William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
My initial thoughts of the first two acts in Romeo and Juliet are
filled with hope. Despite the initial Act 1 Scene 1 fight, (which the
reader is led to expect due to prologue lines 'from ancient grudge
break new mutiny'). When I personally read Act 1 Scene 1, I believed
that this was the fight the prologue was talking about.
From then on a reader could be mistaken for thinking Romeo and Juliet
is the tale of a young, handsome, love struck young man. Possibly in
love with Rosaline, but Juliet is in love with him? We can then start
to guess this story will be a battle of two men for the love of
Juliet. This may be the case when we are first introduced at the
Capulet's ball to Paris as the young man wanting Lord Capulet to give
Juliet's hand in marriage as well as her children, '…what say you to
my suit?…younger than she are happy mothers made'.
Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other (1:5) is portrayed in many
different ways, for instance. In Baz Luhrmann's modern interpretation,
they first see each other through a fish tank. However the first
meeting is portrayed, they all share one common theme, love at first
sight.
It could be thought that Romeo, on their first meeting is possibly
keener than Juliet. This would be due to Romeo's willingness and
ambition to kiss Juliet, '…to smooth that rough touch with a tender
kiss', which is more than Juliet's subdued willingness to kiss Romeo,
'…you do wrong your hand too much…for saints have hands that pilgrims
do touch' (this is Juliet playing with Romeo, saying that she is a
saint and he is but a pilgrim). When they do finally kiss in line 106
the audience instantly know they are in love by Juliet's reaction to
the kiss, 'then have my lips the sin that they have took'. This is
Juliet asking Romeo for another kiss which he gives to her.
Later in this scene, Juliet is told by the nurse that, 'His name is
These men are the last opportunity, for each other’s
...hat with spiteful drama that tries to tear the duo apart but fails in the end. ( Pheoby )
...rever. All of her convictions are going along with his, " its love, am gained instead". The unnamed man became the perpetrator of his selfish infatuations believing that he has done both of them a favor, the undying love of two people who longed to be together.
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
The next stanza transitions again to the idea of the group, with "someones" marrying "their everyones" (line 17), and the emotions of these lovers as a group appear to be insincere, as indicated by the idea that they "laughed their cryings" (line 18) in order to hide their emotions (Kidder 145). They were also insincere in their love for God, since they "said their nevers" (line 20) rather than their prayers before
“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.
mutiny’. And then at the middle of it all there is a pair of lover,
...t runs into Aurelius on the moors. Soon after she tells him of a secret of which she discovered, that has to do with him. The moors bring people together.
The Eve of St. Agnes certainly progresses and ends like a romance. Porphyro, a willful
Micheal Jordan famously wrote “If you accept the expectations of others then you never will change the outcome” (Jordan). One can appreciate the context of the quote when relating it to one of William Shakespeare’s greatest work, “Romeo and Juliet”, in which two long-feuding families finally end their strife after their children defy the societal expectations, and consequently take their lives away. The two lovers struggle to live up to the expectations society demands from them, which oppose the existence of their love. For example, the audience sees Juliet challenge her family’s expectations in order to protect her relationship with her true love, Romeo. Additionally, both Romeo and Juliet challenge their gender roles in order to love freely without any opposition from society. Also, as the love between the two intensify, both Romeo and Juliet struggle to abide to the social expectations of their Christian faith. In a nutshell, one of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays, “Romeo and Juliet”, is about how two lovers choose to defy the social expectations demanded by their society in an attempt to create an environment where the “true love” they possess can exist.
will come into it as they will both be falling in love with the enemy