Tragically conflicted. With Juliet already married to Romeo Scene I of Act IV finds Paris pressuring Friar Lawrence to set a date for Juliet and himself to be married. Of course, Friar Lawrence is in a quandary since he knows Juliet is already married, but he cannot inform Paris of this. More conflict of intentions occurs in Scene II as Lord Capulet insists that Juliet marry Paris, but she acts compliant: "Henceforward I am ever ruled by you." Then, she plays the middle ground of ambiguity,
I met the youthful lord at Laurence's cell;/And gave him what becomed love I might,/Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty [I did not say I love him, but I did not say that I did not, either] (IV,ii,23-25)
In Scene III, Juliet drinks the potion, which, of course, causes a grave problem when the Capulets discover her and in Scene V, wedding plans conflict with funeral plans. Juliet goes to church, not to be married, but to be buried. Lord Capulet speaks in contrasts:
All things that we ordained festival/Turn from their office to black funeral;/Our instruments to melancholy bells,/Our wedding cheer to a sad burieal feast,/Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change,/Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse,/And all things change them to the contrary (IV,v,74)
No comments:
Post a Comment