Love, Haste and Contrasts in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Love, Haste and Contrasts in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

In this assignment, I will be looking at the play of Romeo and Juliet.

I will analyse how Shakespeare has used language in the play for

symbolic effect. I will observe on how Shakespeare has presented love

and the way in which Romeo and Juliet talk to each other, I shall

decide whether their love was real and talk about their parents

contrasting views and opinions. I will also comment on the plays

relevance today and see how Shakespeare has used dramatic devices and

structures to enhance the conversation between the young lovers.

Throughout the play there is a constant theme of love and fate, I

shall analyse this theme and show how it affects Romeo and Juliet.

An important scene is the Capulet's ball where Romeo and Juliet first

meet. This shows their love-at-first-sight and can be interpreted into

many different ways. In Act 1 scene 5, Baz Luhrmann's modern film

version presents Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other through a

tropical fish tank. This is a very effective way of showing how they

met, Romeo and Juliet didn't understand the quarrelling between their

families but they were caught up in it, the first thing they truly

understood was that there was something they wanted that was the other

side of the tank, each other. Something tantalising because of the

fish tank, yet the tank made it unattainable. You can walk round a

fish tank and they met each other soon enough, but it turned out that

in the end it was unattainable, in a way that was far more disastrous

and that they were too innocent to see. This is a transported, unreal

scene where anything is pos...

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...nflict, the price

is so ultimate because of Romeo and Juliet's innocence. They did not

make the feud happen, they did not understand the quarrelling and yet

they were caught up in it. The real impact is when the two fathers

shake hands at the end, once their children are dead. This makes the

fighting seem so pointless and futile, and so wrong that Romeo and

Juliet were dragged into it merely because of their names. Shakespeare

teaches a valuable lesson in Romeo & Juliet, he has shown us the price

paid for hasty love. He reveals how blissful and happy love can be,

while also showing us the dangers of allowing love to go to far. Love

in moderation is heavenly, but taking it too far results in madness,

and in the end, pain. Though written 500 years ago, it still carries a

message that is still applicable to today's youth.