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. Romeo had small faith in Benvolio's words; nevertheless, for the love of Rosaline, he was persuaded to go. For Romeo was a sincere and passionate lover, and one that lost his sleep for love, and fled society to be alone, thinking on Rosaline, who disdained him, and never required his love, with the least show of courtesy or affection; and Benvolio wished to ... ... middle of paper ... ... their families, by the marriage of the young Capulet and Montague; and saying that lord Montague's hand (in token of reconcilement) was all he demanded for his daughter's jointure: but lord Montague said he would give him more, for he would raise her a statue of pure gold, that while Verona kept its name, no figure should be so esteemed for its richness and workmanship as that of the true and faithful Juliet. And lord Capulet in return said that he would raise another statue to Romeo. So did- these poor old lords, when it was too late, strive to outdo each other in mutual courtesies: while so deadly had been their rage and enmity in past times, that nothing but the fearful overthrow of their children (poor sacrifices to their quarrels and dissensions) could remove the rooted hates and jealousies of the noble families.
Both the Capulet and Montague’s families are wealthy, noble and even founding families of Verona. Evidence of the family’s wealth is displayed when the Capulet’s have a classy party and Romeo meets Juliet for the first time. Proof of the two rival families superiority is even shown in the opening Prologue where the families are described by the line “Two households, both alike in dignity.” In the Elizabethan Era the word “dignity” can be interpreted to “Elevated rank, office,” or “station”. Hence both families are of high social status and in a position of power. Additionally in the prologue the families are described as ancient with this line “From ancient grudge break to new munity”. We can then determine that the Montague and Capulet families were Ancient and influential and the upper class in the social hierarchy of Verona. The Montages and The Capulet’s reputation and high values were the only thing the families and the people working for the houses cared about and their servants would never consider betraying their masters, the house they worked in was like their family. Servants working in the houses were considered normal when Shakespeare wrote Romeo And Juliet, in the Elizabethan Era most powerful or rich people had people of a lesser class working for them. An example of hierarchy in Romeo and Juliet is the Nurse and Balthazar the servant
In the fair city of Verona, two rival families, the Montagues and Capulets were involved in a nasty family feud that goes back years before any of the members were born. Even the townspeople were involved in the dispute, because the families were always fighting in the streets and causing disturbances. They disrupted the streets of Verona and even Prince Escalus tried to break up the fighting. They were given a warning, by him that another public fight would result in death. While this was occurring, Romeo, (a Montague) the main character, was getting over his last love, Rosaline, and was very upset. Juliet of the Capulet household had just been introduced to a wealthy young man, Paris, whom her parents wished her to marry. Yet she did not love him. Romeo goes to a party in an effort to forget about Rosaline. At this party he met Juliet, and immediately fell in love with her. He later finds out that she is a Capulet, the rival family of the Montagues. He decides that he loves her anyway and they confess their love for each other during the very famous "balcony scene" in which they agreed to secretly marry the next day. Friar Lawrence agreed to marry them in an effort to end the feuding between the families. Unfortunately, the fighting gets worse and Mercutio (Montague) a good friend of Romeo ends up in a fight with Tybalt (Capulet), Juliet's cousin. Tybalt killed Mercutio, which caused Romeo to kill Tybalt in an angry rage. For this, Romeo is banished from Verona. At the same time, the Capulet's were planning Juliet's marriage to Paris. Juliet didn't want to marry this man so she arranges with Friar Lawrence to fake her own death with a sleeping potion that would make everyone think that she was dead. Friar Lawrence promised to send word to Romeo to meet her when the potion wears off and to rescue her to Mantua, where Romeo was currently staying. There they would live happily ever after. Unfortunately, Romeo didn't receive the message on time and upon hearing of her "death" went to Juliet's tomb where he drinks poison and dies. When Juliet's potion wears off, she wakes to find her lover's dead corpse. She then proceeds to stab herself with Romeo's dagger. The two families find the bodies and with their shared sorrow, finally make peace with each other.
Romeo and Juliet Although Romeo and Juliet become inextricably smitten with one another, they both enter into the relationship from different perspectives. Their love is strong, but each has their reasons for the intensity of their love. Romeo has just come out of another ?crush?. He has liked Rosaline for quite awhile, but things do not work out because the feelings are not mutual. Romeo sees that Juliet is a beautiful lady that he falls in love with right away, while he attends the Capulet Party. Juliet also instantly falls in love with Romeo, but it could be more of an escape for her.
wither in their pride/ Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” From
“He who falls in love meets a worse fate than he who falls from a
such a love can arise out of hatred and then triumph over it in death,
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
His love for Rosaline is great but yet she can not say the same and
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet `Romeo and Juliet` is one of the best love stories of all time but although Shakespeare wrote the play, the story wasn't original. It all started hundreds of years before Shakespeare was born, in Italy when myths and folktales travelled about two young lovers from enemy families. After that, a poem was written called `The tragical history of Romeus and Juliet` by Arthur Brooke in 1562. So although Shakespeare's ideas weren't original, he has developed the basic ideas so well that now the whole world are familiar with the deeply touching love story of `Romeo and Juliet`.
“Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, still-waking sleep, that is not what this is” (Shakespeare 1.1. 179-180). A string of contradictions explain the love story of Romeo and Juliet, a contradiction. Some critics consider this story a tragedy because Shakespeare once wrote; “the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves”. While others say it does not follow the standard Aristotelian form of tragedy (Krims 1). Romeo and Juliet can not be a tragedy because no flaw causes them to fall, the lovers, could not have controlled fate, and family and friends assisted them to their deaths.
The play Romeo and Juliet is a widely known tragedy written by Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet features two rival families and their children. When a daughter of Capulet and son of Montague meet at a party, sparks immediately fly. However, because of their family rivalry, they married in secret, and were happy. That is until things took a turn for the worse.
Capulet and Romeo Montague, face a bigger problem; forbidden love. Taking place in Verona, an ignorant Romeo first meets a childish Juliet at the Capulet’s party. Romeo and his kinsman, Benvolio, attend the party masked, searching for his first love, Rosaline. Coincidentally, Romeo meets Juliet, a new beauty, and falls in love with her not knowing the fact that she is a Capulet. The feud continues, leading one mistake after another, until both families realize their selfishness at the last minute. The unfortunate tragedy of two “star-crossed lovers” is ironically caused by the impetuosity of Romeo and Juliet themselves (Shakespeare 7).
This conversation takes place after Romeo had recently been rejected by Rosaline, the woman whom he was formerly in love with. In an effort to help him move on from her, Benvolio urges Romeo to attend the banquet and meet a new girl. Benvolio encourages him, “At this same ancient feast of Capulet’s sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so loves, with all the admired beauties of Verona. Go thither” (1.2.84-87).
60-61). Romeo’s love for Juliet motivated his decision because he wanted to be with her once again, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night” (5.1. 34). He loved Juliet tremendously that he took his own life without questioning if she was actually dead, all to be reunited with her. The major conflict in Romeo’s life was that he gets banished from Verona because he killed Tybalt and has to be far away from Juliet. The prince decides that to bring justice to the Capulets, Romeo must be banished from Verona, “Therefore use none: let Romeo hence in haste” (3.1. 190). This created conflict in Romeo’s life because he was newly-wedded to Juliet only a few hours prior and was forced to be separate from Juliet. Lord Montague’s relationship Romeo is not depicted in the play so the audience assumes that there relationship is not that close. Friar Laurence is like a father figure to Romeo because he gives Romeo wise advice and guides him on the right path. Before Romeo and Juliet get married, Friar Laurence gives Romeo advice and tells him to be careful because passion dies out eventually, “These violent delights have violent ends”
Montague and his wife discuss Romeo’s strange behavior with Benvolio and ask him why he is acting that way. They find Romeo and have Benvolio talk to him. Benvolio advises him to forget Rosaline, but Romeo refuses.