Grade 9 Romeo and Juliet Essay Question Model Answer (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)

AO1

10

• Sustain one clear argument throughout

• Include an introduction and conclusion

• Refer to the whole text

• Only use references and quotations that serve as evidence to back up your argument

AO2

10

• Analyse Shakespeare’s language, structure and form

• Analyse Shakespeare’s choices across the whole text

• Make sure all your analysis is related to your overall argument

• Use relevant subject terminology where appropriate

AO4

5

• Ensure your writing is clear

• Separate your argument into clear paragraphs

• Check your essay for spelling or grammar errors at the end

• Use sophisticated vocabulary and grammar for effect

Write about Juliet and how she is presented at different points in the play.

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In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses the character of Juliet, the sensible and innocent true love of his tragic hero, to illustrate how both young men and women are subject to powerful external forces (AO1). Shakespeare’s presentation of Juliet as a force for justice and equality is illustrated in her alliance with the enemy. However, her desperate need to find peace and agency in her limited world compels her to a brave and sacrificial act. In this way, Juliet’s role in the play becomes one of an innocent and martyred victim (AO1). 

Shakespeare introduces Juliet as subject to her father’s decisions, especially regarding her early marriage, and instantly makes clear that she is still a child, a “stranger in the world”, in order to highlight her vulnerability (AO1). Early in the play, Lord Capulet and Paris are shown making arrangements for Juliet’s marriage, illustrating the circumstances of her position as the only daughter to a powerful father. As the “hopeful lady” of Capulet’s “earth” (AO1) she is expected to marry a suitable gentleman and improve the family’s social status (AO4). Shakespeare highlights through Capulet’s words the extent to which Juliet’s future depends upon her father’s attitude.  

However, Shakespeare characterises Juliet as defiant, even before she has met Romeo (AO2). In dialogue she is presented as free-thinking and independent, as well as sophisticated. She appeases her mother by describing marriage as an “honour”, adding that it is one that she does not “dream of”. However, Shakespeare shows how Juliet’s refusal to submit to her circumstances leads to isolation. Certainly, the dramatic scene during which she refuses to marry Paris illustrates her limited agency. Lord Capulet’s violent threats culminate in Juliet’s expulsion from the family home, leaving her to “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”. Juliet’s subsequent drastic plea to the friar lists all the terrible punishments she will endure rather than marry Paris. Juliet’s characterisation as a sympathetic victim serves to challenge the status quo, as her dissatisfaction with her lack of autonomy, and her unexpected disregard for conformity, offers an alternative perspective on family traditions and roles (AO2).

In many ways, Juliet functions as a foil to Romeo, perhaps suggesting that even Juliet’s sensible nature does not save her from tragedy in such a world (AO2, AO4). Her words provide balance to Romeo’s extreme proclamations of love, and she sees their relationship in terms of the feud, in contrast to Romeo’s insistence to dismiss it. This is confirmed later in Juliet’s sophisticated soliloquy that conveys the play’s themes about prejudice. She questions the value of a name and the conflict that it brings, using metaphorical language to compare Romeo to a “rose”, which would still smell sweet if it had another name. Throughout the play Romeo describes Juliet as a “saint”, the “sun”, a “rich jewel” in the night, and able to teach the “torches to burn bright”, connoting purity and the power to shed light. Indeed, Prince Escalus ends the play suggesting that the “sun” will “not show its head” in the “glooming peace”. Her dramatic suicide alongside Romeo functions as punishment to her parents and the community and, thus, she becomes a martyr (AO1).

Shakespeare’s presentation of Juliet as an innocent victim of her society heightens the tragedy in the resolution, yet her determination and passionate desire for independence and peace raise questions about discrimination (AO1). Shakespeare conveys, through Juliet, the high price that is paid to end the feud.