Sunday, October 11, 2015

How is Juliet presented as rebellious in act 2, scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet? Please give examples and analyze.

Act 2, scene 2 is the balcony scene in the famous play Romeo and Juliet. On the balcony, Juliet proves herself to be rebellious in a number of ways. One way that Juliet behaves rebelliously is that she does not send Romeo away even though the customs of the time dictate that she should never let her suitor speak to her privately in the middle of the night such as they are. Additionally, Juliet repeatedly continues talking to Romeo despite the calls of her nurse to come to her.
Juliet is determined to talk to Romeo even as her nurse becomes more and more insistent that she come to her calls. Juliet also displays a rebellious nature by wanting Romeo to prove that he is serious about his love rather than just swearing by it in the heat of the moment at the balcony. Instead, she realizes that is too rash and tells him that if he is serious, then he will send her a message tomorrow declaring his love and asking for marriage.


Juliet is certainly presented in this scene as being different from the rest of her family, specifically in her opinions about the Montagues. The Montagues and the Capulets are sworn enemies: Juliet knows that her parents would not be happy about her being friends with a Montague, let alone marrying one. However, Juliet challenges this—she says it is only Romeo's "name that is [her] enemy," and that if Romeo could simply "doff" his name, he would still be the same person and Juliet would be able to marry him. She is therefore very obviously not the sort of person who will be guided by a crowd: she will not simply accept that Romeo is not within an acceptable circle of lovers for her. We also know at this stage that Juliet is supposed to marry Paris, so her interest in Romeo is all the more rebellious. Juliet also tells Romeo, when she sees him in the orchard, that if any members of her family find him there, they will "murder" him, but, notably, she does not make any move to report to her family that Romeo is there. She intends to let him get away with his trespass.


I can think of two ways that Juliet acts rebellious in this scene. The first rebellious act that Juliet does is not alerting her household that there is a Montague lurking about on their property after dark. She knows that her family wouldn't be happy with Romeo there.

If they do see thee they will murder thee.

If she was one hundred percent faithful to her family's wishes, she would report Romeo's presence; however, she has fallen in love with Romeo, and her dedication to him is greater than her dedication to her family.
The second way that I see Juliet as acting rebellious is in the fact that she essentially proposes to Romeo. Even in modern culture, it is still a faux pas for a woman to propose to a man, but this is exactly what Juliet does right around the time the nurse becomes a factor in the scene. She doesn't explicitly say the words "Romeo, will you marry me?" Instead, she definitely does let Romeo know that she wants to marry him, and she will say yes to that particular question.

Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honorable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow
By one that I’ll procure to come to thee
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite,
And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

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