Juliet Capulet
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Juliet Capulet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself. The heroine's name was Giulietta in some earlier versions. It had become Juliet by the time Arthur Brooke wrote his narrative poem.
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[edit] Family
Juliet is the young daughter of a respected family in Verona, headed by Lord and Lady Capulet. She was their first child. She apparently had younger siblings at some point, but by the time of the play, she was their only surviving child. Capulet mentions "Earth has swallowed all my hopes but she; | She's the hopeful lady of my earth" (1.2.14-15). Juliet is the sole heir to the Capulets. As the story occurs, Juliet is just shy of her fourteenth birthday. She was born on "Lammas Eve at night," so Juliet's birthday is probably July 31 or August 1 (1.3.19). Her birthday is "a fortnight and odd days" hence, putting the action of the play in mid-July (1.3.17).
Shakespeare's Juliet was very young; her father states that she "hath not seen the change of fourteen years" (1.2.9). In many cultures and time periods, women did and do marry and bear children at such a young age. But in Shakespeare's England, most women were at least 21 before they did so. It may be that Shakespeare wanted his Juliet surprisingly young to send the message that young love and hurried marriage can lead to trouble. He may have been highlighting the innocence and purity of Juliet. He may also have been playing to his audience. Romeo and Juliet is a play about Italian families. The average English playgoer in Shakespeare's audience had never met an Italian person, and it was commonly thought that they were quite exotic, the Italian male passionate and emotional, and the Italian female precocious and quite ready to become a mother by thirteen. Lady Capulet had given birth to Juliet by the time she had reached Juliet's age: "I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid" (1.3.74-75). The play celebrates youth while pointing out its impulsiveness, passion, and idealism, qualities which contribute to the tragedy. The adolescent infatuation of the lovers become elevated to the status of sacred love.
[edit] Relationships
The play takes place over a time span of less than one week. Within these few days, young Juliet is thrust into adulthood with little warning. During the play she is courted by a potential husband, falls in love, marries illicitly, loses her virginity, experiences the death of a cousin she is close to, is threatened and nearly disowned by both of her parents, is betrayed by the nurse who raised her from infancy, becomes suicidal, spends nearly two days drugged to unconsciousness, is widowed, and commits suicide next to the body of her husband. Shakespeare's Juliet is a headstrong and intelligent character, though she often seems timid to the audience. She is considered by many the true hero of the play, acting as a sounding board and a balance against impulsive Romeo, and taking control of situations with an ease. She sets the boundaries of behavior in her relationship with Romeo. She allows him to kiss her, she pledges her commitment before he, she suggests their marriage, she accepts Romeo even after he kills her cousin, she bravely takes a drug that simulates her death, and she does all this while fending off her parents' plans for her wedding, lying when necessary. Juliet believes she is doing the right thing all along. Finally, when she is left with no one and Romeo is dead before her, she ends her life, and in a violent manner at that.
[edit] Act 1
In Juliet's first scene, she demonstrates her obedience and lack of experience in the world, outlining herself as inexperienced and in many ways dependent on her parents and nurse. She has not given marriage a second thought but she does want to do what her mother asks. It is high time that Juliet go the route Lady Capulet went in her youth, and be married to a rich and powerful gentleman. The Count Paris is a bit of a bystander in the play, unwittingly mixed up in the drama between the families. He and Juliet have probably never even met as the play unfolds. His interest in her is based on her social standing and her family's wealth. He politely and nobly asks Capulet for her hand, and apparently would like for her to begin bearing his children as soon as physically possible: "Younger than she are happy mothers made" (1.2.12). Juliet, on the other hand, has no interest in becoming a wife: "(Marriage) is an honour that I dream not of" (1.3.68). Even her father considers her too young to settle down. This may be a reflection on his feelings about his own wife, who might have been happier waiting a few years before marrying him. He tells Paris to let Juliet grow up for a few more years before planning marriage (1.2.10-11). Of course, Juliet's mind on the matter changes within a few minutes of meeting Romeo. His very presence seems to propel her toward maturity, and her decisions are made quickly but thoughtfully from that point forward.
Romeo too seems to achieve depth through his intense love with Juliet. When compared to the pining and frustration he exhibited during his crush on Rosaline, his behavior toward Juliet and her family and his attitude in general both show a level of great maturity. The feud that one day had seemed all-encompassing now makes no sense, and he abandons it. Much of Romeo's dialogue with Juliet is an intricate pattern of words. Their rhyming couplets sometimes come together to create a poem. This symbolizes their union, and shows that Juliet can easily match Romeo in wordplay.
Juliet is intelligent and can be very calculating. At several points, she misleads others without actually lying. When she meets Paris at the Friar's chamber, and he offers her a kiss to tide her over until their upcoming wedding, she tells him she will certainly not be marrying him in a way that is clear to the audience, which knows all, but sounds merely shy and modest to her suitor. Similarly, as she and her mother grieve over Tybalt, Juliet shapes her words carefully so that her mother concludes that Juliet would like to see Romeo dead but that the audience can tell how faithful to her husband she is. "Indeed, I never shall be satisfied | With Romeo until I behold him -dead- | Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vexed" (3.5.93-95).
When Juliet is compared to Romeo, she seems more grounded but also more imaginative. When Romeo gets lost in poetry, she brings him back down to reality. "O swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, | That monthly changes in her circled orb, | Lest that thy love prove likewise variable" (2.1.151-152). The balance and reversal of gender roles between the characters becomes clear when Romeo exhibits traditionally "feminine" traits such as bursting into tears, while Juliet shows "masculine" resolve and logically assesses the situation at hand without letting emotion sway her. She fantasizes without being swept away. She happily dreams about her sexual union with Romeo, and talks herself out of intense fear when anticipating awakening in her family's tomb.
It is not clear exactly why Romeo and Juliet love each other, beyond immediate physical attraction. They were married not 24 hours after their first meeting. Fate plays a constant role in the story. Their love is "death-marked" (1.1.9), the lovers are "star-crossed" (1.1.6), and Romeo feels he is being led by the stars like a ship is steered by its pilot. The idea may be that the heirs to these two families were fated to end up together to end the feud, and their deaths may or may not have been part of that fate. The play may be interpreted differently according to the whim of the reader or viewer. The series of disastrous events that leads to their deaths may have been just a part of the destiny, or it may have been what shattered the fate and made the story a true tragedy. Either way, peace comes to the families.
[edit] Casa di Giulietta
In Verona, Italy, a house claiming to be the Capulets' has been turned into a tourist attraction. It features the balcony, and lovely architecture and, in the small court yard, a bronze statue of Juliet baring her breast. It is one of the most visited sites in the town. Legend is that if a person strokes the breast of the statue, that person will have good fortune.
[edit] References
- Bevington, David, Ed. Romeo and Juliet, The Bantam Shakespeare (New York, 1988)
- Levenson, Jill L., Ed. Romeo and Juliet, The Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford, 2000)
