The Language of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” ( Act II: Sc.2, line 135) One should had came across this popular expression from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet many times during one’s lifetime. Influenced by the famous play, this expression, used often as mockery, described a person deep in desperate love. Romeo and Juliet was a heart-breaking play about the two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, and their fight to break the boundaries set between them. Through his powerful usage of the English language in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare was able to bring tears, laughter, and anger to his audience by portraying the story of the human struggle against the forces of fate, emotion, and misfortune.

This also expresses that Tybalt is an angry, fiery cha... ... middle of paper ... ... second time it is Juliet who is the aggressor, and in one conversation she is suddenly mature enough to understand what she desires. This is illustrated by her claiming “Then have my lips the sin that they have took.” Although the sonnet is beautiful, it also serves a darker purpose. The prologue is also a sonnet sharing the same rhyme scheme as Romeo and Juliet’s shared sonnet. This again brings up themes of love and fate, and the foreshadowing of their untimely death. Shakespeare uses language brilliantly to express perfect love and link it to tragic fate, which carries a great deal of dramatic significance.

We can see Shakespeare’s challenge to crush these roles in the prevalent drama Macbeth, which helped shaped the scene for the rest of the renaissance literature from the sixteenth century and onward. Macbeth is regarded as a genre of tragedy and its tone, which is prominent at the start of the first scene, is dark, sinister, and plaintive. This tone is not only used throughout the drama but is evident within the characters as well. While the drama express a more sinister tone, there are many moments of humor to enlighten the story as well. Shakespeare always appeased the short attention spanned audience and would put a dash of humor to help keep the attention.

These two emotions are crucial from the start right through to the climax of the play. In my opinion I believe that Shakespeare spends more time talking about love however many of the key events of the play are due to hate as well as love. However the play itself begins with the families of Capulet and Montague in a bitter brawl also this is indicated in the two films. Sometimes equally love and hate contribute and explain some aspects of the play such as the death of Tybalt is a result. Throughout the play, are several types of love that are used, these include courtly or petrarchan love, sexual love, dutiful love and finally true love.

'Bite their thumbs' is an insulting and rude phrase used back then and in this scene there are lots of more insulting lines and puns which quickly shows you can clearly see the cocky attitudes and rivalry between the two houses however even though Benvolio and Tybalt are both Capulets, their per... ... middle of paper ... ... first scene prepares you for the rest of the play by including different ways of speech in different characters this makes the audience more interested and excited in the play, the oxymoron’s and sexual humour towards different characters in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare engages the audience to want to carry on watching the play by ending the scene with Benvolio trying to convince Romeo to find somebody else "I have a soul of lead so stakes me to the ground I cannot move.” This shows dark imagery for the audience on Romeo’s behalf. Even though the audience is already informed that Romeo will find somebody else and that person will be Juliet, the dark imagery used for Rosaline makes the audience more interested as to how he will find Juliet and how quickly it will take for them both to fall in love, despite the two being star crossed lovers. Doomed from the start.

The presentation of love in this play is wide both in scope and in application, including many relevant ideas. The structure of the play helps convey these, and still maintains it as a comedy. There is a sinister, evil tainted scene, followed by a comic one, balancing the play, but still including all the negative points that Shakespeare wants to convey. It is altogether a hugely impressive piece of playwriting, and Shakespeare deserves the adulation he duly receives.

The Idea of Antithesis in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In this essay I am going to look at how antitheses are a big part and how they are central to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There are many antitheses and oxymorons in the play and I will be examining how they are used and how they drive the play on, entertaining and involving the audience. There are so many examples of opposites in the play, covering language, characters, scenes and backgrounds, focusing in the main on the central theme throughout the play of love and hate. The first and main opposite we encounter in the play is love and hate, in act 1 scene 1 although a trace of all the opposites are always present throughout the play. "my only love sprung from my only hate."

Many opposites such as love and hate, life and death have been used repeatedly to emphasis the conflict, which is presented well by William Shakespeare on different levels and in many ways. The themes of love and hate are used effectively, by applying different language, and the emotions expressed by the use of soliloquies. A great deal of violence and tension is built up from the start, but contrasted with the right amount of romance, producing an even balance. Shakespeare's use of contrast is well established in his opening prose, wher... ... middle of paper ... ...gery to make the conflict into a major part of the play, which turns it from being a romance, into a tragedy and leads to the inevitable result of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Romance is found at the heart as well due to “Romeo and Juliet’s” love for each other; breaking all traditions and discreetly having a hidden relationship behind their families’ backs.

Lastly, Romeo is impetuous in many different senses throughout the play, such as his sense of love, pride, and actions. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is forever considered to be a true Aristotelian tragedy. Works Cited Kerschen, Lois. “Criticism.” Drama for Students. Vol.

The Effects of Imagery in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Works Cited Missing Shakespeare used many aspects of language particularly imagery in many forms to make Romeo & Juliet more dramatic, exciting and interesting for his audience. He managed to make the play more accessible to his audience. Some of whom, in the sixteenth century, somewhat ill-educated. He used language to convey the main concerns of the public i.e. death, love, violence, avarice and wealth.