Black Plague In Romeo And Juliet

1453 Words3 Pages

In the 1300s children were very precious due to the effect of the black plague which was most prevalent during this time period. Resulting in families cherishing their living children more because it was very likely that many of their children had or would die. Within The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, this happens for two families: the Capulets (family of Juliet) and the Montagues (family of Romeo). Coincidentally, the black plague affected both of these families so that they only had one child. These children were Romeo and Juliet, who learned that love grew from their first meeting. After eloping, Romeo killed a man and was on the receiving end of banishment from the prince; splitting the true lovers. Juliet grieved …show more content…

Miscommunication takes place when Romeo does not get the letter from Friar Laurence containing information that says Juliet faked her death (5.3). During this time, the author shows the reader that Romeo’s move causes this because had he not moved, he would have been close enough to where the friar would be able to tell Romeo the plan himself. If Romeo had known that Juliet was still alive he would not have wanted to kill himself, for example, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night” (5.1). By this he means that not only will he be in the same room as her, he will be in the world of death with her. Showing the result of him knowing that Juliet is dead is that he wants to die as well just for the sake of being with her. Supposing Juliet was alive, the reader knows that Romeo’s perspective would not change. A dead Romeo would want to be alive for the sake of being with her if she was also living. However, if the young man had not moved to Mantua he would not have had to worry about her death because he would know about the plan taking place. The result of which being that Romeo would not have taken his own life. Therefore, Romeo’s moving to Mantua caused miscommunication on a high …show more content…

At different times in the play, both Romeo and Juliet are willing to give up their lives to be with each other. Now, the text says: “To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!/I do remember an apothecary,—” (5.1) which shows that Romeo would rather die than be without life of Juliet beside him on earth. What the author means is that Romeo is so desperate to be with Juliet that would even go to the lengths to be with her in death. Foreshadowing what later happens, it shows how Romeo’s adolescence makes him think that being with Juliet forever is the only thing that matters. He is one of the people responsible for thinking he can find immortality through death with Juliet. The other being Juliet; as soon as she sees Romeo lying dead on the floor, she wants to take her life, and she does (5.3). It is from this that the reader knows that the two people will do anything to be together. Romeo and Juliet’s grief for one another in these situations affects the plot, and is the cause for their deaths. From this the reader knows that the plot has a mass amount to do with the idea that immortality is possible with love. As before explained, grief and miscommunication affect the plot in a gigantic way, but the theme that can be derived from such things makes itself vividly clear to the

Open Document