Romeo and Juliet Has No Balcony by Lois Leveen Article Analysis

“Juliet, O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?/ Deny thy father and refuse thy name,/ Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,/ And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (2.2.33-36). This quote comes from Juliet in the play Romeo and Juliet. The play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare is a tragic love story. Romeo and Juliet are the children of 2 feuding families that fall in love.  Their marriage and love are hidden so they can’t be seen together. They have to go places where they can’t be seen like Juliet’s room late at night and other settings throughout the story. In the end, they both have tragic deaths and the cause of their deaths was the families feud. In her article, “Romeo and Juliet Has No Balcony” Lois Leveen gives evidence to conclude that the most famous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet does not have a balcony.

To start, in the play Romeo and Juliet the most famous balcony scene does not actually have a balcony because the play never says Juliet comes out onto a balcony. In scene 2 Romeo goes into Capulet’s orchard to hopefully see Juliet. He is in love with her and wants to see her. When Romeo enters Capulet’s orchard he sees, “Juliet above at a window” (2.2.Juliet above at window). Juliet is talking to herself and then she goes to talk to Romeo at her window. Juliet never goes to talk to Romeo on a balcony. She is staying at a window and talks to him from above. It can be concluded that Romeo is on the ground or lower level because Juliet is above him. That shows that Romeo never goes onto a balcony to talk to Juliet either. This proves that the most famous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet does not have a balcony, only a window. 

Secondly, Romeo’s and Juliet’s most famous balcony scene does not actually have a balcony because balconies weren’t invented until 1618. In her article “Romeo and Juliet Has No Balcony” Lois Leveen writes about how balconies weren’t invented until 1618. Shakespeare would not be alive when balconies were invented. Lois Leveen supports her claim that there is no balcony by stating in her article “Romeo and Juliet Has No Balcony”, “According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use in English of the word "balcone" (as it was then spelled) didn’t occur until 1618, two years after Shakespeare died. Even the concept of a balcony was (literally) foreign to Shakespeare's British contemporaries” (Leveen). Not only did Shakespeare not know about balconies, no one did. The word “balcone” didn’t even emerge until 2 years after his death. There could not be a balcony if Shakespeare didn’t even know that balconies existed. This clearly proves that the most famous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet does not have a balcony.

The most famous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet does not have a balcony, however, some think otherwise. They think that the balcony scene does have a balcony. People might think that because Rome tells the Nurse to take a rope ladder to Juliet that he is going to be climbing up the balcony to her. He just tells her this so he can climb up. He does not say what he is climbing up. While they are talking Romeo and the nurse make a plan for Juliet and Romeo to see each other so he tells her, “ Romeo. And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair,/ Which to the high topgallant of my joy” (2.4.64-65). He tells the nurse to give the rope ladder to Juliet so they can see each other one last time before he has to leave. Even though Romeo gives the nurse something for him to climb with, it does not mean he is climbing up a balcony. He is just using the rope ladder to climb up to her window. The play never says that Romeo is specifically using a rope ladder to climb up the balcony to Juliet. The play just says the nurse must get the rope ladder to Juliet so Romeo can go and meet her. A rope ladder is not enough evidence to prove that there is a balcony. 

Overall, Lois Leveen clearly proved in her article “Romeo and Juliet Has No Balcony” that the most famous balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet does not have a balcony. Romeo and Juliet’s most famous balcony scene clearly doesn’t have a balcony because the play never says Juliet comes out onto a balcony and balconies weren’t invented until 1618. The rope ladder isn’t even enough proof that Romeo and Juliet has a balcony. The quote “Juliet, O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?/ Deny thy father and refuse thy name,/ Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,/ And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.33-36) clealry fits with the love scene in Romeo and Juliet while the balcony does not.