Tuesday, February 9, 2016

In Romeo and Juliet, in what way does Juliet stay true to Romeo without seeming suspicious to her mother?

Juliet says these
words:


readability="16">

Indeed, I never shall be
satisfied
With Romeo, till I behold him--dead--
Is my poor heart for
a kinsman vex'd.
Madam, if you could find out but a man
To bear a
poison, I would temper it;
That Romeo should, upon receipt
thereof,
Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors
To hear him
named, and cannot come to him.
To wreak the love I bore my
cousin
Upon his body that slaughter'd
him!



The word "dead" here is
set apart by hyphens for a reason. If used with the first part it reads like Juliet
won't rest until she sees Romeo taken out. If with the second part, the first part reads
as if she won't rest until she can have him, and that her heart is dead for her kinsman
(which could mean Romeo or Tybalt depending on how Juliet says it and Lady Capulet
receives it).


She talks about having a poison to temper.
This word, temper can mean mix or weaken. Lady Capulet takes it one way, Juliet means it
to us another way.


Finally, she talks about hating to hear
his name and not being able to come to him. Lady takes this to mean that Juliet wants
revenge and to get after him, but Juliet means she hates being separated from him. The
very last lines show how she wants to "wreak" her love on the body of the man that
killed her cousin. Juliet says she wants to express her love, but she leaves it unclear
as to how and what love she is expressing.


This double talk
creates dramatic irony for the audience because we know a bunch of information that Lady
Capulet has no clue about.

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