Thread by @GCSE_Macbeth

#SummerOfJuliet

Act 2 Sc 2

The most famous lines in the play: let's get some value out of them!

JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

1/

First, that tricksy word WHEREFORE. It means WHY, so why did Shakespeare choose this word instead of why, which does appear 38 times in the text.

WHEREFORE is more sighing. It's more musical. More deliberate. It echoes the parents of R&J asking where their children are.

2/

These lines encapsulate the power (im)balance between Romeo and Juliet, and between men and women.

Throughout this scene, Juliet is consistent in setting the terms of their relationship:

If Romeo likes it, he's going to have to put the proverbial ring on it.

3/

Romeo, she suggests, could "deny" his father. She won't allow the same option for herself: he must be "sworn" if he wants her.

Ostracising herself from her family and being left without security is unconscionable.

4/

Juliet inhabits a world where women are defined by the male to which they're attached. She will not, under any circumstances, be consummating their relationship without being married first.

5/

Don't let your students settle for a bland reading of this scene as being "about love". Yes it's a love scene, but a typically spiky, Shakespearean one.

It's about the clash between sudden, breathtaking passion and cold reality, specifically the reality faced by women.

6/

That orchard setting is no coincidence either. This is Shakespeare, people! Stuff means stuff.

Fruit is ripening, things are getting ready to be plucked, and with my Biblical hat on, forbidden knowledge lies just within reach...

7/7

Oh BONUS TWEET:

This scene is a also an excellent example of Romeo being OUTSIDE while Juliet is INSIDE. One has more freedom than the other, see?

8/8