William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
4.1. Solution of the dichotomy
4.1.1. Double suicide
At the end of act IV, after Romeo and Juliet have taken their farewell
and Juliet's (second) marriage has been appointed, the situation seems
hopeless. Act III concludes with a soliloquy by Juliet, in which she
mentions the possibility of suicide.
I'll to the Friar to know his remedy.
If all else fail, myself have power to die.
There are lots of other passages which point to Romeo and Juliet's
final death. In the Prologue the Chorus already announces "their
death" and "their death-marked love". The Friar also anticipates the
cruel end of their love when he warns "these violent things have
violent ends".
Shortly before Romeo and Juliet are married Romeo says
But come what sorrow can,
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
That one short minute gives me in her sight
Basically, he has reached what he has described as his utmost
fulfilment. "It is enough I may but call her mine".
In chapter 3, I explained that the love of Romeo and Juliet appears as
an attempt. But are we to evaluate their love as a success, as a
successful attempt? Or are does their death show that their love was a
failure?
Though the circumstances which led to the death at the end of act V
were coincidence to a large extent, both their deaths are suicide,
committed through their own decision. They both prefer death to a
living without each other.
Romeo hears about the false message o Juliet's death in V. i. His
reaction is immediate and resolute: "Then I defy you, stars!". His man
Balthasar unwittingly has the correct suggestio...
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...meo and Juliet to death. "The point of the play [...] is not how
such a love can arise out of hatred and then triumph over it in death,
but that it does". Therefore, though Romeo and Juliet are responsible
for their deeds, their love is not a question of guilt. "Nowhere in
this play is it suggested that damnation lies in wait for the lovers.
The audience is likely to feel that Romeo and Juliet had dared greatly
The plot shows that Fortune and Death are powers who take place in the
individual deeds of Romeo and Juliet. As love is the motif for their
important decisions in the play, the power of love also belongs to
these forces, it is even the central power.
From the real world's point of view their love failed, but as Romeo
and Juliet at least try to defy their fortune, it was a great success
for the power of love.
wither in their pride/ Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” From
“He who falls in love meets a worse fate than he who falls from a
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
two families. It was unjust of him to send Romeo away from Verona as a
says this to threaten Juliet as if to say if you do not do this then
His love for Rosaline is great but yet she can not say the same and
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet `Romeo and Juliet` is one of the best love stories of all time but although Shakespeare wrote the play, the story wasn't original. It all started hundreds of years before Shakespeare was born, in Italy when myths and folktales travelled about two young lovers from enemy families. After that, a poem was written called `The tragical history of Romeus and Juliet` by Arthur Brooke in 1562. So although Shakespeare's ideas weren't original, he has developed the basic ideas so well that now the whole world are familiar with the deeply touching love story of `Romeo and Juliet`.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "Many a morning hath he been there seen /With tears augmenting the
“Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, still-waking sleep, that is not what this is” (Shakespeare 1.1. 179-180). A string of contradictions explain the love story of Romeo and Juliet, a contradiction. Some critics consider this story a tragedy because Shakespeare once wrote; “the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves”. While others say it does not follow the standard Aristotelian form of tragedy (Krims 1). Romeo and Juliet can not be a tragedy because no flaw causes them to fall, the lovers, could not have controlled fate, and family and friends assisted them to their deaths.
Love is considered a wonderful connection between two people that brings happiness to many. Although without hate no one would realize how marvelous love truly is. Does this mean hate is more powerful than love throughout the world? Hate overpowers love because there may be so much love in this world, but with the tiniest bit of hate everything could be changed in a split second. Hate is an indestructible power that will demolish anything in its way, like it did in The Coffin Quilt, by Ann Rinaldi. Roseanna McCoy and Johnse Hatfield’s love was simply not powerful enough to defeat the hate that came along with the love.
in the bottom of a tomb. ’O God, I have an ill divining soul! Methinks
Throughout Romeo and Juliet we can see that hate and love are very significant themes in the play and often occur alongside each other. Although love is vital, it wouldn’t be so major if it weren’t for the elements of hate, which intensify the love by contrasting against it.
Micheal Jordan famously wrote “If you accept the expectations of others then you never will change the outcome” (Jordan). One can appreciate the context of the quote when relating it to one of William Shakespeare’s greatest work, “Romeo and Juliet”, in which two long-feuding families finally end their strife after their children defy the societal expectations, and consequently take their lives away. The two lovers struggle to live up to the expectations society demands from them, which oppose the existence of their love. For example, the audience sees Juliet challenge her family’s expectations in order to protect her relationship with her true love, Romeo. Additionally, both Romeo and Juliet challenge their gender roles in order to love freely without any opposition from society. Also, as the love between the two intensify, both Romeo and Juliet struggle to abide to the social expectations of their Christian faith. In a nutshell, one of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays, “Romeo and Juliet”, is about how two lovers choose to defy the social expectations demanded by their society in an attempt to create an environment where the “true love” they possess can exist.
Prodigious birth of love it is to me/ That I must love a loathed enemy. ”(ACT I, Scene 5, Lines 152-155) Juliet had just found out that the man at the party she loved was one her family’s enemy. Love was evil and ruled her feelings.
The nurse, was to keen to act as a go between because she felt that