#SummerOfJuliet
Act 1 Sc 3
Juliet is young. Too young. Her sexual precociousness (precocity?) is provocative and disomfiting, but it's important to note:
Juliet is deliberately raised by Lady C and the Nurse into an early, sexualised adulthood.
1/
Act 1 Sc 3
Juliet is young. Too young. Her sexual precociousness (precocity?) is provocative and disomfiting, but it's important to note:
Juliet is deliberately raised by Lady C and the Nurse into an early, sexualised adulthood.
1/
l.2
NURSE: "By my maidenhead at twelve year old."
So the Nurse only claims to have been a virgin until 12; J is 13.
The punchline to N's "weaning" speech is a joke about how J is destined for sexual activity
l.43
NURSE: "Thou wilt fall backwards when thou hast more wit."
2/
NURSE: "By my maidenhead at twelve year old."
So the Nurse only claims to have been a virgin until 12; J is 13.
The punchline to N's "weaning" speech is a joke about how J is destined for sexual activity
l.43
NURSE: "Thou wilt fall backwards when thou hast more wit."
2/
Lady C reminds Juliet that she is old enough to have children:
l.72
LADY C: "by my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid."
Surely "count" is a none-too-subtle pun, too.
3/
l.72
LADY C: "by my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid."
Surely "count" is a none-too-subtle pun, too.
3/
So for all her disobedience, for all that she defies her parents, Juliet is to an extent replicating attitudes that she's heard from Lady C and the Nurse. The atmosphere for young women in Verona is sexually charged.
4/4
4/4
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