Friday, May 30, 2014

I need to write an analysis to support the two points below regarding Juliet.1) Juliet obsessively comments on Romeo’s physical appearance. 2)...

I'll discuss your second point first, since it is the most
obvious, and exists to drive the tragic action of the play.  Haste in action, without thinking
about the consequences, is a characteristic of both Romeo and Juliet, and a common characteristic
of youth.  Without haste in action, there would be no tragedy, since there must be flaws in the
decision making of the tragic hero and/or heroine for a tragedy to fulfill its dramatic
intent.


Juliet is hasty in the following
ways:


  • She decides that she is in love with Romeo and
    wants to marry him by the end of Act I, scene v.

  • In Act II, scene
    ii (the balcony scene) she tells Romeo that if his intentions are honorable then he should send
    word to her the next day when and where they will be
    married.

Both of these events transpire before she has
even known him for one entire day.


As for the consequences of her
actions, it is always easy to know that there are negative consequences, once you know the
outcome.  Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20 vision.  So, though Juliet is hasty, it is a bit too
presumptuous to assume that if she had thought more, taken more time to consider before marrying
Romeo, then she might have realized where it would all lead and prevented the
tragedy.


It is also hard to imagine that, even if she had slowed her
decision making down, she would imagine that Romeo would murder Tybalt and be banished on their
wedding day,


  • which would lead her father to decide she
    should marry Paris (to cheer up her assumed grief over Tybalt's death),

  • which would lead to her taking the potion given her by the Friar,

  • which would lead to Romeo believing she was dead,

  • which would lead to his suicide,

  • which would lead to her suicide.

These consequences would probably not be dreamed up by
even the most wise and thoughtful person.  So, it is hard to make the argument that, if Juliet
had paused to consider, she might have prevented the action of the
play.


As for your second point, Juliet doesn't obsessively comment
on Romeo's appearance.  She does, in the balcony scene, when she believes that she is alone
onstage, say:



. .
.That which we call a rose


By any other name would smell as
sweet;


So Romeo would, were he not Romeo
call'd,


Retain that dear perfection which he
owes


Without that
title.



But this sort of generalized
remark about how fabulous and perfect he is doesn't refer to his physical appearance
necessarily.  She talks about him being wonderful and fabulous in other scenes in the play as
well, but never specifically about his physical appearance.  It is
Romeo who talks about her appearance,
her beauty, in both Act I, scene v when he first sees her and again before she discovers him in
Act II, scene ii.


For more on haste and the characters of Romeo and
Juliet, please follow the links below.

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