Many works of literature have death as a minor theme. In Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare frequently has his two main characters foreshadow their own deaths and even personifies death as a lover for Juliet to tie together his major and minor themes. Romeo and Juliet foreshadow their deaths frequently throughout the play especially within hyperboles. Several characters personify death as Juliet's lover to express strong emotion and while it doubles as foreshadowing a considerate amount of time, it also links the themes of love and death. As was stated, in the play Romeo and Juliet, death is foreshadowed and personified as a lover to Juliet to connect the themes of love and death.
As previously mentioned, the two protagonists of Romeo and Juliet often foreshadow their own deaths by way of hyperboles in their dialogue. For example, Romeo says, "My life were better ended by their hate than death
Several characters can be quoted referencing Death as Juliet's lover including Juliet herself. When speaking to the Nurse she says, "Come, cords, come Nurse, I'll to my wedding bed, and death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!"(3.2.137-138). In those lines she basically says Death will marry her and take her maidenhood. Juliet's own father also personifies Death as Juliet's husband. One instance is when Capulet says to Friar Laurence, "Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir, my daughter he hath wedded..."(4.5.38-39). Both quotes share two common themes: love and death. Shakespeare has personified Death as Juliet's lover to connect the themes together. He is known to have very clean cut stories with lots of foreshadowing, the interlocking of major ideas, and endings that answer the majority of the audience's questions. To conclude, Shakespeare likely personified Death as Juliet's lover throughout the play to link some of the play's themes together for a smoother
In an attempt to push away from medieval love conventions and her father's authority, Shakespeare's Juliet asserts sovereignty over her sexuality. She removes it from her father's domain and uses it to capture Romeo's love. Critic Mary Bly argues that sexual puns color Juliet's language. These innuendoes were common in Renaissance literature and would have been recognized by an Elizabethan audience. Arguably, Juliet uses sexual terms when speaking to Romeo in order to make him aware of her sexuality. When he comes to her balcony, she asks him, "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?" (2.1.167). Bly asserts that "satisfaction in her hands, becomes a demure play on the sating of desire" (108). Following this pun, Juliet proposes marriage. She teases Romeo with sexual thoughts and then stipulates that marriage must precede the consummation of their love. Juliet uses "death" in a similar sense. She asks night to "Give me my Romeo, and when I shall die / Take him and cut him out in little stars" (3.2.21-22). Death holds a double meaning in these lines. It connotes both "ceasing to be and erotic ecstasy" (Bly 98). Based upon this double meaning, one can infer that "she sweetly asks 'civil night' to teach her how to lose the game of love she is about to play for her virginity" (Wells 921). She tells her nurse, "I'll to my wedding bed, / And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!" (3.2.136-137). Placing death opposite Romeo highlights the irony of the situation; both death and Romeo should claim her maidenhead together. These sexual puns reveal Juliet's awareness of her sexuality. She entices Romeo, forcing her sexuality to act as emotional currency.
...se he believes Juliet to dead, drinks poison to take his own life as a last resort. What Romeo is unaware of is that Juliet is very much alive, so it is very ironic when he says, “Death, that has sucked the honey of thy breath,/ Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:/ Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet/ Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,/ And death’s pale flag is not advanced there” (V iii 101-105). This is fate in the works in the play. When Juliet sees that her love has not rescued her and rather is dead, she kills herself with a dagger found in the proximity. “O happy dagger/ This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die” (V iii 182-183).
The Deaths of Romeo and Juliet Was it just one person’s fault, or a mixture? In this essay, I will include many different reasons as to why Romeo and Juliet die. I will explain in detail each point and put forward my own opinions. I will use quotes to back up each point and explain why the historical context is relevant.
Romeo and Juliet has many themes which are fate, death and love, these are all intertwined. At the very beginning of the play, before we even know the characters, we know that ‘death-marked’ ‘Star crossed lovers’ will ‘take their lives’ which already brings in the major themes. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony throughout the play and builds up the tension until Act 3 scene 1 where death starts to play a role. The Prologue also informs us about the Montagues and Capulets dislike for each other. The theme of love is also there thought the play. There are different types of love, the unrequited love the Romeo feels for Rosaline and that Paris feels for Juliet. There is also the love between friends such as with Romeo and Mercutio as Mercutio dies to protect Romeo’s honour and then Romeo avenges his death, and then the romantic love Romeo and Juliet share. I believe the Mercutio is one of the main characters in this play. His speeches tell us a lot about him and his actions have a large affect on the ending of the play. Mercutio’s name means mercurial meaning “an unpredictable and fast changing mood” which is an accurate description of Mercutio's personality because in Queen Mabs speech at the beginning he is joking and seeking attention, but at the end he becomes serious and angry.
Death plays a key role in Romeo and Juliet. During the story, six deaths occur that fashion Shakespeare’s publication into the calamity that’s known around the world. Each death pushes the story forward continuously, leading to the finale where the two lovers die due to love and hate from both feuding families.
Besides poison representing death, Shakespeare also uses images of death which symbolize sorrow. One example of such imagery involves the time when Romeo leaves the Capulet party and leaves Juliet behind. He uses images of a lifeless body and death to show the sorrow he feels when he is not with his beloved Juliet.
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses foreshadowing from multiple perspectives to convey his message on how young love can be emotionally devastating.
Now in Act 5, this is the time that Romeo shows the theme death. He
leads her to Friar Laurence to ask for help for a way out of the
Literature according to our textbook is one form of media that is an expression of attitude toward death. Literature gives us the meaning of death as it relates to society and individuals. (Lynne Ann DeSpelder, pg. 17) Novels about war depict how individuals and societies search for meaning in shattering experiences of trauma and loss. In order to concur with our textbook and the media that was chosen, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare came to mind. Romeo and Juliet is the ultimate love story but also shows love in a violent way. Romeo and Juliet go against the society of their families. The lovers decided that it was better to be dead together than to be alive and apart. This type of love has been glorified to be romantic and shows strength.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is arguably the most well known and well-read play in history. With its passionate and realistic treatment of universal themes of love, fate, war, and death, it’s not difficult to see why. However, most people don’t realize that there are several versions of the play, each with their own unique additions and/or changes to the plot, dialogue, and characters. After thumbing through the texts located here on this website, you can see even at a glance the distinct differences between the versions of Romeo and Juliet. This essay will explore how people dealt with death during the Renaissance in context to Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (Lamentable Tragedie.) More specifically, I will show that the added monologue in act 4, scene 5, regarding the convention of death, is consistent to the social and religious beliefs of the time period.
In Romeo and Juliet a significantly horrendous ending takes place, but with Shakespeare's use of foreshadowing he is able to keep the reader from being overly traumatized. For example, when Juliet and Romeo are discussing plans Juliet says, "O God, I have an ill-divining soul! / Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, / As one dead in the bottom of the tomb"(lll,v,14-56). Juliet has mixed feelings about the arrangement devised by the Friar so that the two of them can be together. Juliet thinks disaster will come of previous tactics developed to allow Romeo and her to be together. In addition, when Romeo is speaking of his love for Juliet he says, "And but thou love me, let them find me here. / My life were better ended by there hate / Then death prorogued, wanting of thy love"(ll,ii,75-77). Romeo's immense love for Juliet will eventually lead to the fall of himself. Death lingers throughout the play between Romeo and his love, Juliet. In conclusion, when Juliet is thinking about Romeo she says, "Give me Romeo; and when he shall die / Take him and cut him out in little stars, / And he will make the face of heaven so fine / That all the world will be in love with night," (lll,ii,21-25). This suggests that in the play Romeo will end up dying and Juliet will be there to see it. Juliet prophesizes over many topics in the play and in the end they become true. Foreshadowing is used in this play to help the audience trounce the dreadful outcome.
Just as the Friar says in the beginning of the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, “Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast.” (II.iii.94). this was a sign of foreshadowing for for the death of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Even though fate was a factor that had contributed to a tragic end, there was also personal choice involved, and ultimately, the story may have had a different ending if it weren’t for the flaws of the lovers and their inability to have a grip on reality in dire circumstances. Over the course of the play, the lovers from the conflicting households have not matured and remain rather static in development. Furthermore, in this tragedy, the only son of the montages remains rather childlike, Juliet still seems immature and their relationship over all seems more like a play act on lover rather then something mature and sustainable. Overall, from start to finish, Romeo and Juliet were living in the moment, being absurd and silly rather then focusing on the future and trying to work problems out effectively.
The death of the two lovers in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet seems preventable. Misinformed characters spur a series of unfortunate and ill-timed events that lead to Romeo and Juliet taking their own lives. The audience is constantly aware of Romeo and Juliet’s looming death and always hold knowledge that the characters do not. Shakespeare incorporates this dramatic irony in numerous places in the play which keeps the audience on edge and gives the same sense of fate that the characters experience
Throughout the tragedy Shakespeare foreshadows the conclusion numerous times by adding clues toward what will happen next. In addition, when in times of despair Juliet constantly will resort to comparing good to bad. Finally, adolescent decision making is truly perceived to be ignorant. On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet’s tragic fate was able to end a feud that had torn apart two families for several generations. The theme that people cannot escape their own fate is shown through the motif light and dark. Although Romeo and Juliet entered the dark together they now will spend eternity in the light.