding.
Analysis:
- Tone → Casual and slightly impatient.
- Dramatic irony → Lady Capulet thinks Juliet is preparing for her wedding, but the audience knows she is planning something very different.
Juliet responds to Lady Capulet
JULIET
“No, madam, we have culled such necessaries
As are behooveful for our state tomorrow.
So please you, let me now be left alone,
And let the Nurse this night sit up with you,
For I am sure you have your hands full all
In this so sudden business.”
Explanation:
- “No, madam, we have culled such necessaries” → Juliet says that they have already gathered everything needed.
- “As are behooveful for our state tomorrow.” → She says that everything necessary for the wedding is ready.
- “So please you, let me now be left alone,” → She politely asks to be left alone.
- “And let the Nurse this night sit up with you,” → She suggests that the Nurse should stay with Lady Capulet instead.
- “For I am sure you have your hands full all” → She acknowledges that her mother is very busy.
- “In this so sudden business.” → She refers to the wedding being rushed and happening very quickly.
Analysis:
- Dramatic irony → Lady Capulet believes Juliet wants privacy to prepare for the wedding, but Juliet actually wants to drink the potion.
- Language device → Politeness and deception—Juliet speaks formally and respectfully to avoid suspicion.
- Theme → Appearance vs. reality—Juliet pretends to be a dutiful daughter while secretly planning to avoid marriage.
Lady Capulet exits
LADY CAPULET
“Good night.
Get thee to bed and rest, for thou hast need.”
Explanation:
- “Good night.” → Lady Capulet says goodnight.
- “Get thee to bed and rest,” → She tells Juliet to go to bed and get some sleep.
- “For thou hast need.” → She thinks Juliet must be tired from all the preparations.
Analysis:
- Tone → Caring but unaware of Juliet’s true emotions.
- Dramatic irony → Lady Capulet believes Juliet is just tired, but the audience knows Juliet is about to do something drastic.
- Theme → Parental distance—Lady Capulet does not truly understand what Juliet is going through.
Juliet begins to worry
JULIET
“Farewell.—God knows when we shall meet again.”
Explanation:
- “Farewell.” → Juliet says goodbye, though no one is there to hear her.
- “God knows when we shall meet again.” → She expresses uncertainty about whether she will ever see her family again.
Analysis:
- Foreshadowing → This suggests that she might not reunite with her loved ones in life.
- Theme → Fate and destiny—she acknowledges that her future is uncertain.
“I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins
That almost freezes up the heat of life.”
Explanation:
- “I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins” → Juliet feels a deep fear running through her body.
- “That almost freezes up the heat of life.” → Her fear is so strong that it feels like it is stopping her life force.
Analysis:
- Imagery → The contrast between “cold” and “heat of life” emphasizes her terror.
- Personification → Fear is described as something that moves through her veins, as if it has a life of its own.
- Theme → Life and death—she feels as though her fear is already killing her.
“I’ll call them back again to comfort me.—”
Explanation:
- Juliet considers calling the Nurse or her mother back because she is afraid.
Analysis:
- Conflict → She is torn between her fear and her determination to go through with the plan.
- Theme → Isolation—she realizes that no one can truly help her.
“Nurse!—What should she do here?”
Explanation:
- She starts to call for the Nurse but stops herself, realizing that the Nurse cannot help her.
Analysis:
- Rhetorical question → She knows the Nurse would only try to stop her or comfort her, but that won’t change the situation.
- Theme → Independence—Juliet must take this step alone.
“My dismal scene I needs must act alone.”
Explanation:
- “My dismal scene” → She compares her situation to a tragic play.
- “I needs must act alone.” → She acknowledges that she must face this moment by herself.
Analysis:
- Metaphor → Juliet refers to her situation as a “scene,” emphasizing that she feels trapped in a tragic role.
- Theme → Fate vs. free will—she sees herself as part of a script she cannot change.
Juliet prepares to drink the potion
“Come, vial.” (She takes out the vial.)
Explanation:
- She gathers her courage and takes out the vial of potion.
Analysis:
- Short sentence → The two words “Come, vial” show her hesitation and determination at the same time.
- Theme → Life and death—this small bottle will determine her future.
“What if this mixture do not work at all?”
Explanation:
- She suddenly worries that the potion might not work.
Analysis:
- Rhetorical question → She is questioning the reliability of Friar Laurence’s plan.
- Theme → Fear and uncertainty—she has no guarantee that this will succeed.
“Shall I be married then tomorrow morning?”
Explanation:
- If the potion fails, she will be forced to marry Paris.
Analysis:
- Dramatic irony → The audience knows she is already married to Romeo, making this even more tragic.
- Theme → Love vs. duty—she refuses to be forced into a marriage with someone she doesn’t love.
Juliet takes precautions
(She takes out her knife and puts it down beside her.)
Explanation:
- She prepares a backup plan—if the potion does not work, she will use the knife to take her own life.
Analysis:
- Foreshadowing → The presence of the knife hints at her later suicide.
- Symbolism → The knife represents her desperation and the power she has over her own fate.
- Theme → Control—Juliet is taking charge of her destiny, even if it means death.
“No, no, this shall forbid it. Lie thou there.”
Explanation:
- She reassures herself that if the potion does not work, she can use the knife instead.
- She puts the knife down nearby, but she still hopes she won’t need it.
Analysis:
- Repetition (“No, no”) → Shows her inner conflict and fear.
- Theme → Life and death—she is caught between the possibility of a peaceful solution and a violent one.
“What if it be a poison which the Friar—” (She stops mid-thought.)
Explanation:
- She suddenly wonders if the Friar might have given her actual poison instead of a sleeping potion.
Analysis:
- Suspense → She begins to doubt whether she can trust Friar Laurence.
- Theme → Betrayal—she fears that Friar Laurence might want to kill her to cover up his role in her secret marriage.
uliet’s growing fear and doubt about Friar Laurence’s intentions
“Subtly hath ministered to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonored
Because he married me before to Romeo?”
Explanation:
- “Subtly hath ministered to have me dead” → Juliet wonders if Friar Laurence has secretly planned her death, fearing that he might have given her poison instead of the potion to prevent the dishonor of his involvement in her marriage to Romeo.
- “Lest in this marriage he should be dishonored” → She is concerned that if her marriage to Romeo is revealed, it might ruin Friar Laurence’s reputation because he performed the marriage secretly.
Analysis:
- Paranoia → Juliet is afraid that Friar Laurence’s actions may have more sinister motives, suggesting a lack of trust.
- Theme → Betrayal—her fear that Friar Laurence might be deceitful reflects her uncertainty about trusting others in this life-or-death situation.
“I fear it is. And yet methinks it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.”
Explanation:
- Juliet acknowledges that she is worried about Friar Laurence’s intentions but reassures herself by recalling that he is a holy man who has never given her a reason to doubt him.
Analysis:
- Conflict → Juliet’s fear battles with her belief in Friar Laurence’s goodness. She is caught between her doubts and her trust in him.
- Theme → Trust and betrayal—Juliet struggles with the possibility of being betrayed, but she also wants to believe that Friar Laurence’s intentions are pure.
Juliet contemplates the terrifying consequences of waking up early
“How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me? There’s a fearful point.”
Explanation:
- Juliet fears that the potion might wear off before Romeo arrives to rescue her, and she might wake up alone in the tomb.
Analysis:
- Foreshadowing → This worry foreshadows the tragic events that will occur later in the play.
- Theme → Time—Juliet is at the mercy of time, and this uncertainty creates a sense of inevitable doom.
“Shall I not then be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?”
Explanation:
- She imagines waking up in the tomb, suffocating from the lack of fresh air, and dying alone before Romeo can rescue her.
Analysis:
- Imagery → The “foul mouth” of the tomb is a graphic image, creating a sense of entrapment and death.
- Theme → Death—Juliet’s fear of death is symbolized by the suffocating tomb and her fear of dying before she can be with Romeo.
Juliet imagines waking up in the tomb surrounded by horrors
“Or, if I live, is it not very like
The horrible conceit of death and night,
Together with the terror of the place—
As in a vault, an ancient receptacle
Where for this many hundred years the bones
Of all my buried ancestors are packed;”
Explanation:
- Juliet imagines waking up in the tomb and being surrounded by the decayed remains of her ancestors, which terrifies her.
Analysis:
- Imagery → The “ancient receptacle” filled with the bones of her ancestors creates a grim image of decay and death.
- Theme → Death and family heritage—she is surrounded by the physical reminders of mortality and her family’s past.
“Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,
Lies fest’ring in his shroud; where, as they say,
At some hours in the night spirits resort—
Alack, alack, is it not like that I,
So early waking, what with loathsome smells,
And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth,”
Explanation:
- Juliet’s mind wanders to the horror of seeing Tybalt’s body, still fresh in the grave, and imagining hearing disturbing noises like “mandrakes” (a plant thought to cause death when pulled from the earth).
Analysis:
- Imagery → The “bloody Tybalt” and the “shriek like mandrakes” create a grotesque and chilling vision of what Juliet could face.
- Allusion → “Mandrakes” are a reference to folklore, where their cries were said to drive people mad, adding to the horror of the tomb.
- Theme → Fear—Juliet imagines waking up in a nightmarish situation, where the grave itself is alive with terror.
Juliet imagines going mad in the tomb
“That living mortals, hearing them, run mad—
O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught,
Environèd with all these hideous fears,
And madly play with my forefathers’ joints,
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud,
And, in this rage, with some great kinsman’s bone,
As with a club, dash out my desp’rate brains?”
Explanation:
- Juliet imagines that if she wakes up in the tomb, the terrifying sights and sounds will drive her mad. She pictures herself frantically pulling out Tybalt’s body and using a bone to end her life.
Analysis:
- Imagery → The image of Juliet playing with her ancestors’ bones and Tybalt’s body is gruesome and horrifying, emphasizing her fear of insanity and death.
- Theme → Madness and death—Juliet fears not only physical death but the psychological torment she might face if she wakes up too early.
Juliet is haunted by Tybalt’s ghost
“O look, methinks I see my cousin’s ghost
Seeking out Romeo that did spit his body
Upon a rapier’s point! Stay, Tybalt, stay!
Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee.”
Explanation:
- Juliet hallucinates seeing Tybalt’s ghost searching for Romeo to avenge his death. She calls out to both Tybalt and Romeo, and then finally drinks the potion.
Analysis:
Repetition of “Romeo” → Her repeated call for Romeo shows her longing for him, even in the face of death.
Imagery and Vision → Tybalt’s ghost appears to symbolize Juliet’s guilt and the weight of her actions.
Theme → Guilt—Juliet feels haunted by the consequences of her choices, both the death of Tybalt and her marriage to Romeo.
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