Shakespeare's Juliet

A lot is written about Shakespeare's Juliet, and a drop in the sea will be our short reflection.

The destiny of a woman is to love and to be loved. For centuries, this statement was above all other views about women. But it was impossible even to think that woman could love freely. Only well-established norms, customs and traditions dictated their will to lovers. Juliet's rebellion is a great affirmation of a free love.

The spiritual path of the girl from her acquaintance with Romeo until her sacrifices to the true passion is astonishing. In the exposition of the play she is a naive child, the embodiment of gentleness and ignorance of life. The story of her personal growth is a gradual understanding of the reality of love, getting more profound with every step of the play. In the final of the tragedy, Juliet is a devotee of a feeling superior to the force of the life itself.

How many sacrifices has the heroine made  in the comprehension of love? Not just a lot. She donated all that connected her with the mundane world: she repudiated her family, refused the way of life, which she grew  up with, she was willing to risk death by drinking the love potion, finally, she followed the beloved without hesitation, without accepting a different path.

Did Juliet know that tragic course of events might follow? She did. Her monologue at the end of the fourth act is filled with horror and shows the power of courage.

Maturity of Juliet is a much more profound phenomenon than the love of Romeo. While he talks about himself, using the image of a pupil, Juliet worries about an impending danger for Romeo in the Capulet estate. Finally, the words that predetermine the course of events belong to her:

"Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny

What I have spoke: but farewell compliment!
Dost thou love me? ".

The image of Juliet is like a beacon in the world literature. “Love is above death” is a truth carried on by generations of writers.