The Language of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
"Gibson says that Shakespeare, "brilliantly transformed whatever he
worked on", through his use of language.
Shakespeare was fascinated by language. Throughout the play 'Romeo and
Juliet', he uses words a tools to do his work and conjure images of
every different emotion. Shakespeare unleashes the whole spectrum of
emotions, always having at least two scenarios for each scene. These
usually come from the characters and 'Romeo and Juliet' is rich in
many different uses of language.
The play 'Romeo and Juliet' is full of oppositions that beset the
doomed lovers. In the prologue, we hear of an, "ancient grudge break
to new mutiny." A clever use of language, oxymorons, highlight these
oppositions.
An oxymoron is usually a phrase, divided into two parts. Each part is
contradictory to the other and the result is a phrase of striking
expression. An example of this would be, "O loving hate." The words
love and hate are opposite emotions, so when placed together they
emphasise and heighten the feelings of Romeo, who is describing his
love for Rosalind and Rosalind's failure to return his affections.
Oxymorons are very useful for describing these contradictory states of
feeling that people often experience in times of excitement, crisis,
and stress.
In Act 3 Scene 2 Juliet finds out about Tybalts death and that her
lover, Romeo, is the murderer. She uses several oxymorons to help
describe her torn emotions for Romeo,
"Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical! Dove-feathered raven,
wolvish-ravening lamb! Despised substance of divinest show!"
Juliet is battling with her f...
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... goose chase," and," where the devil?," are
found in the play, all of which are still widely in use today. This
shows just how much impact Shakespeare has had on the English
language, to still be able to find phrases that are 400 years old in
existence today.
Not only this, but the wide, complex spectrum of emotions created by
the words Shakespeare uses adds depth and underlying meaning to his
characters and their situations. Love, hate, every single emotion, are
illustrated through the many types of language found in the play
'Romeo and Juliet', such as metaphors, similes and puns. He even
invents his own words; giving existing words new meanings and
unexpected twists.
I think Gibson is right when he says that Shakespeare, "brilliantly
transformed whatever he worked on." 'Romeo and Juliet' is no
exception.
The Language in William Shakespeare's Act Three Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet. The scene opens peacefully and gently. Lines 1-25 are highly poetic. reflect the beauty of the romantic scene.
Friar Lawrence is a humble and holy who is respected by the other characters. Figurative language and dramatic conventions give a well-grounded understanding of his motives, traits and values. His main motive is peace between the families he “All I had wanted to achieve was peace.” As a friar he respects the Montague’s and Capulet’s. The quote represents his motive that he wanted the feuding to stop. When he married Romeo and Juliet he wished for more then their happiness. He hoped that the marriage would bring families together. When witnessing the deaths he says in sorrow, “I’m a friar holy and peaceful.” “Oh lord the poor deaths that lie in front of me. Are due to my greed to resolve the feud.” The term friar represents his traits, being
This rhetorical feature is only one of a large arsenal that Shakespeare utilizes to convey his story. Romeo begins his ritualistic display of affection in a grand manner, his language resplendent with beautiful imagery. At the open, there is little dialogue; Romeo must first woo his intended. This being achieved through antithetical couplets to highlight the differences between Juliet and everything inferior around her; 'Juliet is the sun...Kill the envious moon ', 'She speaks yet she says nothing ', are prime examples of this technique. This is also often assisted by; 'godly ' references that of 'heaven ' and that of the 'angel, ' to emphasize his rhetoric. Indeed, the rhyming verse adds a pleasant sound to the ear, to heighten the effect of Romeo 's words, a technique very much commonplace in that era of
Many people claim that love and hate are the same thing, while others say that the two emotions are complete opposites. William Shakespeare explored the two emotions in his play Romeo and Juliet. In the play, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are teens who grew up in families that have been feuding longer than either family can remember. However, the two meet out of unforeseen circumstances, and fall irrevocably in “love”. They woo, and within twenty-four hours they are married. Things seem to be going well until Romeo is provoked into killing Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, and gets himself banished. Juliet is also promised to marry Paris, an eligible bachelor, while she is still mourning Romeo’s banishment. She decides to see one of the two people who know of her and Romeo’s marriage, Friar Laurence, to whom she says that if she cannot find a way out of being alone she will kill herself. The Friar gives her a potion to sleep for forty-two hours and appear dead to help her. The plan is that Romeo is supposed to be there when she wakes up, but Romeo hears that she is dead and kills himself at her feet. She then awakes and kills herself as well, ending the whole brutal affair. The reader is then left to wonder if what they have just experienced is a tragedy of young love or a lesson on the power of hate, a question for which Shakespeare leaves a blurry but definite answer. After a deeper look into the text, it becomes clearly evident that hate has far more power over the characters than their “love” ever could.
The love shared between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet is one of the most prominent emotions in the play that continues to influence behavior. When Juliet asks Romeo how he was able to climb her balcony, he responds, “With love’s light wings I do o’erperch these walls,/For stony limits cannot hold love out,/And what love can do, that dares love attempt” (Rom. 2.2.71-73). Romeo expresses the strength and influence love has on his behavior in order to be with Juliet. But when Friar Lawrence attempts to be optimistic about his banishment, Romeo obstinately asserts that, “Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel./Wert thou as young as I…”(3.3.67-68). While love can provide strength, it can also prompt, especially amongst young lovers, irrationality. It is evident that “His [Romeo’s] whole love affair betrays a cast of mind that is hopeful against obstacle and impatient of cold reason” (Draper 122). This “cast of mind” is a portion of the human nature that Shakespeare clearly conveys in the play. Shakespeare, through Romeo, portrays the positive and negat...
Importance of Language in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all
Romeo & Juliet Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.
In all of the best works of literature, each of a writer's characters has a purpose whether the role is small or big. Even if it goes unnoticed, the small characters usually play a key role to the story's plot development. These minor characters also add depth to the story's world and also help in the development of the major characters' personality. In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the minor characters of Friar Lawrence, the Nurse, and Tybalt are in many ways the most pivotal characters to the play's development.
At the start of the play, in Act 1 Scene 1, there is a theme of
Language and Dramatic Devices in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Introduction Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is known as a love tragedy. features many rhymed verses, especially when Romeo and Juliet first. speak.
Throughout Romeo and Juliet we can see that hate and love are very significant themes in the play and often occur alongside each other. Although love is vital, it wouldn’t be so major if it weren’t for the elements of hate, which intensify the love by contrasting against it.
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.
... off.”(“Love’s Bond”, Robert Nozick) If that is true when loving someone, Romeo evidently made the wrong decision to kill Tybalt. By fulfilling this revenge, Romeo not only caused Juliet to be upset, but he also placed a burden on himself: an imprudent decision. After analyzing Romeo’s careless approach to risking to lose Juliet’s love, it becomes clear that Romeo’s love for Juliet is not a real romantic love, but it is a hormone-driven, passionate, hasty love that is portrayed as ruinous and preposterous by Shakespeare through Romeo’s actions.
The classic play Romeo and Juliet by the famous playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and has captured and inspired readers everywhere. Regardless of the fact that it was written in the 1500’s, it is still being performed and extolled today. There is a multitude of reasons for such continuance of the play. First of all, its everlasting themes of love and hate enable people to deeply relate to the story. Secondly, its memorable characters deeply imprint on the minds of readers. And lastly, above all, is its magnificent language which many writers today regard in awe. These three elements make the acclaimed play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the most timeless stories of our lives.
William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet The two chief families in Verona were the rich Capulets and the Montagues. There had been an old quarrel between these families, which was grown to such a height, and so deadly was the enmity between them, that it extended to the remotest kindred, to the followers and retainers of both sides, insomuch that a servant of the house of Montague could not meet a servant of the house of Capulet, nor a Capulet encounter with a Montague by chance, but fierce words and sometimes bloodshed ensued; and frequent were the brawls from such accidental meetings, which disturbed the happy quiet of Verona's streets. Old lord Capulet made a great supper, to which many fair ladies and many noble guests were invited. All the admired beauties of Verona were present, and all comers were made welcome if they were not of the house of Montague. At this feast of Capulets, Rosaline, beloved of Romeo, son to the old lord Montague, was present; and though it was dangerous for a Montague to be seen in this assembly, yet Benvolio, a friend of Romeo, persuaded the young lord to go to this assembly in the disguise of a mask, that he might see his Rosaline, and seeing her compare her with some choice beauties of Verona, who (he said) would make him think his swan a crow.