Act 3 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet

Act 3 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet

  • Submitted By: anisa
  • Date Submitted: 02/11/2009 1:14 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1676
  • Page: 7
  • Views: 1

How does Juliet’s emotion change during act 3 scenes 5 and how does Shakespeare show us the pressure that she is under?

• Shakespeare craft in creating a dramatic effect through the play on the audience
• The social and historical influence on display on this scene;
• The cultural contexts and literary tradition;
• The effect on character and action;
• The layer of meaning in language, ideas and themes.

Act 3 Scene 5 was a dramatic turning point for Juliet. Romeo banished for the death of Tybalt means they only have one night together. He has to leave by dawn. She is thrown into an emotional anxiety, heartbreak and sorrow whilst drowning herself in tears. Her mother strolls in and announces that she is getting married on Thursday. Still upset about Romeo leaving, it didn’t occur to her to get married again. She reacts in a bad way. She cannot just get over Romeo and marry the Count. Her father takes Juliet’s reaction in a different way. Strung up by her parent’s marital expectations Juliet turns to her Nurse for help. Unexpectedly she advises her to marry Paris. This leaves Juliet with a stark choice: either to seek help from Friar Lawrence, or to commit suicide. Shakespeare’s craft is at its finest. The audience can clearly see the social, historical and cultural influences as he dramatically manipulates the characters and action through his language to illustrate his ideas and themes.

It is her wedding night, yet Romeo cannot spend it all with her. He has to leave Juliet by dawn. She becomes distraught and heartbroken by her husbands banishment. ‘O, fortune, fortune all men call thee fickle!’ Juliet feels that the gods have rolled down a metaphorical dice that gave her good fortune and bad when it is rolled again. She doesn’t understand why god has done this to her and she asks them to roll the dice again to give back her good fortune.

Considering the trauma that Juliet has just experienced over the way in which she deals...

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