Dramatic Tension in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays,
and was written by the Bard around the end of the sixteenth century.
Though in actually fact, Romeo and Juliet was not an original story.
Elizabethan audiences would not have expected fresh stories all the
time, but "modern" adaptations of classic stories. Romeo and Juliet's
plot dates back much further than the late 16th century, but existed
in variations, such as Pyrimus and Thisbe, that were adapted and
re-written by Shakespeare. Shakespeare's genius does not lie in
creating such a gripping story, but in telling the story in such a
gripping way, so much so that even though everyone knows the tragic
ending, it still has modern audiences on the edges of their seats. How
does Shakespeare do this? The key to this is dramatic irony. Dramatic
irony means that the audience knows more than the characters do,
creating that shouting-at-ethe-screenthe ttttttttttttttthe-screen,
"No-she's-not-really-dead!" desire for everything to turn out alright,
even though we know it won't. Shakespeare also covers many themes and
emotions in his play, imbuing the text with a sense of truth and
wisdom that still rings true.
Shakespeare wisely chose to open his play with a short prologue, a
short speech which sets the background for the play, and basically
tells us what is going to happen in the play. This might seem slightly
pointless and illogical; why tell the story in one verse at the
beginning of the play, therefore spoiling the ending? This is because
Shakespeare's audience knew what was going to happen, so the ending
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... show the extent of his contempt for the Capulets.
It is also notable that Mercutio uses alliteration (head, heel). If he
had used another oath such as "my foot" it would not have been
stichomythia. A more modern and accessible example would be Dr. Seuss'
poem, Green Eggs and Ham; "Will you eat green eggs and ham, [something
something] Sam-I-Am," "I will not eat green eggs and ham, [something
something] Sam-I-Am".
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Although Shakespeare wrote his plays and sonnets 400 years ago, his
writing remains the blueprint for plays, films and books today. The
way in which he mixed comedy and pathos, romance and action, is still
the holy grail of writers today, and few writers today can write with
this blend of emotions as seamlessly as William Shakespeare did four
hundred years ago.
The Pressure on Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare pressure builds up to Juliet. This is caused by a number of factors. Because Juliet is the only surviving daughter, the only child of the Capulet s, there there is a big expectancy on Juliet of the Capulets, because everybody expects her to make a marriage with a noble man.
Previous to Act 3 Scene 1 Romeo and Juliet marry each other. This is a
Dramatic Tension in Act Three, Scene One of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Although the plays of Shakespeare were written for a mixed audience, anyone watching Romeo and Juliet would appreciate the tension and drama in act three, scene one. It is unusual for two major characters to die so early on, but Shakespeare was a master playwright, and this is arguably his dramatic best. The scene opens with light humour from Mercutio and Benvolio, and follows on from the relaxed atmosphere of the previous scene, the wedding. Benvolio, however, is worried, and tries to persuade Mercutio to 'retire'. He talks of the days stirring 'the mad blood' of the family feud.
Fear and Tension in Act IV Scene 3 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "Romeo and Juliet" was first performed around 1595 on a bare stage without any sets, with only a trap door and discovery room. The fact that there were no sets meant that Shakespeare had to create fear and tension in what the characters would say, not through decorative sets. The audience would stand in front of the uncovered stage. The play is set in Verona in Italy, where two families of equal class lived: the Capulets and the Montagues. These two families were strong
How does Shakespeare build tension in ‘Romeo & Juliet’? Pay close attention to act 3, scene 1 in your answer.
dead. A letter was sent out to Romeo telling him of the plan, but he
this scene and the end of Act 1 Scene 4. The last scene ended on a
At the start of Act 1 Scene 1 Sampson and Gregory start the scene off
Dramatic Tension in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare's, 'Romeo and Juliet', tells us the story of two feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues; whose children fall in love with each other and eventually take their lives. The prologue is a brief description of the play. As the play was written in the 16th Century, a time when many people who attended the theatre were inattentive, they needed help with the context and meaning of the play; this is what the prologue is for. The prologue also makes the audience want to know what happened in between the beginning and ending; which they already know. Dramatic irony is introduced this way.
The Dramatic Qualities of Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy, dealing with the love story between Romeo and Juliet, set against the feud between their two families. Shakespeare uses metaphors and similes to help create tension by comparing things with something else, for example “Am I like such a fellow?” Which is describing but also asking a question, But also Shakespeare also uses rhyming couplets to have a dramatic effect, such as “what eye but such an eye would spy at an quarrel?” is where Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s character to play with the words to make it funny and dramatic at the same time.
The story of Romeo and Juliet is an inevitable tragedy. Many events take place, which are quite detrimental to the love Romeo and Juliet have for one another. By mentioning marriage and death together, Shakespeare foreshadows Romeo and Juliet's tragic ending. From the very beginning of the play throughout and to the end, there has always been the intent of a tragedy, and Shakespeare uses much dramatic irony to express this.
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.
Examine how Shakespeare creates dramatic tension at the lovers’ first meeting in Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet. How easy is it to relate to them?
rage and saysthat ' I will not budge for no mans pleasure, i' At this
Conflict has many different meanings for both physical and verbal abuse. Conflict could be a viscous feud or a full on physical fight. These days in television soap dramas we intend to see more verbal conflict than physical violence. But over the last couple of years new television programmes have been released which contains a lot of action-packed fighting and physical conflict of some kind. Some programmes include physical and verbal conflict including, “Eastenders”, “The Bill” and other programmes similar to these. The releasing of films such as, “Indiana Jones”, and “Rambo” catches the audience’s attention by involving action-packed, exciting features such as heavy arguments or thrilling battles. Some films are made to include action and excitement but when audiences watch it they cannot help feeling sorry for the victim or just generally sad for the people having the fight. In the same way Romeo and Juliet presents conflict more intense than most soap dramas. When the play was first performed in “The Theatre”, in Shoreditch in the mid 1590’s, the Elizabethan audience was shocked at how Juliet disobeyed her father and also how Romeo and Juliet disobeyed their families. Sympathy must be felt for the audience because they would have never known the idea of a son or daughter disobeying their father. The law at that time stated that the daughter was the property of her father until the daughter got married then her husband “owned” her as property. From this sympathy must be felt for Juliet because she is a victim of arranged marriages. When the play was first performed it got massive great responses which then lead to the play being transferred to The Globe theatre at the start of the 1600’s. Props and different costumes helped ...