How does Shakespeare create sympathy for Juliet in Act 3 Scene 5? By Fahad Khan
In Act 3 Scene 5, Romeo and Juliet are separated because Romeo is sentenced exile as a penalty for his berserk and regretful actions which lead to Tybalt’s unfortunate tragedy. Juliet is left devastated over the separation with her husband and is furthermore misunderstood by her parents. A soon as Romeo departs, Lady Capulet tells Juliet about Capulet’s plan for her to marry Paris on Thursday, explaining that he wishes to make her happy. Juliet, appalled, refuses to do so. Capulet flies into a towering rage on hearing of Juliet’s refusal and threatens and insults her. The audience may feel sympathetic for Juliet at the beginning as Juliet foreshadows her husband’s death when she uses these dark notes as Romeo descends. "Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb." This is an excellent example of dramatic irony as the audience know that the next time that she will get to see him, he will be dead and (to put the metaphorical icing on the cake) in a tomb. Shakespeare creates sympathy for Juliet initially when he compares birds to show the time they have together. “It was the nightingale, and not the lark; nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.” These imagery words of Juliet shows her desperation to convince Romeo that the birdcalls they hear are from the nightingale, a night bird, rather than from the lark, a morning bird, to keep Romeo from leaving her. After Romeo leaves, Juliet instantly becomes sad, personifying fortune and it to bring back Romeo to her; "O Fortune, fortune all men call thee fickle- I hope that thou wilt not keep him long, but send him back." Again, dramatic irony is used here. Little does Juliet know that when fortune does send Romeo back to her, he will find her 'dead' and kill himself. Shakespeare makes us feel increasingly sympathetic in this scene as Lady Capulet says "Evermore weeping for your cousin’s death?" This...
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