Romeo and Juliet Revision Guide Contents...even Juliet’s mother and The Nurse support Juliet’s arranged marriage to Paris. Later in the play: Shakespeare presents the transformational

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Romeo and Juliet Revision Guide

Contents Section 1: Characters and Quotation banks:

Juliet

Romeo

Mercutio/Tybalt/Benvolio

The Nurse/Lady Capulet

(For Friar Laurence see the theme of religion and for Lord Capulet see the theme of the patriarchy)

Section 2: Themes and Quotation banks:

Love

The Patriarchy/Male aggression

Fate

Religion

(For the theme of Youth and the difference between the generations see the characters of Romeo

and Juliet)

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How to use this work pack

There is very little point in just reading this revision guide – you need to be

active in your reading:

1. Read through each character and theme carefully – use a dictionary if

you need to.

2. Complete the quotation banks by analysing the key quotations.

3. Ask friends and family members to test you on key quotations and the

overview of the themes – how much can you remember?

4. Re-watch and re-read the play – a line by line version is available on

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=079_iKX9VVI&t=3018s –

Part 1) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqX2HawwxzI – Part 2)

5. You can read a modern translation of the text at:

https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/romeojuliet/

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Section 1:

Characters and

Quotation

banks

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JULIET

Overview:

The character of Juliet is central to Romeo and Juliet. Through Juliet, Shakespeare explores the

danger of male aggression and the patriarchy and the hugely powerful force of love.

At the start of the play:

Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet’s death as inevitable during the Prologue at the

start of the play. In the Prologue, Shakespeare provides his audience with the outcome

of the play at the beginning. We already know that Romeo and Juliet will not survive

and that their deaths were somehow already planned by a higher power. Perhaps

Shakespeare wanted to explore that their young love went against the natural order

(the patriarchy) and therefore could never have survived.

Shakespeare presents Lord Capulet and Paris ‘arranging’ love between Paris and Juliet.

In Act 1 Scene 2, we see how, in the Elizabethan era, love was not perhaps as important

as wealth and power and preserving the patriarchy. Juliet is not with Lord Capulet and

Paris while they discuss their marriage and is instead seen as an object to be used.

Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore how the patriarchy removed freedom,

especially from young women such as Juliet. This is continued in Act 1 Scene 3, where

even Juliet’s mother and The Nurse support Juliet’s arranged marriage to Paris.

Later in the play:

Shakespeare presents the transformational power of love in the Capulet’s ball. Romeo

and Juliet fall in love with each other as soon as they see one another for the first time.

Their love is so powerful that it ignores the feud between the families and Romeo’s

feelings for Rosaline. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to convey his belief that love is

more important than petty squabbles about power and wealth.

Shakespeare presents Juliet’s impulsiveness in Act 2 Scene 5, when she tells The Nurse

of her love for Romeo. THIS MIRRORS ACT 2 SCENE 3 WITH ROMEO AND FRIAR

LAURENCE. Throughout this scene, we see Juliet desperately trying to ask The Nurse

about what Romeo has said to her, while The Nurse appears to want to slow her down.

Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the differences between the generations –

youth is excitable and desperate for change whereas age is traditional and slower to act.

At the end of the play:

Shakespeare presents the dominance of the patriarchy and male aggression in Act 3

Scene 5. Lord Capulet aggressively berates Juliet for her refusal to marry Paris – in other

words, for her refusal to conform to patriarchal norms. In Elizabethan society, a

daughter was expected to dutifully follow the desires of her parents, especially those of

her father. Perhaps, then, Shakespeare wanted to explore the dominance of the

patriarchy and how it needed to be challenged by those suffering underneath it.

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Quotation / Reference

What is happening /

Where in the play?

Methods analysis (foreshadowing, dramatic irony, commanding language,

soliloquy, imagery)

Link to which big idea / theme?

“A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life…death-mark’d love.”

The Chorus The Prologue

“Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.”

Lord Capulet Act 1 Scene 2

The religious imagery Shakespeare uses in Romeo’s and Juliet’s language when they first meet. Their language mirrors each other’s.

Romeo and Juliet

Act 1 Scene 5

“ Had she affections and warm youthful blood, She would be as swift in motion as a ball…But old folks, many feign as they were dead, Unwieldy, slow, heavy, and pale as lead.”

Juliet Act 2 Scene 5

“How will she none? Doth she not count her blest, Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought So worthy a gentleman to be her bride…Out, you green sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow-face!”

Capulet Act 3 Scene 5

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ROMEO

Overview:

The character of Romeo is central to Romeo and Juliet. Through Romeo, Shakespeare explores

the impulsiveness of youth and perhaps just how powerful an emotion love can be.








Shakespeare presents Romeo’s unrequited love for Rosaline in Act 1 Scene 1 as an

emotion that makes him incredibly upset and withdrawn. He becomes isolated and

confused with life and is unable to understand the powerful feelings he is experiencing.

Shakespeare perhaps wanted to explore that love is not something we can control – it is

much too powerful for that.

Later in the play:

Shakespeare presents Romeo’s impulsiveness in Act 2 Scene 3, when he tells Friar

Laurence of his love for Rosaline. Throughout this scene, we see Romeo desperately

trying to convince Friar Laurence to marry himself and Juliet, while Friar Laurence

criticises him for being too rash and hot headed. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to

explore the differences between the generations – youth is excitable and desperate for

change whereas age is traditional and slower to act.

Shakespeare presents Romeo as a character that struggles to defy the patriarchal

norms, despite his love for Juliet. See Act 3 Scene 1, when Tybalt challenges Romeo,

murders Mercutio and is then himself murdered in revenge by Romeo. This scene

highlights a return in the play to patriarchal norms – Romeo feels he has been wronged

and therefore resorts to aggression and violence to resolve his desire for revenge.

Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the danger and fear male aggression and the

patriarchy can create within a society.


Shakespeare presents Romeo’s impulsiveness at the start of Act 5 Scene 1. Romeo

begins this scene thinking about “joyful news at hand”, but ends it directly contradicting

fate and deciding to buy the potion from the apothecary – a decision that ultimately

kills both himself and Juliet. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to suggest just how

powerless we are as human beings against forces (love and the patriarchy) we cannot

control.

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What is happening / Where in the play?

Methods analysis (foreshadowing, dramatic irony, commanding language, soliloquy, imagery)




“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs...A choking gall and a preserving sweet.”

Romeo Act 1 Scene 1

[Friar Laurence] “Young men’s love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” [Romeo] “O let us hence, I stand on sudden haste.”

Friar Laurence Romeo

Act 2 Scene 3

“O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate, And in my temper soften’d valour’s steel!...Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”

Romeo Act 3 Scene 1

“My dreams presage some joyful news at hand.” “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you stars!”

Romeo Act 5 Scene 1

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BENVOLIO, MERCUTIO, TYBALT

Overview: The three characters are important male characters in Romeo and Juliet

Benvolio

Through Benvolio, Shakespeare perhaps explores a male character who does not necessarily

conform to patriarchal norms. Indeed, his name has echoes of the Latin word ‘bene’ meaning

‘good’ encouraging us to see him as a force for good in the play. However, the fact he is

unsuccessful at keeping the peace suggests that Shakespeare has a rather pessimistic view of

society.

Mercutio

Through Mercutio, Shakespeare perhaps explores the danger of male aggression. Although

Mercutio is a comic character, it is his aggression and murder that perhaps creates the tragedy

at the end of the play.

Tybalt

Again, Tybalt is a character used by Shakespeare to perhaps highlight the danger of revenge

and hostility. His aggression is consistent throughout his three appearances in the play and his

character perhaps symbolises the danger of patriarchal norms of male aggression.

Key moments


Shakespeare juxtaposes Benvolio and Tybalt at the start of the play. Shakespeare

perhaps uses the character of Tybalt in order to emphasise the danger of male

aggression, while he presents Benvolio as the opposite in order to convey that perhaps

there is a route away from such violence. Shakespeare also presents this aggression

through Tybalt in the ball scene.

During Act 1 Scene 4, Mercutio delivers a very famous speech – the Queen Mab speech.

Mercutio is very cynical (he does not believe in the power of love – he thinks it can be

controlled) and perhaps Shakespeare wants to explore a character very different to

Romeo.

Later in the play:

At the turning point of the play in Act 3 Scene1, these qualities are seen again, Benvolio

attempts to keep the peace while Mercutio and Tybalt insist on violent aggression. At

the end of this scene, Benvolio is again seen to act as a character that is desperate to

avoid giving in to typically ‘male’ anger and desire for revenge when he explains what

has happened to The Prince.

This is, of course, the last we see of Tybalt and Mercutio, while Benvolio does not speak

again.

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What is happening /

Where in the play?


soliloquy, imagery)


[Benvolio] “I do but keep the peace. Put up they sword Or manage it to part these men with me.” [Tybalt] “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee coward.”

Benvolio and Tybalt

Act 1 Scene 1

“If love be rough with you, be rough with love” “I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy.”

Mercutio Act 1 Scene 4

“It fits when such a villain is a guest: I’ll not endure him…I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall, Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.”

Tybalt Act 1 Scene 5

[Benvolio] “I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire: The day is hot, the Capels are abroad, And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl” [Mercutio] “O calm dishonourable, vile submission!”

Mercutio and Benvolio

Act 3 Scene 1

[Tybalt] “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me, therefore turn and draw” [Mercutio] “A plague a’both your houses!”

Tybalt and Mercutio

Act 3 Scene 1

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THE NURSE, LADY CAPULET

Overview: The characters are important female characters in Romeo and Juliet

Through both The Nurse and Lady Capulet, Shakespeare perhaps explores the role of a mother

in a patriarchal society. The Nurse is presented as very close to Juliet – appearing to be closer to

her than Lady Capulet.

Key moments


Shakespeare presents The Nurse’s close relationship with Juliet in Act 1 Scene 3. We

learn that she had a significant role in Juliet’s upbringing and sees her as a second

daughter. The Nurse lost a daughter (Susan) and this perhaps explains her special bond

with Juliet. Shakespeare perhaps uses the closeness of The Nurse and Juliet to make

The Nurse’s betrayal of Juliet later in the play much more significant.

During Act 1 Scene 3, both The Nurse and Lady Capulet conform to the patriarchal

norms by persuading Juliet she should marry Paris. Even by Elizabethan standards,

Juliet was very young to be married and the focus is on Paris’ wealth and status, not

Juliet’s wishes. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore Juliet’s isolation throughout the

play as a result of her being young and female.

Later in the play:

Shakespeare presents difference between Juliet and The Nurse in Act 2 Scene 5, when

Juliet tells The Nurse of her love for Romeo. THIS MIRRORS ACT 2 SCENE 3 WITH

ROMEO AND FRIAR LAURENCE. Throughout this scene, we see Juliet desperately

trying to ask The Nurse about what Romeo has said to her, while The Nurse appears to

want to slow her down. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the differences

between the generations – youth (Juliet) is excitable and desperate for change whereas

age (The Nurse) is traditional and slower to act.


Scene 5 through Lady Capulet. As an audience, we are perhaps shocked by Lady

Capulet’s betrayal of Juliet. Lady Capulet supports Lord Capulet when he aggressively

berates Juliet for her refusal to marry Paris – in other words, for her refusal to conform

to patriarchal norms. In Elizabethan society, a daughter was expected to dutifully follow

the desires of her parents, especially those of her father. Perhaps, then, Shakespeare

wanted to explore the dominance of the patriarchy and how it needed to be challenged

by those suffering underneath it.

This sense of betrayal is continued at the end of Act 3 Scene 5, when Juliet feels that

The Nurse is no different to her parents as The Nurse tells her she should marry Paris.

Again, we see Shakespeare present the difference between the generations and Juliet’s

anger at The Nurse’s hypocrisy.

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What is happening /

Where in the play?


soliloquy, imagery)

Link to which big

idea / theme?

[Lady Capulet] “Nurse, where’s my daughter? Call her forth to me.” “This is the matter…we must talk in secret. Nurse, come back again, I have remember’d me, thou’s hear our counsel.” [The Nurse] “God mark thee to his grace, Thou was the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed.”

The Nurse and Lady Capulet

Act 1 Scene 3

[Lady Capulet] “Well, think of marriage now; younger than you, Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, Are made already mothers.” [The Nurse] “Bigger women grow by men.”

The Nurse and Lady Capulet

Act 1 Scene 3

“Had she affections and warm youthful blood, She would be as swift in motion as a ball…But old folks, many feign as they were dead, Unwieldy, slow, heavy, and pale as lead.”


“Ay, sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks. I would the fool were married to her grave… (to Juliet) Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word. Do as thou wilt for I have done with thee.”

Lady Capulet Act 3 Scene 5

[Juliet after the Nurse has told her to marry Paris] “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend! Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn, Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue Which she hath praised him with above compare So many thousand times?”

Tybalt and Mercutio

Act 3 Scene 1

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Section 2:

Themes and

Quotation

banks

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FATE

Overview:

The theme of fate is very important to Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare explores the idea that

there is a powerful force that has already created the path our lives will take. Perhaps

Shakespeare wanted to explore fate because it suggests just how powerless we are as human

beings.








Before the ball, in Act 1 Scene 4, Romeo has a premonition (a feeling about the future)

that something terrible will happen. Again, Shakespeare wants us to see that the

meeting between Romeo and Juliet is something that goes against the natural order

and therefore is something to be feared.

Later in the play:

Shakespeare presents how Romeo and Juliet’s love is fated to end in disaster during Act

1 Scene 5. Both Romeo and Juliet believe their lives are in danger as a result of falling in

love. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore that Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths were

inevitable because their love was not approved by society. When Friar Laurence marries

Romeo and Juliet he also thinks that their love is very dangerous and is fated to end in

tragedy.

Shakespeare presents both Romeo and Juliet predicting their deaths as a result of their

love. They both have premonitions that Romeo will be found dead. Perhaps

Shakespeare wanted to explore how their love was destined to end in death and

tragedy.


Shakespeare presents Romeo and Friar Laurence as being angry with fate. Romeo

directly contradicts fate and decides to buy the potion from the apothecary – a decision

that ultimately kills both himself and Juliet. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to suggest

just how powerless we are as human beings against forces we cannot control.

THINK: Does Shakespeare really present a mysterious force we cannot control OR is this really

the natural order (the patriarchy) that makes their deaths inevitable?

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What is happening /

Where in the play?

Methods analysis



“I fear too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night’s revels…But He that hath the steerage if my course Direct my sail!”

Romeo Act 1 Scene 4

[Romeo] “Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt.” [Juliet] “If he be married, My grave is like to be my wedding bed…My only love sprung from my only hate! That I must love a loathed enemy”

Romeo and Juliet

Act 1 Scene 5

[Juliet] “O God I have an ill-diving soul! Methins I see thee now, thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb” [Romeo] “I dreamt my lady came and found me dead.”


Romeo

Act 5 Scene 1

[Romeo] “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you stars!” [Friar Laurence] “Unhappy fortune!...Poor living corpse, clos’d in a dead man’s tomb!”

Romeo Act 5 Scene 1

Friar Laurence

Act

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LOVE

Overview:

The theme of love is very important to Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare explores the power of

love to change and transform lives. Throughout his writing (in his plays and his sonnets),

Shakespeare sees love as perhaps the most important, most powerful emotion humans are

capable of feeling.


Shakespeare presents Romeo’s unrequited love for Rosaline in Act 1 Scene 1 as an

emotion that makes him incredibly upset and withdrawn. He becomes isolated and

confused with life and is unable to understand the powerful feelings he is experiencing.

Shakespeare perhaps wanted to explore that love is not something we can control – it is

much too powerful for that.



as wealth and power. Juliet is not with Lord Capulet and Paris while they discuss their

marriage and is instead seen as an object to be used. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to

explore how damaging relationships that are based around wealth and power can be

and that all relationships should be built on love. Perhaps Shakespeare was dissatisfied

about the way things were and wanted to change how people saw marrying for love.

Later in the play:

Shakespeare presents the transformational power of love in the Capulet’s ball. Romeo

and Juliet fall in love with each other as soon as they see one another for the first time.

Their love is so powerful that it ignores the feud between the families and Romeo’s

feelings for Rosaline. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to convey his belief that love is

more important than petty squabbles about power and wealth.

Shakespeare presents the power of love to isolate those who feel it. Both Romeo and

Juliet find themselves entirely alone as a result of their love. Juliet is isolated form her

family because she refuses to marry Paris because of her love for Romeo. Romeo is

isolated from Verona as a result of killing Tybalt because of his brotherly love for

Mercutio. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the power of love to create both joy

and despair.


Shakespeare presents the destructive and transformational power of love. Shakespeare

presents love as the force that ultimately kills Romeo and Juliet, but also brings them

together for eternity as they declare their love for each other as they die. Shakespeare

also presents the love between Romeo and Juliet as the force that unites the two

families after centuries of feuding. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the power

of love to transform both individuals and society as a whole.

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What is happening / Where in the play?

Methods analysis

“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs...A choking gall and a preserving sweet.”

Romeo Act 1 Scene 1



The religious imagery Shakespeare uses in Romeo’s and Juliet’s language when they first meet. Their language mirrors each other’s.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Scene 5

“O sweet my mother, cast me not away! Delay this marriage for a month, a week, Or if you do not, make the bridal bed In that dim monument where Tybalt lives.”


[Capulet] “O brother Montague give me thy hand…” [Montague] “For I will raise her statue in pure gold.”

Capulet and Montague

Act 5 Scene 3

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MALE AGGRESSION AND THE PATRIARCHY

Overview:

The theme of patriarchy and male aggression is very important to Romeo and Juliet.

Shakespeare explores the dangerous power of the patriarchy and male aggression and how it is

linked very closely to death and despair in the play and in society as a whole.


Shakespeare presents male aggression in Act 1 Scene 1 during the brawl in a public

square in Verona between the two families. We see the male servants of the two

households use sexually aggressive insults which seem to highlight how dominant men

are in this society. The servants eventually turn to physical violence until they are

threatened with death by The Prince. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the

danger and fear male aggression and the patriarchy can create within a society.



as wealth and power and preserving the patriarchy. Juliet is not with Lord Capulet and

Paris while they discuss their marriage and is instead seen as an object to be used.

Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore how the patriarchy removed freedom,

especially from young women such as Juliet. This is continued in Act 1 Scene 3, where

even Juliet’s mother and The Nurse support Juliet’s arranged marriage to Paris.

Later in the play:

Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet challenging the patriarchy in Act 2 Scene 2 –

the Balcony Scene. Romeo rejects the danger of being caught in the Capulets’ orchard,

while Juliet takes total control of the dialogue between the characters. Both these

actions show a defiance of patriarchal norms. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore

the dominance of the patriarchy and how it needed to be challenged by those suffering

underneath it.

Shakespeare presents male aggression in Act 3 Scene 1, when Tybalt challenges

Romeo, murders Mercutio and is then himself murdered in revenge by Romeo. This

scene highlights a return in the play to patriarchal norms – both Tybalt and Romeo feel

they have been wronged and therefore resort to aggression and violence to resolve

their dispute. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to explore the danger and fear male

aggression and the patriarchy can create within a society.



Scene 5. Lord Capulet aggressively berates Juliet for her refusal to marry Paris – in other

words, for her refusal to conform to patriarchal norms. In Elizabethan society, a

daughter was expected to dutifully follow the desires of her parents, especially those of

her father. Perhaps, then, Shakespeare wanted to explore the dominance of the

patriarchy and how it needed to be challenged by those suffering underneath it.

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What is happening /

Where in the play?

Methods analysis

“Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall: I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.”

Sampson Act 1 Scene 1



[Juliet] “Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” [Romeo] “My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself.”

Romeo and Juliet

Act 2 Scene 2

“O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate, And in my temper soften’d valour’s steel!...Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”

Romeo Act 3 Scene 1

“How will she none? Doth she not count her blest, Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought So worthy a gentleman to be her bride…Out, you green sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow-face!”

Capulet Act 3 Scene 5

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RELIGION AND FRIAR LAURENCE

Overview:

The theme of religion is very important to Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare explores the power of

religion in our lives - perhaps even seeing romantic love as a rival to the love of God in religion.

He saw love as that important to human beings.

Shakespeare uses religion in two very different ways that reflect his own religious beliefs.

1. The belief in the purity and goodness of religion and its link to love

Shakespeare, as many in Elizabethan society, had a strong faith. This is reflected in the

language used by Shakespeare to describe the love that Romeo and Juliet feel for each other.

Act 1 Scene 5 – The Capulets’ Ball [Romeo] Repetition and mirroring of religious imagery: “pilgrim”, “saints”, “holy palmers” [Juliet] “Then have my lips the sin that they have took” [Romeo] “Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urg’d! Give me my sin again.”

Shakespeare uses religious imagery here to convey just how pure and good the love between the young lovers is. Their love is not tainted by the patriarchy – it something which should be praised in the same way that God is praised. Juliet suggests that Romeo’s love for her removes “sin” suggesting that it is something pure and beautiful. But perhaps it also conveys that they begin to realise that their love is dangerous – but Romeo is prepared to defy the patriarchal norms for this love. Perhaps Shakespeare also wanted to see romantic love as a rival to the love of God in religion. He saw love as that important to human beings.

Act 2 Scene 2 [Romeo] Repetition of “heaven”

Shakespeare uses the image of heaven in order to convey that their love can transport them away from the world of the patriarchy and the petty squabbles of their families. The image of heaven is used throughout the play by Shakespeare. It also perhaps suggests how transformational and special their love is. Perhaps Shakespeare was exploring the power of young love to transform the natural order of things (the patriarchy).

Act 3 Scene 3 [Romeo] “There is no world without Verona walls, But purgatory, torture, hell itself:” “Heaven is here where Juliet lives…”

Shakespeare presents Romeo as seeing the world in religious terms – he thinks that Juliet is his heaven and that not having Juliet is his hell. Shakespeare creates Romeo to show just how powerful an emotion love is. Again, Shakespeare sees their romantic love is as important to Romeo as their love for God should be.

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RELIGION AND FRIAR LAURENCE

2. Criticism of the patriarchy within religion through Friar Laurence

Although he had a strong faith, he also saw that sometimes those who organised religion were

not as pure and as good as the teachings they delivered. This is reflected in his character of Friar

Laurence, who does not seem as pure and as moral as we might expect of a man in his position.

Act 2 Scene 6 – The Wedding “love moderately” “We’ll make short work”

Friar Laurence clearly does not attach much value to the love between Romeo and Juliet – their passionate love is reduced to simply “love moderately”. This conforms to the patriarchal norms of marriage being there to keep power within families rather than a genuine expression of love. Friar Laurence also clearly does not attach much value to the wedding itself. He almost seems to want it over with quickly – “short work”.

Act 2 Scene 2 / Act 3 Scene 3 “Women may fall when there’s no strength in man” “Art thou as man? Thy tears are womanish, unseemly woman in a seeming man.”

Friar Laurence conforms to the patriarchal norms here by criticising Romeo for appearing to be ‘unmanly’. Perhaps Shakespeare is criticising the Church for supporting the idea of men being stronger and more responsible than women. It may also criticise the idea of men having complete control over women in marriage.

Act 4 Scene 1 “Hold then, go home, be merry, give consent To marry Paris.” “womanish fear”

Friar Laurence deceives the families – this seems to defy our expectations of a morally pure member of the Church. In creating the potion and not revealing the love between Romeo and Juliet (that he has already said will bring the families together) he kills both Romeo and Juliet.

Act 5 Scene 3 “Come go, good Juliet, I dare no longer stay.” “And here I stand both to impeach and purge Myself condemned and myself excus’d” “This work of heaven.”

Shakespeare perhaps leaves his most damning description of Friar Laurence to the end – he leaves Juliet entirely alone in the tomb to die. The cowardly language of “I dare no longer stay” suggests he is fully aware that what he has done is wrong. Further, Friar Laurence then attempts to divert blame away from himself and absolve himself of guilt – even attempting to blame heaven and God for what has happened.

Perhaps, then, if Friar Laurence as a priest is not truly good, Juliet is the only truly good person left in the play. She does not even trust Friar Laurence’s potion (“What if it be a poison which the Friar Subtly hath minister’d to have me dead, Lest in this marriage he

should be dishonour’d, Because he married me before to Romeo!”)

Documents

Romeo and Juliet Revision Guide Contents...even Juliet’s mother and The Nurse support Juliet’s arranged marriage to Paris. Later in the play: Shakespeare presents the transformational