Romeo and Juliet Act 3 Scene 2 Juliet Monologue (2nd) Analysis

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My chosen monologue is spoken by Juliet to her nurse and can be found at Act 3, Scene 2 lines 97 – 127. In this scene, on hearing the news that Romeo killed her cousin, Tybalt, Juliet is initially angry, but her love for him resurfaces and Romeo’s banishment overshadows Tybalt’s death. There are a lot of conflicting stresses in the first few lines; opposites with contrasting arguments to show Juliet's opposed states of mind. Juliet feels conflicted because her love for Romeo clashes with her love and sense of duty to her family. She asks why Romeo killed her cousin, calling him a villain, but realises Tybalt’s death is less significant and she grants Romeo the license to kill her cousin when she realises that her cousin would have killed Romeo had he not been killed instead. It begins to give her comfort, excusing the murder of Tybalt. It is at this point that Juliet becomes a wife first and a daughter, cousin and Capulet second. This is concept is reinforced further into the monologue, when Juliet says “Tybalt is dead, and Romeo—banished. That ‘banished,’ that one word ‘ banished’, Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts” which means that Juliet would rather Tybalt die 10 000 deaths then have Romeo banished. Juliet displays significant progress in her development from the simple, innocent girl of the first act to the brave, mature, and loyal woman of the play’s conclusion. After criticizing Romeo for his role in Tybalt’s death, and hearing the Nurse harm Romeo’s name, Juliet regains control of herself and realizes that her loyalty must be to her husband rather than to Tybalt, her cousin. However, her love for him does not overshadow everything else, and Juliet makes a logical decision that her loyalty and love for Romeo must be her priorities. Essentially, Juliet cuts herself loose from her prior social moorings—her nurse, her parents, and her social position

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