In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the two children of rival families fall in love. There is a lot of focus on each character's views on love, as I mentioned in my last post, but I think it is Juliet's that changes most drastically.
Towards the beginning of the book, Juliet isn't really looking for a relationship. She rejects the idea of marriage when her mother proposes that she think about marrying soon in act one scene three. She tells her mother "It is an honor I dream not of." She respects marriage, but she doesn't want to be married at age thirteen.
Even at Capulet's party when she meets Romeo, Juliet seems to think he is silly for pursuing her and demanding that they exchange the promise to get married. In act two scene two, Romeo says "O' wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?" And Juliet says, "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?" This shows that Juliet is not quite willing to take things as quickly as Romeo would like.
But then, towards the middle of the play, Juliet's view on love begins to change. At first, Juliet had a very logical view on love. She wouldn't get married until she was ready, and she wasn't willing to take things too quickly with some guy she met that night. But she starts to become more rash. When Tybalt dies and she discovers that it was Romeo who killed him, Juliet mourns for Tybalt for only a short amount of time before ultimately siding with Romeo. In act three scene two, the Nurse says, "Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin?" And Juliet says, "Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?" This shows that she is aligning with Romeo, not Tybalt.
I think the idea of Juliet's changing view of love applies to teenagers because things are always changing, especially as one is growing up. Maybe Juliet's changing view on love is a sign of her growing up. But maybe it is also a sign of her innocence. After all, she is only thirteen, and it is probably easy for her to think she is in love with Romeo when she really may not be.
What do you think was Juliet's reason for the sudden change in her view on love?
I completely agree with you. Juliet's changing views reflect the fact that she's a teenager, and that she is maturing and developing deeper thoughts about the subject of love. Since the excitement and risk of the situation is probably overpowering for her, she thinks that she is in love so that she can experience it. Maybe the prospect of impending marriage with Paris or the thought of running away from her strict parents spurred this change in view. Great, well-written post!
ReplyDelete~Adrian
Hi Grace! I agree with you about Juliet's constant switching of mind sets. Isn't love just so confusing? At times she seems much more mature than a 13 year old while at others it seems she is in her own world. You're probably right about the teenager mind part for she is definitely "changing" her views on love although I'm not sure whether it's for the good or not. Anyway, good post!
ReplyDelete