Portraying Desperation and the Search for Love

My scene combines Act 4 Scene 1, when Juliet gets the vial of potion from Friar Lawrence, and Act 4 Scene 3, when she takes the vial. I play Juliet. When the play begins, Juliet is very timid and obedient. At this point, she has developed into a headstrong woman and wife in love. This change was brought upon by her introduction to Romeo, her love, then overcoming differences in family to be together. She lives in a very confusing world, where her family is feuding for seemingly no reason, and she is under complete control of her parents - until this scene. She shows up to Friar Lawrence alone, and gets privacy with him for the first time in the play. As an actor, I have to show this change - even in one scene. I have to keep in mind that being alone is new for her, and she is just finding her ground. I can’t show her extremely confident, but she has to stand her own ground. This is especially evident when I consider taking the potion - she is not entirely confident on her own ability to go through with this plan, and keeps imagining what can go wrong.

Juliet takes the potion because she loves Romeo and does not want to marry Paris. She knows she will have to marry him - the wedding is scheduled for Thursday. She understands that if she does not do something drastic, her life will be unhappy and she will be forever at the mercy of her parents and Paris. Therefore, Juliet’s motivation in this scene is to finally stand up for herself and her love. It is her only choice, and she has now become desperate. She is willing to take some drastic measures to achieve this goal, threatening to kill herself and saying she wishes to die. When acting in this scene, I have to show that desperation. One way I can achieve that is by relying on past memory, events, or research. I personally have never been so desperate that I would  commit suicide, but clearly I will have to my research, like Stella Adler encourages.

To achieve Juliet’s motivation in this scene, I will enter nervous and prepared to ask for help, then allow my emotions to escalate. When Friar tells me he knows about my future marriage to Paris, I have to show how upset and heartbroken Juliet is. Then when he offers a alternative, I have to be excited to take it and ready to change something about my life. Then, I ask him to leave - and Juliet is left alone with her thoughts. This is when a small part of that timid and shy Juliet comes back, and I have to show the audience that she hasn’t lost tht yet. By the end of that speech, I will have accepted my fate. This acceptance comes from her love for Romeo. Juliet remembers why she is putting herself through all of this, and instantly gets that confidence back.