More handpicked essays just for you.
How language influences the way we perceive the world
Romeo and Juliet meanings throughout the play
Death as a key theme in Romeo and Juliet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
How Shakespeare Presents the Idea of Contrast in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is one of first tragedies Shakespeare wrote yet one of the most enjoyable plays. One of the reasons that it is so enjoyable is because Shakespeare uses so much contrast throughout the whole play. He contrasts themes, characters, language and structure to make the play exciting and keep the audience on their toes. Some of the main contrasting ideas are life and death, love and death and light and dark. Right at the beginning of the play, in the prologue there is contrast. Shakespeare uses language to demonstrate the idea of contrast. He includes oxymorons and oppositions such as 'star-cross'd lovers' and death-mark'd love'. These oxymorons are figures of speech that put two opposing ideas together. Ill-fated love, love that is doomed to death and deadly loins are not the sort of terms that we imagine hearing as they are very conflicting. There is a lot of contrasting language in Juliet's speech in Act 3, Scene 2. At this stage she is longing for Romeo and even though she talks of Romeo and her love for him, the language gives us a very different image. When we look at the text closely Juliet uses the word black a lot, 'with thy black mantel' and 'black- brow'd night'. When the word black is used we think of death, which evidently occurs a few times in the play. Juliet also uses words like 'hooded' which again makes us think of death. In her speech she uses pathetic fallacy when she says 'cloudy night', which also suggests negative feelings. She also uses sayings such as 'cut out in little stars' and 'unmann'd blood which makes us think of conflict and blood. When you bring together all these negative words and phrases, you think that something bad is going on but Juliet is actually talking about her love for Romeo, making her whole speech completely contrasting. Characters are another thing Shakespeare likes to contrast. For example, Mercutio and Benvolio. You would not expect these two
She is caught between her love and loyalty for Romeo and her family. The feud between the Montague’s and Capulet’s has caused disruption in the relationship between her mother and father. Juliet wonders if Romeo is a ‘Wolfish-ravening lamb’ or in fact a ‘dove-feathered raven. Good and evil contradict each other, as both have traits of one another according to Juliet. Romeo is ‘Just opposite to what though justly seem’st, a raven is a bird of prey and a symbol of evil where-as a dove is a symbol of peace and goodness. An oxymoron has been used to symbolise Juliet’s emotion about Romeo being banished. Although both Romeo and Juliet are married, Shakespeare has used this literary feature to signify that Juliet is still loyal to her family although she has married an enemy. Repetition is used as an emotional indicator, when words are repeated the reader gains a sense of the emotion conveyed and the emphasise it has on the scene. Juliet questions if Romeo would actually kill Tybalt and in reply the nurse signifies ‘It did, it did; alas the day, it did’. Alas has been used to emphasise that Romeo indeed killed Tybalt and it also expresses the nurse’s
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as a Play Of Opposites In the play Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare utilizes opposites in both the thoughts and actions of the characters in Romeo and Juliet. Outlined are contrasts of crime and violence versus peace and law, love versus hate, and young versus old. The uses of crime & violence versus peace and law are demonstrated in Act 3, Scene 1.
William Shakespeare is really famous for his writings, especially Romeo and Juliet. A pair of two star crossed lovers take place, on their mission to unite two houses, Capulets and Montagues, once and for all. In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare presents a lot of paradoxes. This provides a lot of contrast to the text and allows readers to think harder and better understand the intricacies of this writing. In this play, there are many paradoxical themes expressed through the text for example good versus evil, love versus hate, and many more. All these paradoxes are communicated through figurative language, characterization, sound devices, and literary foils. These are literary devices that authors use to help readers to visualize
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet uses opposing forces to express the differences and problems splitting Verona. He uses themes of Life and death, Light and dark, young and old, free will and fate and many other themes that are constantly being brought up throughout the play. Shakespeare used many of these opposing forces and sonnets as at the time he wrote the play this was very big and popular among the people.
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
In act one scene three of Romeo and Juliet Lord Capulet states “…She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” This means that Juliet is not quite fourteen years old and her father is not sure if she is ready to become a wife and mother. There are many differences between how people marry today, and how they married in the time of Romeo and Juliet. Some of the differences are when the people marry, why people marry, and also the level of maturity people marry at.
Juliet’s weakness to be controlled by love leads her to make unadvised and irresponsible decisions that contribute to her choice of ending her life. Characterized as a young and rash teenager, with no interest in love and marriage at first, Juliet wants to be independent. However, after she first lays eyes on Romeo, Juliet’s perception of love is quick to change. Their strong love easily manipulates and clouds her judgment. Even if she is cautious and realizes their love is too fast, the rush of feelings from having a first love overcomes her. Her soft-spoken words symbolically foreshadow the journey of Romeo and Juliet’s love. “Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee, / I have no joy of this contract tonight. / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;…/ This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, / May prove to be a beauteous flower when next we meet” (2.2. 117-123). The blooming flower is indicative of their growing love, especially Juliet. Being her first experience of true love, her actions become more rash the deeper she falls in, even ...
Shakespeare's Presentation of Contrast Relationships Theseus and Chipolata's relationship is a key element to the play as all other events and characters are centred around their wedding. For example, the mechanical's play "Pyramus and Thisby" is to be performed at their wedding; Oberon and Titania argue over each other's feelings towards Theseus and Hippolyta, and Hermia is told to "Take time to pause, and by the next new moon - the sealing day betwixt my love and me," She must wait until after Theseus wedding day before she makes the decision of whether to marry Demetrius or not. So, in a way some of the characters actions are controlled by the wedding. The wedding itself is a symbol of the ideal pattern of love and marriage in Theseus's own world, which is the court. Theseus won Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons in battle.
“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?/ It is the east, and Juliet is the sun/ Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon/ Who is already sick and pale with grief/ That thou her maid art far more fair than she/ Be not her maid since she is envious/ Her vestal livery is but sick and green/ And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off!/ It is my lady. Oh, it is my love/ Oh, that she knew she were!” (Shakespeare II ii 2-11).
Throughout the film, it is clearly shown that the feud is deadly, referring to Mercutio and Tybalt’s death. Although poison has a literal purpose in the play, it also serves as a symbol of hatred between the two families. Friar Laurence uses a simile to apprise the belief that people are a lot like flowers—full of both “loveliness” and “rude-will,” even humans have the capability to be good or deadly. He mentions that it all depends on whether the “rude-will” takes over, which refers directly to how Romeo and Juliet’s love turns deadly when it is poisoned by the family’s vile feud. Due to the feud, the family would never allow the two lovers to be together which is the sole reason Juliet faked her own death and was brought to the Capulet tomb. When Romeo finds Juliet ‘dead’ in the Capulet tomb he can’t bear to live without her love, and he consumes poison which kills him. After Juliet regains consciousness and finds that her love is lifeless, she kills herself using Romeo’s dagger to be with him. This symbol displays that Juliet is happy to die as she describes the item that kills her with a positive connotation using the word ‘happy’. The star-crossed lovers can not cope life without one another. After their relationship was indisposed from the atrocious feud the lovers viewed no other choice representing
Shakespeare centers Romeo and Juliet on the tension of opposing forces, including the conspicuous dichotomies of life and death, peace and war, and young and old. But Shakespeare also explores the underlying theme of emotional poverty within material wealth.
In Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt. Right away, we get an idea of who these characters are and what kind of role they will play throughout the story. Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt share many distinctive characteristics and personalities in the story. We learn that Romeo is the romantic and handsome son of the Montagues. In the beginning of the story, he was depressed, but his mood quickly changed as the story went on. We also learn that Mercutio is Romeo’s closest and good friend who tries to make Romeo forget about his first love, Rosaline. He is a great entertainer and he’s very sarcastic too. Instantly, we learn that Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet’s cousin. He is very hot-headed, aggressive, and violent. He loathes the Montagues very much. Finally, in Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet three characters, Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt and we directly get an idea of what the characters are like.
Shakespeare was a very fine play writer, who examined human nature and exposed it through literature. One of his famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, depict many different themes such as, fate vs. freewill, duty vs. self, feuds, appearance vs. reality, parents choose who we marry, love at first sight and confidante. Appearance vs. reality is one of the themes that are portrayed through out the play. It means, things aren’t always what they seem to be. Something or someone might appear to be another thing, but the reality is different. Romeo and Juliet show appearance vs. reality through out the play because of their secret marriage. Examples of appearance vs. reality are when Juliet finds out about Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment. Juliet’s parents think that Juliet is crying about Tybalt’s death, but she is crying about Romeo’s banishment, when the couple (Romeo and Juliet) get married, but everybody thinks they are still single and when the nurse finds Juliet dead and the Capulet’s have an unnecessary funeral for Juliet even though she is not dead and had only swallowed Friar Lawrence’s potion, which put her into a long sleep.
The theme of conflict plays as big a part as that of love. Although it
When people hear of Romeo and Juliet most think about a tragic love story of two young people who died because they could not bear being without one another, but how did that tragedy come about? Romeo and Juliet meet at a party one night and immediately fall in love. They soon find out they are from families that greatly despise one another and know that they should not be together but they are already too far fallen for one another. Romeo and Juliet's parents were bad influences on their kids because of their refusal to end a long lasting feud, teaching hate towards the opposing family and pushing their kids to do things against their will.