Coming
of Age
English
105A
“Juliet:
Lost, Found and Lost Again”
Shakespeare
portrays Juliet as a valiant character who begins as a lost soul in a world
dominated by love, hate, and destiny.We
meet Juliet as a child, who seeks to please her family and the people close
to her.She is not yet sure of her
fate as a young woman and the direction in which her life will take her.Juliet’s
only responsibility is to marry an appropriate suitor who may augment the
good name of the Capulet family.From
the prologue of the play, we learn that Juliet’s fate is not a benevolent
one.Although, as an innocent child
in the Capulet household, Juliet finds her will through the love of Romeo,
and loses her life as a result of this love.(sentence
fragment)Juliet’s progression
throughout the play mirrors the view of Shakespearean scholar Joseph Bryant.Juliet
is the destiny’s pawn.
We
first meet Juliet in Act I scene 3 where she speaks of her future marriage
with the Nurse and Lady Capulet.Juliet,
still enthralled by childhood, denounces marriage in I.iii.66 as “an honor
I dream not of.”Juliet does not
want to displease her mother by denying Paris’ love, so she will, “look
to like, if looking liking move.”This
scene establishes Juliet’s role in the beginning of the play as a “plaything,”
as Bryant describes her, although she does not realize it.
When
Juliet finds Romeo’s love in the middle of the play, she begins to progress
from a child into a young woman, making decisions for herself, and essentially
taking her life into her own hands.Juliet
is aware of the danger that rests in seeing Romeo, but she follows her
heart and the stars.This shows her
courage and establishes her as a independent maturing creature.Juliet
has the most to lose of all the characters in the play.Her
family, marriage, Romeo’s love, and her innocence are all of her precious
possessions.By jeopardizing all
of these to follow her heart and the stars, she becomes the most courageous
character in the play.
Where
Juliet would not stand up to her parents before, she does so in act 3 scene
5 when her parents inform her of her upcoming marriage to Paris.This
is the same time when Juliet realizes all that she has put on the line
for her heart.She does not want
to be pushed away by her parents and she does not want to lose Romeo.
The
impasse that she reaches will ultimately mark her adulthood where she has
to make a decision that will change her life forever.This
decision tragically causes her to become the consummate sacrifice of the
world and its game.Juliet is lost,
shortly and sadly after she truly finds her place.