Friday, August 26, 2016

What is Juliet suggesting when she says that she has “bought the mansion of a love, / But not possessed it; and though I am sold, / Not yet enjoyed”?

This line comes from Juliet's opening monologue in Act III, scene 2. In the timeline, Juliet has just married Romeo a few hours earlier and is waiting for him to come to her room after dark so that they can consummate their marriage. "The mansion of a love" is Romeo and his physical form and "But not possessed it" means that she has not yet slept with him as is customary after a wedding. She has been "sold" this state of marriage but "not yet enjoyed". Essentially, Juliet is eager to begin her life as Romeo's wife and wants him to come soon so that she can begin to love him as his wife and not just in her dreams.


Juliet suggests that she has purchased a love but not really taken ownership of it yet. She has married Romeo, the man she loves, and tied her life to his, but she has had no opportunity to live or act as a wife yet (beyond the wedding itself). She compares it to buying a home but not having moved into the home yet; it is hers but she has not really lived in it, so to speak. Next, she says that she is "sold" but "Not yet enjoyed," and this seems to suggest that she is thinking of one particular marital duty specifically: the wedding night. By the customs of her times, she now belongs to Romeo, as his wife, but he has not "enjoyed" her as a groom typically would enjoy his bride on the night of their wedding.

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