Title: Describe Juliet's feelings in act 2, scene 5 as she waits for the Nurse to reveal Romeo's message. - eNotes.com
Headings: Describe Juliet's feelings in act 2, scene 5 as she waits for the Nurse to reveal Romeo's message.
Romeo and Juliet
Describe Juliet's feelings in act 2, scene 5 as she waits for the Nurse to reveal Romeo's message.
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Content: Juliet, at the end of the scene, puts Romeo on the spot and gets him to promise that he will marry her—before she commits to being with him. The importance lies in the fact that, for Juliet, love is not something she can walk into lightly, but something she has be assured of the seriousness of. The stakes are high for Juliet. Her most valuable asset—really her only asset in sixteenth-century Italy—is her virginity. If she is to fall in love and be with Romeo in the way that he wants to be together, she must know that he intends to marry her—otherwise, her only option is to become a nun. It makes sense, then, that as she waits for news from Romeo about their marriage plan, she is anxious. She thinks that she loves him, and the emotion she feels is powerful. While she waits for the nurse to return with news from Romeo, she has a hard time being patient. She recounts that the time that has passed “is three hours long, yet she has not come” (Act II.V.11) and complains about the nurse being “lame” and slower than both thoughts and a ball. Juliet's insults and philosophical musings about speed show that she is anxious and excited to hear the news from Romeo.