{"id":1386279,"date":"2016-02-22T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.sparknotes.com\/?p=1386279"},"modified":"2022-04-18T17:29:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T21:29:55","slug":"opinion-juliet-capulet-is-a-total-badass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/opinion-juliet-capulet-is-a-total-badass\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Juliet Capulet Is a Total Badass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Romeo and Juliet<\/em> is the greatest tragedy in all of history\u2014a play that has withstood the test of time, yearly high school curriculum revisions, and my best friend almost barfing on stage as Benvolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have fond \u00a0memories of my high school English teacher getting up on \u00a0her \u00a0desk and speaking Romeo and Juliet’s lines in different voices. I \u00a0remember having a huge crush on \u00a0Mercutio and being very confused by it. I remember feeling both insane and delighted when my teacher showed us the 1998 \u00a0Baz Luhrmann adaptation. \u00a0Some of you might not’ve felt the same way\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014but I hope that HOWEVER Romeo and Juliet<\/em> made you feel, you’ll hear me out on my next point:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That JULIET CAPULET IS INCREDIBLE<\/em>. Read through my argument as I impatiently await your opinions in the comments section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She \u00a0takes \u00a0charge of her own ring finger.<\/strong> \u00a0When \u00a0Lady Capulet first asks her how she feels about marriage, Juliet \u00a0goes, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcExcuse me? \u00a0I have other things to worry about, like being \u00a0thirteen.’ (\u201cIt is an honor that I dream not of\u201d [1.3.68].) And when Lady Capulet tells her that \u00a0Paris is on the market, \u00a0Juliet shrugs \u00a0even though he’s clearly the hottest piece of eligible ass in Verona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHE proposes to ROMEO<\/strong>. I don’t know a lot about dating in Elizabethan England, but I’ve watched enough period dramas to know that a woman didn’t just propose<\/em> holy matrimony\u2014she accepted a parentally-approved man’s cheesy sonnets for what they were: cheesy sonnets. Or intimate gestures of courtship, or whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet \u00a0there she is in the balcony scene, weighing the pros and cons of playing hard to get directly to Romeo’s face, \u00a0and then coming right out with it: \u201cIf that thy bent of love be honorable, thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow\u201d (2.2.1<\/a>43-4<\/a>). \u00a0Okay, Juliet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She tells Romeo to kindly \u00a0shut up.<\/strong> \u00a0When he \u00a0starts proclaiming his love in a way that \u00a0makes her uncomfortable \u00a0(\u201cLady, by yonder bless\u00c3\u00a8d moon I vow, that tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops\u2014\u201d), she says, \u201cO, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable\u201d (2.2.108-8, \u00a02.2.109-11). In other words,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’mma stop you right there. The moon is \u00a0the most inconsistent object \u00a0you could’ve possibly thought of, and if that’s \u00a0the kind of thing you doth swear by, we’re gonna have problems.\u201d And Romeo’s like, \u00a0okay \u00a0:(.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is RATIONAL.<\/strong> \u00a0When her love for Romeo hits her like a ton of bricks, we \u00a0can follow her deliberate thought process\u2014whereas Romeo all but says \u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcforget Rosaline, u r hotter and \u00a0I will love u for \u00a0infinity,’ Juliet puts on the breaks: \u00a0\u201cAlthough I joy in thee, \u00a0I have no joy of this contract tonight. \u00a0It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, too like the lightning, which doth cease to be ere one can say \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIt lightens’\u201d (2.2.116-20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation: I LITERALLY JUST MET YOU. Who’s to say this won’t end as quickly as lightening disappears after it flashes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She’s dangerously clever.<\/strong> If you want to learn how to lie to someone’s face without technically lying, Juliet’s your girl. When she finds out that Romeo killed Tybalt, she has this incredible conversation with her mom where everything she says<\/em> has a double meaning\u2014Lady Capulet thinks Juliet is lamenting Tybalt, when she’s actually throwing eye hearts \u00f0\u0178\u02dc\u008d\u00f0\u0178\u02dc\u008d\u00f0\u0178\u02dc\u008d at Romeo. Mom hears \u201cAnd yet no man like he doth grieve my heart\u201d as \u201cno one makes me angrier than Romeo for killing my cousin,\u201d but what Juliet really<\/em> means is that she can’t even deal right now because Romeo’s been banished (3.5.83).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She actually DOES STUFF<\/strong>. <\/strong>While Romeo mopes on the floor* at the Friar’s after he’s banished, Juliet makes haste. She’s<\/em> the one who runs to the Friar and asks him to concoct a plan to reunite she and Romeo. She’s<\/em> the one who puts on brave pants and gets cozy with a roomful of skeletons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*I’m not kidding: Nurse: \u201cWhere’s my lord?\u201d Friar: \u201cThere on the ground, with his own tears made drunk\u201d (3.3.82-3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rest my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Do you agree? \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6to disagree? How does <\/em>R&J make YOU feel?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romeo and Juliet is the greatest tragedy in all of history\u2014a play that has withstood the test of time, yearly high school curriculum revisions, and my best friend almost barfing on stage as Benvolio. I have fond continue reading<\/span>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,9],"tags":[21399,7,21400,1134,171,248],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1386279"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1386279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1386279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449299,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1386279\/revisions\/1449299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1386279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1386279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1386279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}