Sunday, June 8, 2014

How can you describe Juliet's love for Romeo in Act 2, scene 2?

In this scene (as in most scenes), Juliet is incredibly thoughtful, and her love for Romeo seems to outweigh every other consideration: family pride, personal relationships, and so on.  She ponders the meaning, or rather the meaninglessness, of a name, especially given the feud between their families.  She says, "'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. / Thou art thyself, though not a Montague" (2.2.41-42).  She means that it is not Romeo, himself, that is her enemy, but only his name, and it is not his name that makes him who he is; it is himself.  Therefore, he is not her enemy, only his name is, and so she can feel free to love him.  It's really a pretty meditative and philosophical line of thought, especially for one so young (she's only 13!).  Juliet hopes that Romeo would be willing to give up his name since it really is no part of himself, but if he is unwilling, she says, "be but sworn my love, / And I'll no longer be a Capulet" (2.2.38-39).  In other words, she is willing to give up her family, her identity and relationships even, to be with him.  Even at this incredibly early stage of their relationship, Juliet is quite committed.

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