Thread by @GCSE_Macbeth

#SummerOfJuliet

Act 1 Sc 5

What's the most important line in Act 1 Sc 5, and therefore one of the most important in the play?

l.104
JULIET: Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.

Let's look at why...

1/

So far in the sonnet from l.92 onwards, Juliet has coyly deflected Romeo's flirting, playing "hard to get" if you like. Whenever he offers his lips, she twists his imagery towards the hands, away from a romantic encounter.

In l.104 that changes.

2/

I'm intrigued by the verb "move" and what it suggests in this line. MOVE is already a significant word in the play, in the sense of "incite an emotion or response". Think about 1.1 "A dog of the house of Montague moves me" or 1.2. "If looking liking move."

3/

When Juliet says "Saints do not move", on one level I think she takes a joking double meaning: the statues of saints (as R has described her) literally do not move.

But she also means that saints (such as her) do not incite emotion. They don't act with agency of their own.

4/

It *sounds* like she's going to deflect Romeo again...but then she doesn't.

Instead she decides to "grant" Romeo's prayers and kiss him. She decides, that moment, to exercise choice and agency.

5/

It's significant that, even though it was Romeo who began their sonnet, with this line Juliet is the one to initiate the final couplet. "Granting" Romeo his desire is her decision -- she has the decisive role in this encounter.

6/6