Lady Capulet and the Nurse

¶ … Lady Capulet and the nurse represent the concept that love is something of necessity rather than romance of emotion. When Juliet calls love an "honour," the nurse gushes and calls her wise, suggesting that marriage is an important social institution for establishing social rank, not necessarily for fosterling love. As they speak of marriage, Lady Capulet says "the valiant Paris seeks you for his love" (Shakespeare Scene III). Thus, she implies that love is something that cannot be fostered over time between any two people, instead of something that two specific people must be destined to find. Further, both the nurse and Lady Capulet seem to emphasize the physical aspect of love, such as sexuality and attraction.

In the fourth scene of Romeo and Juliet Mercutio shows himself to be a kind and encouraging friend with Romeo, trying to cheer him up with humor. Romeo enters this scene unhappy, and Mercutio takes it upon himself to cheer Romeo up. He begins this encouragement by saying, "Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance," when Romeo asks to be the torch bearer (Shakespeare Scene IV). As Romeo continues to express his depression by showing self-pity, Mercutio is relentless in his attempt to encourage Romeo. Mercutio says to Romeo, "You are a lover borrow Cupid's wings / And soar with them above a common bond" (Shakespeare Scene IV). Although Mercutio's encouragement and Romeo's self-pity take turns for a while, Mercutio also shoes that he is not afraid to poke fun at Romeo in an attempt to expose his foolishness. He does this through the pair's conversation about dreams, in addition to offering sexual innuendo.

3. In the fifth scene of Romeo and Juliet, readers learn that Tybalt is much more concerned about the family feud than Juliet's father himself. Readers also learn about the relationship between Capulet and Tybalt is rather strained. Capulet thinks that Tybalt is a foolish young person, and gets angry that Tybalt questions his authority. Tybalt seems to see Capulet as letting the family down with his positive remarks about Romeo and insistence that Tybalt, rather than Romeo, must leave. Finally and perhaps most importantly, the readers learn that Tybalt has a bitter hatred of the Montague.

4. When Romeo and Juliet discover each other's identity, they both express their despair. Romeo says, "my life is my foe's debt," and follows this with, "the more is my unrest" (Shakespeare Scene V). It is important to note, however, that he said this after Benvolio urges him to leave and Romeo agrees. Thus, it can be drawn from these words that Romeo may be thinking of refraining from pursuing Juliet. Readers can notice that he never says the word "love." Juliet, on the other hand, begins to react with exaggeration from the start. She implies that she will die if Romeo is married, and says she loves him immediately.