Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a Tragedy of two “star-crossed loves’” destine to be together. The “two households, both alike in dignity” but drawn apart by an “ancient grudge.” The lovers’ death is caused by many a reason of haste, society, hierarchy, religion, time, loyalty, honour and education. The characters themselves all have a part to play in the deaths.
Children in Elizabethan time were bought up to respect and obey their parents. Children called their mum her “ladyship.” Girls were allowed to marry at twelve and boys at fourteen. Wives remained the property of their husband and were often treated as objects. “Women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall” Men were head of the household and women had to obey and respect them. In them days the plague was around which prevented Romeo getting the letter
Looking at the characters we can see how they might of influenced the outcome of the play. Romeo is a young impulsive boy; his maturity grows when he meets Juliet. Romeo is very shallow because at the banquet he is stunned by Juliet’s beauty that he immediately dumps Roseline. Romeo has “ne’er saw true beauty till this night,” and becomes dedicated to Juliet. Juliet is a young intelligent pretty girl. She was obedient and a respectable girl, until Romeo became the focus of her life. When she married Romeo she was prepared to take risks for love and was independent.
Friar Lawrence is a priest and it is his plan that went wrong and caused the final tragedy. Friar Lawrence gets too personally involved and goes out of character. He is too optimistic and over ambitious. He hopes the marriage will end the feuding of the two families.
The nurse treats Juliet as the daughter she once had. She is Juliet’s confidante and helper for the play. She makes us laugh and is an easy target.
Family values and hierarchy were important at that time. Lord Capulet, head of the household was a wealthy man and married a younger woman. Lady Capulet seems to think of marriage as a business, so she wants her daughter Juliet to get married as soon as possible. Lady Capulet is unsympathetic and unaffectionate to Juliet. Paris is a young, honourable man, but just assumes Juliet will love him. Traditionally in them days Paris went to Lord Capulet to ask him about his “suit”.
The Nurse was a go between the two lovers so therefore was helping and encouraging the relationship. The nurse however was very careful in her encouragement and made sure that it was as secretive as it could be ‘I am the drudge, and toil in your delight’ here the nurse feels that she is doing right by being Juliet’s messenger but as we learnt at the beginning of the play in the prologue the lovers will end in disaster. ‘a pair of star crossed lovers take their lives’ this provides dramatic irony as we are aware that once they in love it will end in disaster.
In every fairy tale, movie, story, and play there is always a ‘happily ever after’ but in not in this case. The star struck lovers, Romeo and Juliet, both from families who loathe each other, end up taking their lives because they rather die than live without one another. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by, William Shakespeare, mainly focuses on how selfishness can lead to tragedy. The selfish personalities of the characters caused conflict, betrayal, and death.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In the age of Rome and Juliet’s creation, many values of society were. different from those we observe in modern day life. Women did not have equal rights, fathers had a lot more authority over their children and arranged marriages were still practiced.
... marriage to Romeo). “Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence’s cell; There stays a husband to make you a wife. [...] Hie you to church; I must another way, to fetch a ladder, by the which your love must climb a bird’s nest soon when it’s dark” (II. v. 69-77). Nurse is willing to go to certain extents to help Juliet because she is like a daughter to her. She brainstorms the plan so the two young lovers can be together. Also, her actions improve the tale overall. “This afternoon, sir? Well, she shall be there” (II. iv. 175). In a way, Nurse is Juliet’s ‘wing-man’. She helps her get the chance to be with her suitor, which is what the whole plot revolves around.
Lady Capulet abides by these rules when dealing with her daughter. She knows her husband is planning to marry their daughter to Paris. It is she that must prepare Juliet for the news because one of her duties is to take care of the household. However, Lady Capulet has no say of who Juliet should marry, because that is left to the husband who is lord of the manor.
wither in their pride/ Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” From
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet At the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is portrayed as
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
where every third line had to rhyme and the last two lines also had to
“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.
Her relationship with Juliet is very distant and weak. This is revealed by when she calls the nurse to ‘’come back again’’ when talking to Juliet. She becomes nervous and feels like she couldn’t talk to Juliet without the presence of the nurse.This suggests that she’s not used to being alone with Juliet and relies on the nurse to do the parenting. In
When people are growing up they often feel a loss of a loved one is very serious and think of their death instead of dealing with the pain. This play shows us that Romeo and Juliet should have not been too impulsive with their choices and should have thought more about their decisions. The impulses in Romeo and Juliet were shown by Shakespeare with certain foreshadowing, situational irony and dramatic irony. This shows the audience that young love can take you to places in your mind you never want to cross and you have to be careful in making your decisions.
When Juliet is told of her parents plans to wed her to Count Paris, she expresses her reluctance to accept the proposal. Juliet, hoping her parents would understand and consider her desires, is shocked when Lord Capulet reacts in pure rage and says, “...Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! / I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday, / Or never after look me in the face. / Speak not. Reply not. Do not answer” (3.5.160-164). With greed blinding his eyesight, Juliet is no longer seen by Capulet as a human with a heart and soul, but is rather an object, with a price tag hung over her head. Lord Capulet’s inhuman outlook upon her banishes any hope Juliet had of her parents understanding her relationship with Romeo, and drives her to take risky decisions in order to fulfill her heart. The derogatory, and demeaning language Lord Capulet uses to express his anger over Juliet’s defiance of marriage, can be clearly attributed as the sole cause of Juliet’s desperation to escape the grasp of Lord Capulet and take the perilous decisions to wager death in order to find sanctuary in
The Nurse’s job is take care of Juliet and raise her; however, upon learning that Juliet is romantically involved with their family’s enemy, she doesn’t provide any form of counsel to Juliet.” I must another way, To fetch a ladder by the which your love Must climb a bird 's nest soon when its dark.” (2.5.77-79). The Nurse aides Romeo by telling him a way to Juliet’s room showing her approval of the relationship. She did not provide any form of counsel to Juliet or inform Capulet or Lady Capulet about Juliet’s relationship. Due to the fact that the Nurse does not do her job and doesn’t tell Juliet to end her relationship with Romeo, it caused this ill-fated relationship to continue. To add to the issue, the Nurse later betrays Juliet when Juliet begs her for help. “I think you are happy in this second match, For it excels your first, or, if it did not, Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were, As living here and you no use of him.” (3.5.226-238). The Nurse goes against her previous actions and expects Juliet to forget about Romeo by dispraising him. Juliet wants to remain faithful to her husband and this betrayal along with Capulet’s ultimatum causes Juliet to act hastily and want to die if she wasn’t with
Reckless actions lead to untimely deaths. In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, both protagonists fight for their hopeless love. Bloodshed and chaos appear inevitable in fair Verona; Romeo and Juliet come from enemy households, the Montegues and the Capulets, who have sworn to defeat one another. The young and handsome Romeo weeps over his unrequited love for Rosaline, until he lays his eyes on Juliet. Strong and independent, Juliet seeks to escape her family’s will to marry her off to Paris, a kinsman of the Prince. Fate ties these adolescents’ lives together binding them to witness the ill-fortunes of Romeo and Juliet’s love. Romeo and Juliet prove themselves woefully impulsive through their words and actions, which ultimately lead them along a series of unfortunate mishaps.