Romeo And Juliet Rhetorical Analysis

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In this passage, Juliet goes through a variety of emotions – betrayal, conflict, resolution and guilt. At the beginning of the passage, Juliet feels betrayed by Romeo. This is expressed as she curses him, “O serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face!”, a “wolvish ravening lamb” and “just opposite to what thou justly seem’st”. All these phrases show how she felt deceived that Romeo, despite his beautiful appearance, turned out to be a murderer of her cousin. This is right after she hears from the Nurse that Romeo was the one who killed Tybalt. Her initial shock at Tybalt’s death gives way to her intense feeling of love for Romeo. She feels betrayed and doubts Romeo, perhaps wondering if Romeo only got close to her so that he could kill Tybalt.…show more content…
This is demonstrated by her oxymoronic language “Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical, / Dove-feathered raven” and “damned saint, an honourable villain". All these words contradict each other, just as how her love for both Romeo and Tybalt contradict each other. Her speech here clearly shows her state of mind, which is evidently so confused such that she is incoherent. This is probably because she is torn between her love for Romeo and her love and sense of duty to Tybalt. She is in a stage of shock and disbelief that Romeo killed Tybalt and is absolutely contradicted, having no inkling of how she should be feeling towards Tybalt’s death by…show more content…
The Nurse calling Romeo “naught" and “dissemblers”, speaking-ill of him and cursing “Shame come to Romeo!” is a catalyst in helping to clarify her feelings. Immediately after the Nurse says that of Romeo, Juliet regains control of herself and realises her grounded loyalties to Romeo. This can be proved by her defending Romeo, telling the Nurse “He was not born to shame”. Her sense of resolution is further accentuated through her rhetorical question, “Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?” Hence she has evidently put herself as Romeo’s wife first, and cousin of Tybalt, a Capulet, second. This change of emotions is caused by her overpowering love for Romeo. Her intense love for Romeo gives her to forgive him, as she thinks of reasons to justify Romeo’s actions. From “That villain cousin would have killed my husband” and “My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain, / And Tybalt’s dead, that would have slain my husband.”, she convinces herself that Tybalt would have killed Romeo even if he did not die first, hence showing her loyalties lie with Romeo, not Tybalt or the Capulets any longer. Therefore eventually she reaches a conclusion, “Back foolish tears, back to your native spring”, that “All this is comfort, wherefore I weep then?” that it should be a good thing that Tybalt is dead so that Romeo can live and they can be
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