Amelia Kosmal

Mrs. Woelke
Pre AP ELA 9
13 December 2019
Risking it All for Love
William Shakespeare’s ​The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet​ reveals the difficulties and
obstacles that come with young love. For Juliet, however, her complicated situation of being in
love with her family’s enemy takes these difficulties to further lengths. Juliet, the daughter of the
powerful Capulet family, finds herself madly in love with Romeo, the son of the Montague
family and the Capulet’s sworn enemy. Her infatuation leads her to go to great lengths just to be
with Romeo, leading to their secret marriage in Friar Lawrence’s cell. In a dreadful turn of
events, Romeo slaughters Juliet’s beloved cousin and is banished to Mantua. Romeo’s
banishment leaves Juliet in a profound state of grief which Lord Capulet believes can be solved
by her marriage to Count Paris. In a desperate attempt to escape her second marriage and stay
loyal to her husband, Juliet flees to Friar Lawrence’s cell to seek a solution. Friar Lawrence’s
solution would include Juliet drinking a mysterious mixture said to put her in a death-like coma.
In ​The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet​, Shakespeare explores Juliet’s inner conflicts through the
use of imagery, questioning, and diction that serves as a glimpse into her hysterical thoughts.
Shakespeare’s descriptions use tactile and visual imagery during Juliet’s overwhelming
pre-wedding night to reveal her uncertainty and indecisiveness about her rash plan to escape to
Mantua with Romeo. After bidding the nurse and her mother good night, Juliet feels a sudden
wave of fear overcome her. She wonders if she’ll ever see them again, and the thought sends
“cold thrills through [her] veins” (Shakespeare IV.iii.16). This use of tactile imagery reveals
Juliet’s uneasy state of mind as she questions if she’s making the right decision. Her
apprehensive feelings are proof that Juliet is unsure if she’s willing to give up her relationships
with her nurse and family to carry out a potentially fatal plan. This uncertainty further shows
Juliet’s dedication to Romeo, since her fearful thoughts prove that she is afraid to lose her
current life but is willing to risk it all for him. Her unsure mindset anticipates that she may later
regret her decision, as she is acting on her emotions rather than thinking logically. Juliet’s
distress and inner conflict is additionally shown when she questions the possibility of her
awakening the next morning, but she affirms that her actions “shall forbid it” while “laying down
her dagger” (Shakespeare IV.iii. 24). Shakespeare’s utilization of visual imagery demonstrates
Juliet’s indecisiveness and drastic change in attitude towards death, from fearing it to voluntarily
facing it if it guarantees her escape from her second marriage. Her change in attitude and
willingness to face death shows that love can have unforgiving effects of people’s thought
processes, causing irrational and illogical ideas like that of Juliet’s. These illogical thoughts are
evidence of Juliet’s mental instability, all of which was caused by her forbidden marriage to
Romeo. Shakespeare’s demonstration of her instability foreshadows Juliet potentially making
impulsive and unhealthy decisions for herself in the future. Tactile and visual imagery within
Juliet’s anxiously spoken soliloquy shows her uncertainty and indecisiveness about her plan to
escape her unpleasant circumstances.
Juliet questions the intentions of Friar Lawrence in giving her the vial as well as the
effectiveness of the vial itself, all of which are unreasonable and demonstrate her change in
personality. Her apprehension results in her anxiously picking apart every detail about her and
Friar Lawrence’s plan, in which she asks herself if the Friar's mixture simply had just been
“minister’d to have [her] dead” so that his marriage shouldn’t “be dishonour’d”(Shakespeare,
IV.iii.16-7). Juliet’s irrational suspicions indicates her sudden distrust for someone who’d
constantly been there for her. These suspicions are unreasonable and show that Juliet is gradually
starting to think more and more illogically. Her agitation suggests that her intense love for
Romeo is irrational , since she otherwise wouldn’t’ve distrusted a close friend so easily. Juliet’s
drastic change in personality also serves as potential for other nonsensical emotions that could
harm her other relationships. In addition to questioning her own friends, Juliet also worries about
the possibility of the mixture not fully working and resulting in her own suffocation while sealed
shut in the casket. She specifically wonders what would happen if once “laid into the tomb” she
wakes “before the time that Romeo/[comes] to redeem [her]”(Shakespeare IV.iii. 31-3). Such a
fear as this demonstrates Juliet’s anxiety as she ponders whether or not drinking vial will follow
in her own death. Her concern is further proof of her decreasing mental stability,​ caused by her
falling in love with Romeo in the first place.​ This example additionally shows how frightened
Juliet really is, despite her earlier declaration that she’d do anything, no matter how gruesome,
for Romeo. Although proven to mostly have a change in personality, her fear is proof that she
still has a bit of her own sane self left inside of her chaotic mind. Juliet’s endless worries about
the vial’s purpose emphasizes her gradually thinking more illogically and losing her own
identity.
Shakespeare’s use of diction sets the tone for the end of Juliet’s soliloquy to be hysterical
and chaotic. As she nears the end of her desperate speech, she fixates on the possibility of
waking up in the middle of the night, surrounded by “loathsome smells” hearing “shrieks like
mandrakes torn out of the earth” (Shakespeare, IV.iii.47-8). Shakespeare’s description of vile
smells and horrific mandrakes displays his disturbing and creepy choice of diction. His choice of
diction serves as a glimpse into Juliet’s mind, showing the readers Juliet’s unexpectedly twisted
mindset. Such a mindset is proof of the effect that Juliet’s own lovesickness had on herself,
turning her from a delicate and elegant young lady to a madwoman. Juliet’s new delirious nature
establishes Juliet to now be stubborn and completely unwilling to obey her father’s demands,
contrasting to herself at the start of the soliloquy. Juliet continues to describe her horrifying
scene within her family’s tomb and fears the mandrakes’ screams would cause her to “madly
play with [her] forefather’s joints” (Shakespeare IV.iii. 52). This unsettling thought demonstrates
Juliet’s insanity, as she believes such a disturbing event could actually take place. Juliet’s
outrageous beliefs show what she has become after such a horrible sequence of events including
Romeo’s banishment and her forced marriage to Paris. It proves the effects of being mistreated
and the outcome of having such a strong rivalry like that of the Capulet and Montagues’. Juliet’s
loss of sanity is also an example of how love can change someone's life drastically, and in
Juliet’s case it’ll affect her so drastically that it’ll result in her demise. Shakespeare’s diction
emphasizes Juliet’s mind quickly becoming demented and chaotic, showing her transition from
sane and virtous to disturbed and anxious.
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s imagery, questioning, and diction prove how Juliet’s own
inner conflict caused herself to become terribly emotional in ​The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
Tactile and visual imagery serve as a demonstration showing Juliet’s uncertainty and
indecisiveness on whether or not she should commit to drinking the mysterious mixture. Juliet’s
asking of questions suggests that she’s incredibly nervous and worried about the possible
outcomes of following the plan to be with Romeo. Finally, Shakespeare’s choice of words help
to indicate that Juliet is slowly losing her sanity. The two families’ rivalry and Juliet’s struggles
show that rivalry can be fun and competitive at first, but if taken too far it can result in
sometimes fatal events.