Sunday, 21 August 2016

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, how does Juliet feel about both Tybalt's and Romeo's deaths?

We do not
learn a whole lot about 's feelings for , so we do not really know how Tybalt's death truly
affects her, accept in the way that his death is associated with .

We can
assume from Act 3, Scene 2 that Juliet cared very much about her cousin and that the news of his
death shocked her. When Juliet is still trying to find out from her Nurse exactly what happened
to Tybalt and Romeo, she refers to Tybalt as "my dear-loved cousin," and to Romeo as
"my dearer lord." The phrase referring to Tybalt tells us that Juliet did truly care
for Tybalt and is distressed to hear he has been killed. Her love for Tybalt can also help to
explain why Juliet felt so deceived by Romeo when she first learns that Romeo killed Tybalt. It
is not just the fact that Romeo committed a murder that makes her next call him a "fiend
angelical!," it is the fact that Romeo killed someone she loves that is making her feel so
beguiled. Juliet's string of oxymorons show us just how duped she feels by Romeo and his
charms:

Beautiful tyrant! fiend
angelical!
Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb
...
Just
opposite to what thou justly seem'st,
A damned saint, an honourable villain!
(III.ii)

However, her love for Romeo soon outweighs her
love for Tybalt and, soon realizing that Tybalt would have killed Romeo had he not killed Tybalt
first, she forgives Romeo and quickly restores her faith in him. The sorrow she felt over
Tybalt's death is soon drowned by the realization that Romeo has been
banished.

Similarly, her love for Romeo makes her feel anguished when she
awakes in the tomb in the final scene realizing that Romeo has poisoned himself to death. Now
that her husband is dead, she does not feel that she can continue living and first tries to
poison herself by kissing his lips and then kills herself with his
dagger.

Hence, Juliet is sorrowful and feels deceived by Romeo when she first
learns that Tybalt has been killed, but her love for Romeo makes her quickly feel differently.
In the end, Juliet feels agony over Romeo's death. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

In 1984, is Julia a spy? Please provide specific examples from the book. My teacher says that he knows of 17 pieces of evidence which proves that Julia...

There is some evidence to suggest thatwas a spy throughout 's classic novel . Julia portrays herself as a loyal admirer of Big ...