Hello everyone, it's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton, and I'm gonna to guide you through Learning Journey today.

Today's session is called "Romeo and Juliet: Exploring Juliet's Agency in Act 4, Scene 1".

So we're going to think about conversation with Paris at the start of the scene and how he tries to exert ownership over her.

Then we're going to examine the conversation she has with Friar Lawrence around death and the potion he offers her, and think about whether or not we can see her as exerting agency in that conversation.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you're using for this lesson, and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson you'll be able to explain Juliet's agency in Act 4, Scene 1 of "Romeo and Juliet.

So we have four words today we're going to be using as our keywords.

They'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to pull out as well, so you can see them being used in context.

So our first key word is agency, which means the capacity of an individual to act independently from others, to make their own free choices.

We're going to be exploring whether or not we see Juliet as having agency in Act 4, Scene 1.

Our second key word is imperative language, which is most commonly used to give command or an instruction.

We're going to first look at Paris' use of imperative language, and then Juliet's use imperative language at the end of the scene and how it might relate to ideas of agency.

Our third key word is dictating, which means to give orders or tell someone exactly what they must do.

We're going to be thinking about how we might see Paris as dictating to Juliet about her life.

And our final key word is stereotype, which means a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like.

We're going to be thinking about how Friar Lawrence's words reveal the stereotypes around women in Elizabethan England.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those key words and their definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic, let's get started with the lesson.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about Paris' exchange with Juliet at the beginning of the scene, and how he seems to try to exert ownership over Juliet.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about Juliet's desire to die in the scene and how it might be seen as exerting agency.

For our third learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about Friar Lawrence and his proposal to Juliet about how she can use a potion to fake her own death, and consider how her reaction might be seen as showing agency.

Now we're focusing on Act 4, Scene 1 in this lesson.

So let's start with a quick summary.

Paris is talking to Friar Lawrence about his upcoming wedding to Juliet.

Juliet and Paris have an exchange about their upcoming wedding.

After Paris leaves, Juliet threatens to commit suicide if Friar Lawrence cannot save her from marrying Paris.

Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a potion to allow her to fake her own death.

So we're going to begin by reading through Paris and Juliet's exchange at the start of Act 4, Scene 1 together, so I'm gonna press play now.

So let's read through Paris and Juliet's exchange in Act 4, Scene 1.

So Paris begins by greeting Juliet with, "Happily met, my lady and my wife." Now we're going to focus in on his use of my in the lesson itself, but notice how he's calling his wife before their wedding, the sense of possession and inevitability in his language.

"That may be, sir, when I may be a wife." Now Juliet uses wordplay throughout their conversation, so, in essence, they're having two different conversations.

Now Juliet's statement is literally true, however, she knows she may not be a wife.

See, she's already married to Romeo, therefore, she may not become Paris's wife.

"That 'may be' must be, love, on Thursday next." Now we're going to focus in on Paris use of must in the lesson, but essentially he's saying she will become his wife next Thursday.

"What must be shall be." "There's a certain text." So, Friar Lawrence is saying there's a certain truth to Juliet's words.

"Come you to make confession to this father?" Now here they're talking about the religious practise of confession, where someone acknowledges their sinful thoughts or actions to a priest.

"To answer that, I should confess to you." Now, Juliet's saying she can't answer Paris's question, because she did so she'd be confessing to him rather than Friar Lawrence.

"Do not deny to him that you love me." So Paris here is confidently asserting that Juliet's going to confess to Friar Lawrence that she loves him.

"I will confess to you that I love him." So she's saying she can tell Paris that she loves Friar Lawrence.

"So will you, I am sure, that you love me." "If I do so, it will be of more price being spoke behind your back than to your face." So Juliet here is saying that any confession she'd make to Friar Lawrence will have more meaning, so more value, than if she said it to Paris directly.

"Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears." Now Paris here is saying he can tell that Juliet's been crying, because he can see it in her face.

"The tears have got small victory by that, for it was bad enough before their spite." Now Juliet has been quite self-deprecating, and saying her face was bad enough already before the tears stained it.

"Thou wrong'st more than tears with that report." So Paris here has been gallant here, and saying she's insulting her own face more than the tears.

"That is no slander, sir, which is a truth.

And what I spake, I spake it to my face." So Julie here is saying it's not slander because it's the truth, but also because she's said it to herself.

"Thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it." Now we're going to zoom in on this line specifically in the lesson but Paris here is saying that her face belongs to him, and she's spoken badly of it.

"It may be so, but it is not mine own.

Are you at leisure, holy Father, now, or shall I come to you at evening Mass?" So Juliet is saying there might be some truth to Paris's words because her face doesn't feel like her own, possibly because she's having to present one face to the world and hold her emotions in check.

Then she asked if Friar Lawrence is available to her now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now we're going to focus in on some of the language used in their exchange, and how it relates to ideas of agency.

So let's consider Paris and Juliet and the opening exchange.

Paris greeting to Juliet is, "Happily met, my lady and my wife." So what I'd like you to think about here is what's the significance of Paris using the word my.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

Now my is a possessive word.

You're claiming something as yours through it, so you might see Paris trying to claim ownership over Juliet.

You also might have noticed he repeats my, which could heighten the sense of possession and ownership.

Now following Paris' greeting Paris and Juliet share the following exchange, "That may be, sir, when I may be a wife." "That 'may be' must be, love, on Thursday next." So what I'd like to think about is what is the significance of Paris changing Juliet's tentative language to imperative language.

He's using a command by saying must.

What's the significance of this? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, that's fantastic ideas there.

Now, you might have said, it shows him giving orders to Juliet.

He's assuming a position of authority in her life.

In doing so, he's dictating Juliet's life to her, telling her what she must do.

So, now a pretty quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So, is it true or false that Paris's language shows him taking control over Juliet and their situation? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said that Paris use of my shows him talking about Juliet possessively.

Moreover, his use of imperative language shows him dictating to Juliet what's going to happen.

So very well done if you got those right.

Now, when talking of her tears, Juliet says, "And what I spake, I spake it to my face." However, Paris responds with, "Thy face is mine, and thou has slandered it." So what I'd like you to think about is what's the significance of this exchange.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

Now, as Izzy says, 'We can see Juliet trying to take ownership and control over her actions.

She's saying that her face is her own, as she's the one who said the words.

However, Paris responds by claiming ownership over her face." So what I'd like you to think about is what are the implications of Paris suggesting he owns Juliet's face? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

Now, as Lucas says, "Not only does it suggest that Paris claiming ownership of Juliet's body, but our face is our primary method of communication.

Therefore, it could imply that Paris is claiming control over how Juliet communicates and express herself, particularly because he suggests her words have slandered, meaning spoken badly of, what he says he owns." So, now for a quick check for understanding.

So Paris' declaration, "Thy face is mine," implies which of the following? A, he thinks Juliet's face is beautiful.

B, he's claiming ownership over Juliet.

Or C, he's inviting Juliet to take control.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

The correct answer is he's claiming ownership over Juliet by using the word mine, so very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work everyone, now to the first task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is think about the following ideas, Paris changing Juliet's tentative language to imperative language in, "That 'may be' must be, love, on Thursday next." Paris is saying he owns Juliet's face and she's spoken ill of it, "Thine face's mine, and thou has slandered it." What I'd like you to think about is what do you think the significance of these lines are in terms of female agency in Elizabethan England? So pause the video, take a few minutes to discuss.

Welcome back, everyone, some great discussions there.

So what I'd like you to do is think about Aisha and Andeep's ideas.

How well do they align with your ideas? So Aisha said, "I think it reveals how men took charge of situations and dictated women's life choices for them, especially when marriage was concerned." And Andeep said, "I think it also shows how women's bodies were not considered their own.

Paris declares that Juliet's face is his, that she needs to act respectfully towards his property." So pause the video, think about how well their ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think this interaction is so important, because you have to remember this is the first and only conversation that Juliet and Paris have in the play.

For him to try to assume ownership over Juliet's life and body in this way reveals the realities of how men saw women, as something to be owned.

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now at the second learning cycle.

We're going to think about Juliet's desire to die, and how it might relate to ideas of agency.

So, once Paris has left Juliet declares she'll commit suicide if Friar Lawrence cannot help her.

So what I'd like you to think about is how is Juliet displaying agency here.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, as Laura says, "I think it shows her taking control of the situation.

She knows that to marry Paris will be committing a sin, therefore takes her life into her own hands." However, later in the scene Juliet says, "Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife, shall play the umpire." So here Juliet's personifying the knife and saying it has authority to make decisions, much like an umpire does.

So what I'd like to think about is how might the personification and the use of umpire undermine Juliet's agency.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

Now, by personifying the knife, Juliet's suggesting it has sentience, can act on its own.

By specifically calling it an umpire, it's suggesting the knife is actually in control and will decide Juliet's actions, which suggests she's not actually the one in control at all.

So, now for a quick check for understanding.

So which interpretation of Juliet's personification of the knife is the most valid interpretation? Is it A, by just the knife as sentient, Juliet's suggests the knife is angry at mankind.

Or B, by suggesting the knife as sentient, Juliet could be giving a control to the knife.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Now, the correct answer is B.

By suggesting the knife as sentient, Juliet could be giving over control to the knife.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's B.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, you might have said that Juliet personifies the knife by calling it an umpire, which associates it with decision-making.

So, very well done if you got those right.

Now, Juliet then lists all of the things she'd rather do than marry Paris, "Chain me with roaring bears, or hide me nightly in a charnel house, overcovered quite with dead men's rattling bones, with reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls." Now there's some quite awful imagery that Juliet's creating here, the (indistinct) hidden in a building where human skeletal remains are stored, the description of the smell and colour of the bones, very visceral, disturbing imagery.

So what I'd like to think about is how is Shakespeare presenting Juliet's character here.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, the idea that Juliet says she can endure those things might make us think she's being presented as brave and courageous.

So, what I'd like to think about now is how might this bravery link to ideas of agency.

So pause a video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

You might have thought, it shows Juliet's willing to endure things that scare her rather than marry Paris.

And that's the definition of courage, to do something that's right even though it might scare you.

Now, arguably, Juliet demonstrates bravery and agency, enlisting all of the things she'd do to be with Romeo again.

She then ends her speech by saying she'd do all of those things to live an unstained wife to Romeo.

So here, she'd do all of those things to remain pure for Romeo, and untouched by another man.

So what I'd like you to think about is how might this undermine Juliet's agency.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

And you might have thought, this is just that Juliet's acting for Romeo's benefit rather than her own, so it's not independent.

You also might have thought it can force the stereotypical idea of how women should be pure for their husband.

So, now for a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that, arguably, Juliet's statement she wants to die to remain unstained for Romeo, undermines her agency? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now, I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone.

And you might have said, her desire to be pure for Romeo could imply she's not making a decision independently,.

she's making it for Romeo's sake.

So, very well done if you got those right.

Amazing work, everyone, we're now to the second task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is think about the following question.

Do you think Juliet is displaying agency in her desire for death? Why or why not? I'd like to write a short answer to explain your ideas.

Now, you might consider the following.

Juliet says she'll commit suicide if Friar Lawrence cannot help her.

However, Juliet then arguably gives the decision-making power to the knife rather than her.

Julie arguably shows bravery in her desire to avoid marrying Paris.

However, Juliet then suggests her desire to avoid marrying Paris comes from her wish to stay unstained for Romeo.

So pause the video, write your answer now.

Welcome back, everyone, that's fantastic work there.

So what I'd like you to do is think about Laura and Alex's ideas.

Whose ideas align most closely with your ideas? So Laura said, "I think she is showing agency.

Ultimately, her desire to die shows her taking control of the situation and her life.

And Alex said, "I don't think she is showing agency.

She's giving away the control of her decision to the knife.

It implies she's making the decision based on Romeo rather than herself." So pause the video, think about whose ideas align most closely with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I think this question of Juliet's agency surrounding her desire to die is so important, because it really underpins her role in the play and how we interpret her character.

Is she exerting control over her life or is she acting outta desperation? Amazing work, everyone.

We now at the third learning cycle.

We're going to explore Friar's proposal to Juliet, and how that might relate to ideas of agency.

Now, after offering Juliet the potion, they will induce a deathlike sleep.

Friar Lawrence says that everything will be all right, as long as, "No inconstant toy nor womanish fear abate thy valour in acting it." So, what I'd like you to think about is what does this suggest for how women were stereotypically seen in Elizabethan England? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

And you might have said, by suggesting she might not take it due to a womanish fear, it suggests that women were seen as cowardly rather than brave.

And perhaps it implies that women weren't expected to take control, they're expected to be passive, to not take decisive action in their lives.

Now, Juliet responds to Friar Lawrence by saying, "Give me, give me." So what I'd like you to think about is why might Juliet's use of imperative language here be significant? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

As Jacob says, "By using commanding language, Juliet's arguably subverting the fearful stereotype of women.

She's taking control of the situation and showing no fear.

So, now for a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that Juliet's imperative language arguably conforms to contemporary stereotypes of women? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is false.

Now, I'd like to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, you might have said, by taking control of the situation Juliet's arguably demonstrating bravery and courage in a way that subverts contemporary stereotypes of women.

So, very well done if you got those right.

Now, structurally, Juliet's voice is the last thing we hear in this scene and the previous scene.

So in Act 3, Scene 5, she ends the scene by pretending she wants to see Friar Lawrence to confess her sins against her father.

In Act 4, Scene 1, she ends the scene by taking the potion from Friar Lawrence.

So what I'd like to think about is how might Julia ending both these scenes add to her agency in those situations? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

And you might have said that, arguably, it shows her taking control of the situations, her voice is the last we hear.

I think it's always so important to think about when we hear character's voices in a play.

To be the last voice in a scene suggests that that's the voice the playwright wants us to remember.

So, now for a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that Shakespeare's decision to end the scene on Juliet's voice arguably enhance their agency.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now, I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, by having Juliet's voice as the last impression of the scene suggests just she's taking control by enhancing the importance of her voice.

So, very well done if you got those right.

Amazing work everyone, we're now to the final task of the lesson.

Now, arguably, Juliet displays agency through her use of imperatives that undermine contemporary stereotypes.

Her voice being the last voice we hear in the scene.

However, she's begging Friar Lawrence to come up with a solution in Act 4, Scene 1, and takes the potion he offers her.

What might this reveal about the realities of female agency in Elizabethan England? I'd like you to write a short answer to explain your ideas.

So pause the video, write your answer now.

Welcome back, everyone, some great work there.

Now what I'd like you to do is think about Sophia's ideas, how well do they align with your ideas? So Sophia said, "Juliet's decision to commit suicide is the only option if Friar Lawrence cannot present another solution, and therefore implies she isn't actually taking control of the situation.

She's looking to him to present her with another option.

Ultimately, I think it's just that while women could take agency over their actions, the potential actions available to them were dictated to them by men." So pause the video, think about how well Sophia's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I think this is such an important aspect of Juliet's agency.

We might see her decisions as taking control over her life, but as she just responded her choices that the men around her have offered her.

That's something you might like to take away and think about.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Arguably, Paris' used imperative language suggests that men stereotypically dictated women's life choices.

Paris's claim of, "Thy face is mine," could reveal how women were not considered in control of their bodies.

We might see Julie's desire to die as a way of taking control of her life.

However, this might be undermined since her desire to die comes to her wish to remain unstained for Romeo.

We might see Juliet's use of imperatives as subverting contemporary stereotypes of women.

I really hope you enjoy the lesson, everyone.

I hope see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.

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