Sophie again. I won't attempt to answer this for anyone except myself. Miss Nagy is right, there are various dilemmas facing Juliette... I was thinking about it in a very general sense, that most (not all) of the dilemmas are caused by restraint and duty towards her family (Tybalt doesn't count here). In our culture and generation I think love is much more accessible to most people than it is to Juliette (we can usually choose our boyfriends and don't have to marry them to make the point).
And as for stories about love... aren't we getting satiated with them? It's become one of those things that's great fun to do, but kind of vomit-worthy to watch, and banal to talk about.
For me the emotional trip about Juliette comes from the clash between Juliette's brave and active character, and the tragic end it leads her to. What are we supposed to make of this? Is inactivity safer and therefore better, or is it more admirable to fight passionately at all costs. Is Juliette a hero or a fool? Depends on the reader...
Even if it seems like she takes a lot of instinctive, passionate action with very little thought, one of the things I really like about Juliette is that she does take time to reason - in her own way - about all her reactions and emotions. We see that she's brave, because she acts, even while admitting that she's terrified of the act and uncertain of the outcome. At the news of her cousin's death she holds back her tears and sits down to look at the situation from different points of view and weigh up her options about what to do next. And then she always does the thing that is either (depending on the reader) very admirable or totally daft... she acts.
For me, this is a relevant question to pose to myself, my culture, my generation. To be driven into passion and action in search of an ideal is dangerous. We probably don't need Juliette to show us that. To be swamped into inactivity and nihilism by caution or insecurity, well... is it better?
If I was in Juliette's situation- not that I'd know unless I really was, but I imagine- I think it's likely I'd never have married Romeo. What about others? (Another question I'd love answers to...sorry.)
