Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera is a captivating story that follows a young Latina lesbian’s journey of self-discovery and acceptance. While Juliet grows to find comfort in her cultural identity and sexual orientation, Harlowe contradicts Juliet's image during her book reading by reducing Juliet to a stereotype. Following this racially aggressive moment, Maxine, another person of color, calls out Juliet for walking away and not standing up for herself in Chapter 25. Through the intersectional identities and stress response of flight, I seek to examine how Rivera explores the notion of blame and ownership through Maxine’s conversation with Juliet about Harlowe’s reading. This question poses an interesting discourse based on the intersectionality …show more content…
Being reduced to someone from the ghetto who is poor and alone strips Juliet of her personhood. Her physical reaction, “a slight wheeze… gagging… my face was hard as a cement block…” and her running out of the building shows Juliet experiencing a flight stress response (Rivera, 250). When faced with a traumatic or stressful situation, there are many ways that a person may react, usually categorized by fight, flight, freeze, or fawn (Taylor, 2022). In this moment, with the numbness Juliet faces along with her desire to leave, her body is begging her to escape the danger. She leaves not just the building, but the state of Oregon as well, showing how Harlowe’s words made Juliet feel …show more content…
While Maxine may not have a responsibility to talk to Harlowe and right her wrongs, Juliet sees the lack of dialogue that Maxine “didn’t want to waste the energy” (Rivera, 303). If Maxine, a friend and partner of Harlowe wasn’t willing to talk to Harlowe in private, it is more difficult to blame Juliet for not speaking up in public. Furthermore, when Lupe says that Harlowe “doesn’t have the best track record with interns,” it makes me wonder why Maxine, who most likely knows this information, wants Juliet to be the one to defend herself to Harlowe (Rivera, 310). Although we receive no more information about these interns, it may demonstrate that Harlowe has a history of racist remarks and further leads me to believe that Maxine shouldn’t expect Juliet to stand up for
Two fathers together, for the first time, wept for the deaths of their children as their grief-stricken faces shone in the dusty light inside the tomb. Pain seared equally through all hearts of the Capulets and Montagues, both distraught by the unexpected death of their beloved children. The star-crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, recklessly fall in love despite their families’ raging feud. The couple’s newlywed lustful attitudes get them both, and many others, wistfully killed in William Shakespeare's incredible 16th century play, Romeo and Juliet. Due to the brilliant script of the play many question who is truly to blame for these abominable deaths.
The 1996 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet provides a stronger interpretation of Shakespeare’s text, as it utilizes symbolic imagery to better mirror his theme that in efforts to seek peace, people oftentimes attempt to avoid repeating errors of the past. The film evidences this in its representation of the text’s prologue, Romeo’s desperation for Juliet’s affections, and the conclusion of the story. The final line of the prologue of Romeo and Juliet, perhaps most notably, states, “What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend” (Shakespeare 0.0.14). One commonly associates the term “toil” with notions of hardwork and perseverance, and “strive” maintains an association with the prospect of progressing towards a goal.
In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare suggests that the Prince is responsible for the lovers’ death because of his lack of control over his people, but young lovers are not responsible because love is uncontrollable. Losing family in war because of an unintelligent mistake, leaves a very big mark in life that is hard to forget. When the Prince is talking about the families’ feud and their disagreements, he said, “And I, for winking at your discords too, Have lost a brace of kinsmen” (5.3.304,305). This quote demonstrates that the Prince admits that he is causing this feud between the families. He says that he lost two family members during this feud.
One of the most asked questions about the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is “Who is to blame for the untimely deaths of these young lovers?”. The play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is filled with very influential emotions. The tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet were brought about by many characters such as Lord Capulet, fate and a feud between two families. One of the most substantial characters in Romeo and Juliet is fate. There are many times where Shakespeare leads us to believe that fate is involved with the hapless deaths of Juliet and Romeo.
Even though fate and destiny bear some responsibility for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, the impact love had on their brains is to blame since it possessed them and made them take more risks. When Romeo and Juliet first fell in love with each other, their love possessed them, which influenced them to make the decisions that led to their deaths. For instance, in a TED Talk titled “The Brain in Love,” Helen Fisher explains how romantic love can cause one to lose their “sense of self” and not be able to “stop thinking about another human being” (Doc C). This describes how romantic love can possess one, causing them to make poor decisions they wouldn’t normally make.
Romeo, Juliet, and Lord Capulet are all important characters whose choices determine future events and what happens when it's all said and done. In the play, "Romeo and Juliet", by William Shakespeare certain character choices develop a theme in the story. Here are three characters that show "actions have consequences." For my first character, I choose Romeo, a complex character in the story. He's well known for making impulse decisions and acting with his emotions, making his choices more impactful to his already important stance here.
You can tell how upset Juliet is about the banishment by how she is
Romeos and Juliets Death Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play about two love-struck teens that eventually falls in love. They have to face obstacles just to find a way to be together and eventually have to secrednize their marriage. The characters Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Lord, Lady Capulet are primarily responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. They all have things they did that leads to Romeo and Juliet’s departness. Also, the decisions they made and the problems they caused such as ruining true love.
Intersectionality has become the latest feminist “buzzword” as it comes to the discussion of pop culture, politics or academia. the article “Intersectionality” by The Washington Post, tells us how the term intersectionality was initially used to describe how race and gender could bisect as the forms of oppression. However, now the term is used to trace how different forms of discrimination overlap and relate. It also describes how important is it for feminists to consider women from diverse backgrounds when advocating for social causes. This term encompasses numerous social factors such as sexual orientation, disability, class and nationality.
Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakepeare in the 16th century, it revolved around an ancient hostility of two families living in the city of Verona however, a powerful outburst of love erupts in a paired bloodshed, which in turn extends to other preventable deaths. In the final analysis, due to the actions of a multitude of individuals , the marriage ends in death. Friar Lawrence is identified as the character who significantly contributed to and orchestrated the tragic deaths of the couple. Friar Lawrence provides the sleeping potion to Juliet, which precipitates the decision of Romeo and therefore Juliet's death, he had isolated Juliet after mourning over Romeos death knowing she had overpowering guilt and would likely need assistance
Intersectionality is described by Davis as “the interaction between gender, race, and other categories of difference in individual lives, social practices, institutional arrangements and cultural ideologies and the outcomes of these interactions in terms of power”(p. 456, Davis). In relation to inequality and intersectionality, Browne and Misra discuss the anti-categorical approach which explains how by placing people in categories of race, class, and gender, we are only perpetuating inequality by continuing to acknowledge our differences. These categories are inherently intersectional, with race being gendered and “classed”, and gender being “raced” and classed”. (p. 468, Browne, Misra) In conclusion, race, gender, and intersectionality play a major role in understanding inequality.
Lord Capulet should be punished because his insistence on Juliet's marriage to Paris contributes to her tragic end. When Lord Capulet threatens Juliet, he puts immense pressure on her to take drastic measures. " Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise. An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend; An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets" (III. 5. 191-194).
Most teens need a good role model in their life and a trusted adult to talk to about important situations. Just like in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo gets to have Friar Lawrence there for him in important situations. Romeo does not feel comfortable talking to his family about serious things, so he goes to a trusted adult to talk to. Through the use of repetition of allusion, foreshadowing to the end of Romeo’s life, and personification of Romeo’s feelings, Shakespeare shows that Romeo and Friar Lawrence have a relationship full of love, friendship, and trust.
"Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast." Friar Lawrence states this quote in the play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, which shows the concern of two teenagers falling in love too quickly. In the tragic play Romeo and Juliet the extreme action taken by the two lovers suggests that their love was too rash and would never have lasted due to Romeo being in love with another woman in the beginning of the play and falling in love with Juliet immediately, how Juliet so quickly forgave Romeo for the death of Tybalt, and the forever feud and dangers that would come from their families with this relationship. In the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, the main male protagonist, Romeo, is deeply in love with a lady named Rosaline.
In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, he tells the story of two people who fall in love, Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet. Their families have been feuding for as long as they can remember, making their love for one another very dangerous. The two go to extreme lengths to be with each other, but this eventually results in both of them losing their lives. Throughout this story, Shakespeare conveys through his use of syntax and diction with wrathful tone that hatred can make people act irrationally loyal, and this hatred can cloud one’s morals. We first see Shakespeare demonstrate the dangers that come from fighting without proper reason in the very beginning between the characters Tybalt and Benvolio.