In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, there are three very interesting literary devices that Shakespeare uses. Flat characters are characters that aren’t very developed or completely understood by the audience, and are important to the plot they add more viewpoints and make the story more interesting by having more people. Round characters are characters that are fully developed and understood by the audience, and they are important literary devices because if all the characters were vague, the audience could get lost or lose interest. Foils are characters that are exact opposites, and sometimes help create the “hero” and the “villain” aspect of a story. Flat characters, round characters, and foils are all types …show more content…
When Romeo and Balthasar go to the Capulet’s tomb to find Juliet, Balthasar says to Friar Lawrence, “As I did sleep under this yew tree here, I dreamt my master and another fought, And my master slew him” (Act Five, Scene Three, lines 135-137). Balthasar is a flat character because this is the only time in which he becomes important to the plot, and we don’t know anything about him besides that he is Romeo’s friend. Flat characters make a story interesting by providing more points of view and adding in lesser parts to the …show more content…
When Tybalt challenged Romeo and Mercutio offered to fight instead, Romeo said, “Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up” to which Mercutio replied, “Come, sir, your passado!” (Act Three, Scene One, lines 78-79). While Romeo is begging Mercutio to keep the peace, Mercutio is all ready to to kill Tybalt, which shows that Romeo is a lover, and Mercutio is a fighter; proving them to be foils. Foils make the story interesting by creating two opposite forces that either work together or tear each other
William Shakespeare, author of thirty-eight plays includes the literary technique, foil, in one of his most popular plays, “Romeo and Juliet.” The tragedy consists of conflicted, complex characters, and characters whose personality contrast with another and emphasize another’s attributes adds another dimension to an already celebrated piece of
Mercutio: Menî–¸ eyes were made to look, and let them gaze. I will not budge for no manî–¸ pleasure, I. This is just a small sampling of crime and violence versus peace and law. Later in this scene, Mercutio challenges Tybalt in a duel, then when Mercutio is slain, Romeo goes on to challenge Tybalt, killing him. If Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo would have listened to Benvolio, the fights would have not occurred, and the outcome of the play would be changed. An example of love versus hate occurs through the relationship Romeo and Juliet and the hate between their families.
The well known plays of Shakespeare contribute their recognition to the characters. In his plays, characters are made to imitate people. His most famous play Romeo and Juliet is a great demonstration of this. Shakespeare shows the complexities of the characters in Romeo and Juliet, such as their actions and their emotions, through juxtaposition. Juliet is conflicted about her feelings about Romeo once she hears that he had killed Tybalt.
The excerpt shows how even Mercutio recognizes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets being destructive, and how it is now gotten so out of hand he has been dragged into it. Mercutio tries to open Romeo’s eyes on how if this feud continues there will be a demise for both families; but by Romeo choosing to ignore this advice and killing Tybalt he is setting himself up for his failure/downfall. Thus, Romeo is shown as a tragic hero because his demise is partly his fault and not an accident.
In act three scene one it says this about the fight, "Tybalt insults Romeo, but Romeo, who has just returned from his wedding, remains calm. Mercutio, on the other hand, is furious with Tybalt, and they begin to fight. As Romeo tries to separate them, Tybalt stabs Mercutio, who later dies." Romeo feels this sudden rage. Romeo then, "Romeo
Mercutio can be blamed for Romeo and Juliet’s peril because he initiated the fight with Tybalt and forced Romeo to go to the Capulet’s party. At the beginning of the play, Romeo gets invited to the Capulet’s party by a servant, unless he was a Montague. At first, Romeo did not want to go, but Mercutio eventually convinced him under the pretext that Rosaline, Romeo’s love, was going to be there. The next day, Tybalt, a Capulet, went looking for Romeo because he knew that Romeo was at the Capulet party. Instead, he stumbled upon Mercutio and Benvolio and asked them where he could find Romeo. However, Mercutio did not want to tell him and insisted on having a duel. Tybalt killed Mercutio during the fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt because he has the need to avenge his friend. Unfortunately, Prince Escalus punished Romeo by banishing him from Verona. This made Romeo and Juliet’s love
William Shakespeare uses several characters in his play, Hamlet, to create a more in-depth look at their characteristics. Shakespeare uses characters called “foils” to offset the attributes of other characters. Foils are characters that contrast with another character to further highlight qualities of the other character. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s characteristics are emphasized with the help of his foils.
Friar Lawrence’s advice to Juliet, and Juliet’s reaction, enunciate the theme of love as a cause of violence because her love for Romeo, and the fact that the Friar can’t stop her from marrying Paris, will lead her to the violent act of killing herself. Friar Lawrence is a part of the action, character development, and themes of Romeo and Juliet. Without Friar Lawrence, the steps leading up to the tragedy at the end of the story would not have been possible, along with the strong characterization of Romeo. Lastly, through Friar Lawrence, the inevitability of fate and violence being caused by love were able to be emphasized more deeply. Although secondary characters are less important than the main characters, most of them have a strong impact on the story and its meaning.
In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses oxymorons, paradox, pun, and or juxtaposition to indirectly characterized characters. Oxymorons, paradox and puns all contribute to juxtaposition. Because if the way they spoke, many of the examples found in Romeo and Juliet are paradoxical. Shakespeare doesn't tell the audience about his characters. He uses his language. William Shakespeare uses literary devices in Romeo and Juliet to portray complex characters.
Through the flaws in the characterization of his characters, Shakespeare allows their weakness to manipulate and cloud their judgment. This fundamentally leads to the outcome of Romeo and Juliet, with each weakness presenting a conflict that alters the character's fate. Being especially true to the star-crossed lovers, William Shakespeare leads their perfect love into tragedy with these conflicts. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt all contribute to conflicts that enhance the plot. From destructive flaws in their characterizations, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt are all consequently controlled by their weakness, therefore affecting the outcome of the play.
The most famous foil character in ''Romeo and Juliet'' is Mercutio. He is known for his sharp wit and quick, often ribald, humor and is considered a foil to Romeo. He lacks Romeo's effusive romance, his adoration and almost courtly approach to the idea of love. He often urges Romeo to just find a woman to sleep with and stop worrying about the ephemeral, yet all consuming, love Romeo is desperate to achieve. Mercutio warns Romeo to be skeptical of love and not to rush ahead, but Romeo is all rush, no
In act 3, scene 1, Mercutio is dying, “No, ‘tis not so deep as a well; nor so wide as a church door.” Mercutio is on his deathbed and he is describing his wound, trying to make himself sound like a hero. Mercutio put himself in a tense situation by preparing to fight. He knew that the consequences were severe, yet he eggs Tybalt on and gives others a reason to fight. If not for Mercutio’s dramatic and attention-seeking personality, Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Paris, and he would all still be
After catching Romeo at a party he was not supposed to be at, Tybalt had it out for Romeo. Just after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding, Tybalt comes looking for him wanting to fight. Romeo does not want to fight because he now loves Tybalt since he is family to him, but neither Tybalt or anyone else knows this reason. Quickly, Mercutio steps in and tells Tybalt that he will fight him in honour of Romeo. Sadly, this led to the death of Mercutio.
Telling what kind of person a character is in a book can be hard. The author tries to tell the readers how the character is through different kinds of details that make the audience get a sense of how the character might be. William Shakespeare is an author who gives as much detail as possible so he can enlighten the audience on how the character might be as a person. In Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, he presents a special character, which people begin to get a sense of how he is as a person, and that person is Benvolio. Through the irony, dramatic tone, and exquisite dialogue, Shakespeare portrays Benvolio as thoughtful person and a peace keeper.
Flat characters are an essential part of any novel because they help advance the plot and foil the other characters. Curley from Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck and Tom Buchanan from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, are both examples of flat characters; the reader only sees one side to each of these characters: the callous and controlling part. Curley and Tom are both presented as flat characters and as the quintessential controlling husbands, who foil the more sensitive men in the texts. Because of their personalities, they indirectly kill those around them, and in doing so, help advance the plot.