The Take-ative: Infelicity in Romeo and Juliet

Dr. Julian Lamb
Senior Lecturer
School of Liberal Arts
University of Wollongong Australia

***All are welcome***

Abstract:
In this paper I will focus on a short but significant exchange between Romeo and Juliet in the balcony scene. Thinking she speaks in solitude, Juliet says: “Romeo, doff thy name, / And, for thy name, which is no part of thee, / Take all myself.” Emerging from the shadows, Romeo replies: “I take thee at thy word.” Suddenly, because it has been overheard by Romeo, Juliet’s utterance has seemingly become binding: her words have become her word. But is Juliet truly bound by her words given that she did not know they were being overheard, and did not intend for them to be binding? Using J.L. Austin’s notion of the performative, I consider the nature and status of Juliet’s utterance, and its influence on the remainder of the scene.

Bio:
Julian Lamb received his PhD from Cambridge University. He has published a monograph on early modern pedagogy, and his articles on Shakespeare, early modern linguistics, and English Renaissance poetry have appeared in journals such as English Literary Renaissance and Shakespeare Quarterly. Until 2021, Lamb taught in the English Department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Liberal Arts, University of Wollongong Australia.