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romeo and juliet william shakespeare short summary
romeo and juliet introduction summary
romeo and juliet summary short
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One of the main catalysts in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' is powerful, uncontrollable emotions; love, hate, wrath, infatuation, and outrage are all apparent in the play and have a direct impact on the tragic events that unfold. In act one, scene two, the strongest emotions conveyed are those of despair, love and sincerity. Shakespeare uses imagery, figurative language and powerful vocabulary to convey these emotions to the audience.
Shakespeare uses dark and light imagery throughout the play to stand for death, violence, sadness and secrecy. In act one, scene two, Shakespeare uses dark imagery to convey Romeo's sadness. Montague describes romeo as creating an 'artificial night' which seems to reflect his dark, depressed mood.
However, in act two, scene two, the mood is altogether more optimistic and Shakespeare uses a lot of light imagery particularly when Romeo is describing Juliet. When he first sees her on the balcony, he compares her to the sun. This clearly conveys Romeo's passion for Juliet as the sun is a giver of life, a brilliant source of light and has connotations of happiness and cheer, which contrasts greatly with Romeo's previous melancholy. Furthermore, Romeo exclaims that Juliet's eyes and cheeks are 'bright and later call her a 'bright angel' which suggests the strength of his admiration for her - to him, she is more of a divine, or spiritual light; a beacon of hope.
Shakespeare emphasizes the optimism of the scene by using language that creates positive connotations of the dark - to contrast the depressive connotations of act one, scene two. Romeo is grateful for 'night's cloak' which allows him to visit Juliet in secret without being captured and killed by the guards. This notion is developed later in the play - Romeo and Juliet meet primarily in the night-time whilst the main acts of violence occur during the day. this manipulation of stereotypical imagery, combined with the sense of contrasting and conflicting emotions.
Finally, I believe that the strongest emotion that Shakespeare conveys to the audience is the strength of Romeo's love. This is because he uses such a wide range of devices to portray this emotion; dark and light imagery, oxymorons, hyperbole, metaphor and similes.
An example of this is “Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, That runaways’ eyes may wink and Romeo leap to these arms, untalk’d of an unseen”. Juliet is longing for Romeo to come and consummate their marriage at night, which is when they can be together, as their relationship is too unnatural for them to meet at day, due to the hatred of their families. It is further proven that the dark imagery represents passion. Juliet is passionate about Romeo, as she has made up her mind to give her maidenhood to him, which is something she can never undo. An additional quote is “Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and live, or stay and die… Let me be ta’en, let me be put to death; I am content, so thou wilt have it so“. Romeo has just consummated his marriage with Juliet. He says that the stars are gone, and that daylight is coming. Romeo must leave, as Verona is waking up, and he will be killed if he is seen with Juliet. Even with this risk, he considers staying with Juliet, as he enjoys being with her. Dark imagery is used to show how passionate Romeo is about Juliet. He made their marriage legal, and is even considering risking death to stay with her longer. He has permanently committed to her, and cannot go back. As the evidence presented shows, the dark imagery in Romeo and Juliet reflects the theme of passion.
Akin to Laurent 's play, Romeo and Juliet occurs at night. This illustrates the way Romeo and Juliet 's love exists in a world separate from the hatred of the feud, flourishing only at night, an allusion to the forbidden nature of their relationship.
William Shakespeare’s diverse use of rhetorical and figurative language enhances and develops the moods he conveys, thus creating vast and various atmospheres throughout his works. An example of one his works that uses many of these devices is Shakespeare’s renowned Romeo and Juliet. In the famous play, the two lovebirds (Romeo and Juliet), fall in a forbidden love as the long-lasting rivalry between their two families continues its onslaught. The couple later on tragically commit suicide, which ultimately ends the feud. During the journey of the two lovers, Shakespeare expresses clearly the mood of each scene using figurative language.
In Act I of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare demonstrates different forms of love that characters face. From the beginning, Romeo struggles to find true love and what love really is. As for Juliet, she also struggles on what love is, but also finding her own voice. And when finally finding true love they discover that they have fallen in love their own enemy. They both realize that the idea of love can be amazing, but also a painful experience. Shakespeare demonstrates love versus evil and the forms love takes that is acknowledged as an universal issue that connects different types of audiences. Audiences are captured by relating on love and the emotions that are displayed. From Romeo and Rosaline’s unrequited love, Paris and Juliet’s false love, and Romeo and Juliet’s ill-fated love, create the forms of love that establishes love as a leading theme in Act I.
On first seeing Juliet, Romeo exclaims, "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; … So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows" (Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 44-48) Romeo describes Juliet's beauty in terms of light and dark. "She doth teach the torches to burn bright" means both that her beauty is brighter than the light of any torch and that she makes the whole room light up. The brightness of Juliet's beauty is made even brighter by the contrasts with the blackness of the "Ethiope" and the blackness of crows. The use of antithesis with the "snowy doves" and the "crows" creates a powerful opposing force showing how she stands out from the others. Another interpretation of the dove is that it is a symbol of peace and sets in place an image of Romeo and Juliet's love creating peace between the two rival families. Another moment is when Juliet is waiting for Romeo to come to her bed. In her imagination, the night will bring her love. She goes on to say, "Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, / That runaways' eyes may wink and Romeo" (Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 5-6). Juliet is seeing things as though she is in bed, the curtains are closed, creating a dark atmosphere where they act their love. In the dark, the pair will create their own light, because "Lovers can see to do their amorous rites / By their own beauties" The use of courtly love is very common in theatres at the time of Romeo and Juliet because in those days people would dream and fantasize about courtly love and was an entertaining
In Romeo and Juliet, words are frequently the choice of weapon for characters, yet they are also beautiful and show deep affection from one character to another. Thus far in the story, powerful words have acted both from insult as well as adoration between characters, going even further than many actions taken by characters. From beginning fights such as that between Romeo and Tybalt to starting a marriage between Romeo and Juliet, powerful words have undeniably been vital throughout the story.
In the beginning of the scene, she urges the sun to set and night to come. She not only asks the night to guide her but also to hide her so she can “grow bold” (3.2.15). She wants to be passionate and please Romeo, in spite of her nervousness. As she is speaking, she realizes that there is nothing wrong with having sex with a loving husband. When she has this revelation, her longing for Romeo is renewed. While calling out for him, she refers to him as “day in night” (3.2.17), reminiscent of Romeo referring to Juliet as the Sun and saying that if her eyes were stars birds would mistake the night for the day. Juliet is as in love with Romeo as Romeo is with her. She is waiting for him to come to her room, for him to stand against the darkness “whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back” (3.2.20). He and she will glow with their love for each other, making up for the lack of light in the night. Juliet also trusts that Romeo has not been immodest with other women in the past. When asking night to help her, she says the match is being played for “a pair of stainless maidenhoods” (3.2.13), meaning both her pure virginity and Romeo’s. She trusts that Romeo’s virginity hasn’t been profaned previously. She manages to talk herself out of her nervousness by being poetically exuberant in expressing her romantic feelings towards Romeo,
In my essay I will be discussing the many ways in which Shakespeare causes us to feel sympathy towards Romeo and Juliet in the final scene of the play, after a brief summary of the events previous. In the beginning, Romeo and Juliet meet each other for the first time at a party. They fall in love and eventually decide to get married. As a result of Romeo killing Tybalt for revenge, he is banished from Verona. Juliet is being forced to marry Count Paris. A plan comes about that Juliet is to be drugged which would cause her to appear dead and therefore preventing her from having to marry Paris. However Romeo fails to receive the details of the plan and thinks that she is dead. He therefore returns to Verona to pay his last respects and end his own life. This brings us to the final scene of the play.
Love, what a small word for being one of the most powerful and complicated emotion someone can receive. Love grants people an experience of other emotions such as, sadness, happiness, jealousy, hatred and many more. It is because of those characteristics that love creates that make it so difficult to define the emotion in a few words. In the play, “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, defy their parents in hopes of being able to be together and live a happy life. The characters in “Romeo and Juliet” show the characteristics of love through their words and actions throughout the play. The attributes the characters illustrate throughout the play are rage, loyalty, and sorrow.
One of William Shakespeare's most famous plays is "Romeo and Juliet." I believe the reason for this is its sense of reality and idealism. This paper will present images of human emotions in "Romeo and Juliet," which make this tragedy so believable.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is arguably one of the most beautiful yet tragic love stories ever written. Romeo and Juliet, two lovers from feuding families, fall instantly in love when they first lay eyes on each other. Romeo compares Juliet’s beauty to the bright torches as well as the sun, and he realizes that the only time they can see each other is at night when all is dark. Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery throughout the play, with each having a different meaning. He turns light and dark imagery on its head by showing darkness as a safe place for the lovers, and light as both harsh and a representation of beauty.
Shakespeares’s use of light and dark imagery contributes to the longing tone of the play, giving the audience insight to Romeo’s thoughts that justify his actions. Romeo uses light and dark imagery in his reaction to Juliet’s beauty when he says;
The play veers between love and hatred. The acts get more and more powerful until the death of the two protagonists. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet are redemptive. Shakespeare is very good at using different techniques to tell their story, all while centring the theme around love and
On first seeing Juliet, Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to emphasise Juliet’s beauty. Romeo exclaims ‘O, she [Juliet] doth teach the torches to burn bright!’ he describes Juliet’s beauty as being brighter than the light of a torch. Light and dark imagery is used to create mood and show contrast as the light of a torch is used to show the way in darkness and is also suggested to be a beacon of hope, this proposes Romeo was in the dark and Juliet is his light to guide the way. Romeo also compares Juliet to ‘a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear’ the bright glare of Juliet’s looks are made even brighter as a ‘bright jewel’ contrasts against the darkness of an ‘Ethiop’s ear’, this simile is used to highlight Juliet as a rare, unique...
The light and dark imagery that Shakespeare uses in this passage describes Juliet as a young and eager lover. Romeo associates Juliet with light meaning goodness. Then Romeo says that Juliet looks like the excellent night. The night that Romeo speaks of represents Rosaline. Romeo basically says through with light and dark imagery, that Juliet is as good as Rosaline to love. Romeo then compares Juliet to a "winged messenger of heaven" who filled with lightness and goodness. He says that all humans look upon this kindness as the messenger "bestrides the lazy puffing clouds" while doing his errands. Romeo explains using this imagery that everyone looks at Juliet because she gives off a stunning and intricate outlook.