William Shakespeare's Language in Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Language in Romeo and Juliet

The language plays an important role in “Romeo and Juliet” as it

defines and characterizes the characters in the play. It is used to

display which social class they are in, signals the change in the

characters and reflects their mood or feelings. The languages special

importance lies in giving color to the love between Romeo and Juliet.

The importance and social status of a character can easily be

identified by the way they speak. The more important characters, which

all belong to the higher classes all speak in verse form and use much

imagery. This verse is sometimes even in sonnet form. The imagery used

gives color to the language and there are certain imageries, which

reappear more often in the play, so called iterative imageries, one of

these is light and darkness. This image gives a strong contrast used

to describe Romeo’s and Juliet’s love for one another. The less

important characters, which most of the time are the lower class, such

as servants or musicians, do not have such richness in their word

choice to bring color to the language. They speak in prose and often

speak very bawdily. The language was used as a tool to separate the

more important and less important characters.

The bawdy language is mainly used by Mercutio and the Nurse but they

mention physical love in different contexts. Mercutio is made

sympathetic to the audience because he is joking a lot, teases other

characters and mocks them with bawdy remarks. He does this for fun and

amuses the audience by for example singing “An old hare hoar, and an

old hare hoar” (Act 2, Scene 4) about the Nurse. The Nurse how...

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...ones such as a flower. “This bud of love, by summer's

ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.” (Act

2, Scene 2) describes how their love with time can grow from a small

bud to a big, beautiful flower. However they fear the association of

their love with lightning and the moon because they pass so fast. The

imagery is an essential part of the play and it brings color to the

play.

The language was Shakespeare’s most important tool. Through the

language he tells the audience about each character’s personality and

position. Their mood also reflects on the way they talk and to express

their feelings the character’s use imagery of every kind representing

every sense. Shakespeare’s language is so rich that it can substitute

for the special effects which can be seen in today’s movies and

theatre.