Comparing Romeo And Juliet 'And' A Midsummer Night's Dream

Two of Shakespeare’s most famous works include Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Romeo and Juliet is about two lovers from feuding families that end with their tragic deaths. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comical story about a complicated journey where two couples run into a forest and get manipulated by mythical creatures. Both feature a fight scene where the main characters fight. Both plays also feature death scenes where two lovers die, though one is portrayed as a performance and is fiction. Though the two may share overlapping scenes, Shakespeare uses the literary tools diction, situation, and sentence structure to set the plays’ genres, comedy and tragedy, apart.

The first way that Shakespeare makes each play a unique genre is by using diction. For example, when Shakespeare writes to show a character’s shock in Romeo and Juliet, he writes, “What mean these masterless and gory swords to lie discolored by this place of peace?” (Romeo and Juliet 5.3.147-148). The words “gory” and “discolored” demonstrate strongly that the daggers are covered in blood were used to kill. The strength and specificity in the

description set the mood to dark and sad, making this death scene tragic. However, for the same event in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare writes, “O dainty duck! O dear! Thy mantle good— What, stained with blood?” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 5.1.296-298). Though here, “stained with blood” is used, the exclamation “dainty duck” reverses the effect. It is not the expression that is expected and makes this line funny rather than being the tragic line like in Romeo and Juliet. This then makes the death scene in A Midsummer Night’s Dream less of a tragedy and more of a comedy.
Another tool that Shakespeare uses to differentiate the genres of the plays is situation. During the fight scene where Mercutio is hurt and dies, Shakespeare writes, “Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.” (Romeo and Juliet 3.1.106-108). Here Mercutio has a final talk with Romeo about how he is injured badly under his arm. Mercutio later dies offstage making the fight a tragedy as this is an argument right before death. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, however, Shakespeare writes, “You thief of love! What, have you come by night And stol’n my love’s heart from him?” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 3.2.297-298). In this play, the characters do not draw swords and fight to the death. Instead, they argue and then run away into the forest and chase each other. It does not have the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet where two characters die and Romeo is banished. This is how Shakespeare uses situation to make each play different in genre.
Shakespeare makes each plays’ genre unique another way by using sentence structure.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare writes Romeo’s final words as, “O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (Romeo and Juliet 5.3.119-120). These words are in the correct order and show Romeo tragically dying next to Juliet. This is an important part of what makes this play a tragedy. But in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare writes, “Tongue, lose thy light! Moon, take thy flight!” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 5.1.320-321). These are the last words of Pyramus but by switching the order of the words, Shakespeare makes it more humorous than tragic. The audience can laugh at how Bottom mixes up his words and looks like a fool. This is a perfect example of how A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy and not a tragedy like Romeo and

Juliet.
To summarize, Shakespeare uses diction, situation, and sentence structure as tools to make Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream different genres.