William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

453 Words1 Page

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a famous play by William Shakespeare, a famous playwright. He displays this play as a tragedy because on what happens on the characters and the conflict between the two families. He is from the Elizabethan era. This play is set in Italy, Verona during the 13th century during time when between higher-class families was rife. The themes of this play are love, hate, tragedy and conflict. Romeo is initially presented as a young man with a broken heart. He is depressed and desperate for someone. This contrasts with the other characters, as they are happy, glad and cheerful. Romeo is in love with Rosaline but Rosaline does not like him this is called unrequited love. Shakespeare uses oxymoron such as ‘loving hate’ to emphasise the conflict and confusion Romeo is feeling. Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets to emphasise tragic moments and themes of high dramatic or emotional intensity. The use the rhyming couplets evokes how incapable and reckless Romeo is. Romeo feels being so in love with a woman he cannot posses. Specifically when the reader believes that in Shakespeare’s time this poetic style of verse was used to present moments of steep dramatic or emotional force. Shakespeare applies detailed metaphors, such as “love is a smoke raised with the fumes of sighs, a fire sparkling in lover’s eyes” to highlight how distressing his love for Rosaline is. Shakespeare uses the comparisons like ‘sweet’ and ‘gall’ to symbolise the opposition and disarrangement Romeo is feeling. Benvolio suggests that Romeo looks at the women, “examine other beauties”, however Romeo is unwilling to because he does not believe there is another woman as “fair” as Rosaline. Romeo heard about the party that Rosaline would be there but he found Juliet and falls in love with her same way as Juliet and both agreed to marry each other. In Act 3 Scene 1, the relationship between the Capulet and Montegue families is seen to be confrontational. This is demonstration by Mercutio and Tybalt’s hate for each other.

Open Document