Juliet Character Development

1. Juliet Character Development

2. At the start of the play, Juliet was willing to agree to marry Paris if it pleased her parents, though by the end, she has changed into being a passionate lover after meeting Romeo, and ‘discovering’ what true love is

3. The first glimpse of Juliet’s character is that she seems to listen to her mother and her nurse, but she really wishes to not get married to someone she does not like, though she does promise to look at Paris with the intention of liking him, if looking at him can make her like him (Which she doesn’t believe it will). If she falls in love with him, it will be on her own terms, not just because her mother tells her to. Juliet: I’ll look to like, if looking liking move; But no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent gives me strength to fly

4. PERSONALITY CHANGE At the beginning of the play, Juliet is portrayed to be obedient, a bit shy, and innocent, though by the end, Juliet is passionate, courageous and faithful. What caused this change was meeting and falling in love with Romeo Obedient, shy, Innocent Juliet: Act 1 Scene 3 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 Passionate , in love Juliet: Act 2 Scene 2 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name, which is no part of thee Take all myself.

5. Ballroom/Balcony Scene In these scenes you can see that Juliet does want to find love, or rather, has accepted that she can find love. Being a teenager, she feels emotions very strongly, yet she is still able to be rational about her feelings. That doesn’t mean that she can’t let her feelings get the better of her. She did kiss Romeo without knowing anything about him. And later when she knew who he was, she was feeling conflicted. My only love sprung from my only hate!Too early seem unknown, and known too late!Prodigious birth of love it is to meThat I must love a loathed enemy She didn’t want love to be fleeting. She wanted assurance that he loved her and was constantly telling him to be realistic about his feelings. She is only 13, she’s never felt love before so she’s trying not to get swept up into it at first as Romeo is. Though she obviously is, even saying that she will give up her family for him, which shows how she doesn’t think about how her actions may have an effect on both their families. She thinks that the only problem of their union would be that their families hate each other, she just doesn’t know the severity of the situation. She tells him to send word of his love tomorrow when she can be sure that he wasn’t just caught up in the rush of feelings but she still wants him to go and get someone to marry him. These scenes are almost too confusing in the development of her character as you can’t tell whether she is emotionally mature of immature. Sometimes she seems one way and then other times she seems like another. But you can obviously tell that she is naïve when it comes to love. O Romeo Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?Deny thy father and refuse thy name;Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,That monthly changes in her circled orb,Lest that thy love prove likewise variable  Do not swear at all;Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,Which is the god of my idolatry,And I’ll believe thee

6. Juliet Awaiting News about Romeo/Talking to Nurse/Wedding The Scene starts with Juliet anxiously awaiting news of Romeo. She is thrilled and excited about her new love. When the nurse arrives she immediately asks her for news about their marriage. The nurse is obviously holding off the topic of Romeo, and Juliet is getting increasingly frustrated. She is a teenager. She is impatient and feels things very strongly and wants to see her love. When the nurse finally tells her the news, she immediately leaves, rushing to go and marry her Romeo. They get married and she is being all lovey-dovey. She shows her poetic side (and her understanding of what love and happiness is) What does he say about our marriage? True understanding is deeper in meaning than mere wordsand is important for its result, not pretty rhetoric.Those who can verbalize their happiness have little happiness to speak of. My true love has grown so much thatI can’t tell even half of it in words.

7. After Mercutio’s Death/her death After Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s death, and she finds out about Romeo’s banishment, she is shocked at first, but she finds that she is more distraught over his banishment than the death of her cousin, and is glad that Romeo isn’t dead.

8. After Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished, Juliet does not follow him blindly. She makes a logical and heartfelt decision that her loyalty and love for Romeo must be her guiding priorities. Essentially, Juliet cuts herself loose from her prior social moorings—her nurse, her parents, and her social position in Verona—in order to try to reunite with Romeo. When she wakes in the tomb to find Romeo dead, she does not kill herself out of feminine weakness, but rather out of an intensity of love, just as Romeo did. Juliet’s suicide actually requires more nerve than Romeo’s: while he swallows poison, she stabs herself through the heart with a dagger.