William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1599) explores issues that are still relevant today such as love and youth. Friar Lawrence’s quote; “Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.” This quote discusses how Romeo and Juliet did not think about what they were doing as a result the deaths of both characters conclude. The reason for this is because Romeo did not wait long enough to see if Juliet would wake up or not instead he acts without thinking and death meets Romeo. (TECHNIQUE) and how it is related to the two universal themes of love and youth to reinforce his message of how people’s impetuousness will bring tragedies.
Love takes time to develop in order to fulfil its great potential however; there will be consequences once
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Fetch my rapier, boy.” (TECHNIQUE) Tybalt recognizes Romeos voice and wants to kill him during a feast. Capulet being head of the family tells Tybalt to leave him alone as he is well respected in Verona. Tybalt’s rashness drives him to disobeying Capulet sending a letter challenging Romeo in a fight “Nay, he will answer the letter’s master, how he dares, being dared” Rashness tails Romeo throughout the play. His rashness leads him to death when he assumes Juliet has died. Shakespeare uses imagery when Romeo sees Juliet’s body and says, “for here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light”. He makes a rash decision when he kills Tybalt and gets banished, here is a quote to support the text “A gentler judgment vanished from his lips: Not body’s death, but body’s banishment”. (TECHNIQUE)Hate is an important issue explored in Romeo and Juliet and both these characters come from the Montague family and Capulet family who hate each other. The feud brings out the hate between characters in the play. In Act 3 Scene 1 Tybalt kills Mercutio, which brings hatred from Romeo towards Tybalt. The hatred is shown with alliteration in page “Alive in triumph – and Mercutio slain! (TECHNIQUE) Away to heaven, respective lenity, and fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. The tragedy Romeo and Juliet explore issues that are still relevant today such as love, love has lots of positive effects however, it could also
Romeo senses tensions are high with Tybalt, so he states, “I do protest I never injured thee but love thee better than thou canst devise.” (Lines 65-66 Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is trying to diffuse the situation because he realizes that Tybalt is his love's cousin. Mercutio is surprised by Romeo’s behavior, so he decides to fight Tybalt himself. Mercutio’s decision to fight Tybalt leads to his own death. Romeo is angered by the death of Mercutio and states, “Now, Tybalt, take the “villain" back again/ That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul.” (Lines 123-124 of Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is indicating that Tybalt is the villain now, because he slayed Mercutio. Romeo forgets about his attempt to befriend the Capulets and slays Tybalt. Romeo, murderer of Tybalt, solely focuses on Juliet and states “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say “death"/For exile hath more terror in his look.” (Lines 12-13 of Act Three, Scene Three). Romeo does not care about Tybalt’s life, but only cares for the way it affects his relationship with Juliet. Romeo’s mother dies out of grief because of his banishment. Romeo’s recklessness in loving Juliet has led to the death of three
He is prepared to duel, as he believes it is in “honor of my kin, / to strike him dead I hold not a sin” (I.v.58-59). His vicious behavior towards the Montague’s is due to the prolonged feud and not because of a dishonorable act directed towards him. Evidently, Tybalt respects Lord Capulet and the family name. When he goes to inform the Montague’s intrusion, Lord Capulet dismisses the enemy’s presence, ordering Tybalt to “be patient, take no note of him” (I.v.71). Despite Lord Capulet’s calm approach towards the appearance of Romeo, Tybalt`s mind is clouded with hatred and only views Romeo as a threat. Tybalt’s angered reaction at the sight of Romeo, as well as his impulsive decision to warn Lord Capulet in hopes of getting rid of the enemy, is due to the ongoing feud between the Montague’s and Capulet’s and not because of any harm directly caused by
The hot-blooded and furious Tybalt had a grudge against Romeo, which inevitably led to a series of misfortunes, and in the end, the two protagonists died. He had held that grudge, since the day he confronted Romeo at the Capulet’s party, where Tybalt was dishonoured in front of a whole debauchery.
When there is a fight in the market place, Capulet rushes to fight for his honor, “my sword I say, old Montague is come...” Capulet denies Paris’ request to marry Juliet “ and too soon marred are those so early made,” acting for his own good because he wants Juliet to produce many offspring to carry on the Capulets bloodline, since she is his only surviving child. When at the ball Capulet demands Tybalt to let Romeo be,” content thee, gentle coz, let him alone,” but this just fuels Tybalts anger towards Romeo, which eventually ends up in Tybalt causing his own death. Capulet believes he is giving his child the best when he announces her engagement to Paris” she shall be married to this noble earl,” and believes Paris will make a good husband for Juliet. When Juliet refuses Capulet thinks it best to threaten her, “I will drag thee,” but this just makes Juliet turn to more drastic measures.
This aggression is shown when Tybalt insults Romeo (3.1.55-69), calling him “thou art a villain” (3.1.56), and “boy” (3.1.61). In the context of this scene, boy is an insult. Once Romeo shows that he will not fight back (3.1.57-60), Tybalt’s ego takes control. This incident embodies cockiness as Tybalt continually berates Romeo and his friends with insults. He has no real reason to escalate this conflict as he knows that the Prince hates fighting. Despite this, Tybalt shows how cocky and abrasive he is, and perpetrates the tragedy by killing Mercutio and getting killed, himself. Since Tybalt literally beckons Romeo to draw (3.1.62), he further exemplifies cockiness. This results in a tragedy as Tybalt slays Mercutio and is slain by Romeo in turn. Furthermore, Tybalt shows aggression in his aside with Lord Capulet at the party. Tybalt says many threatening things about Romeo, calling him: “a slave” (1.5.52), his “foe” (1.5.59), and a “villain” (1.5.63). In this part of the story, Tybalt shows aggression, by wanting to kill Romeo. This is made evident by him asking his servant to grab his sword (1.5.52-4). Once again, Tybalt shows unnecessary aggression by insulting and threatening Romeo. This moves the plot towards tragedy by establishing a rivalry between Romeo and Tybalt. Later on, this rivalry results in the death of Tybalt and Mercutio. In summation, Tybalt’s aggression and cockiness results in the deaths of himself and Mercutio, making this story a
Tybalt’s loyalty towards the family dispute intoxicates him with a quarrelsome nature. After recognizing Romeo at the Capulet Ball, Tybalt persistently rejects his uncle’s remonstrance to stay serene. Even after being restrained by his Uncle Capulet, he vows vengeance on Romeo in the future as he says, “Patience perforce with willful choler meeting Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall” (1.5.88-90). Tybalt tends to take each and every “insult” towards his family and himself to heart, without even contemplating their true meaning. Furthermore, Tybalt’s aggravating behavior develops into a clear factor leading to his downfall. When Mercutio is found dead as a result of Tybalt, Romeo confronts him directly with a duel to the death. Rather than trying to discuss and come to a harmonious solution, Tybalt further inflamed the already belligerent environment. He does this by saying, “Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence” (3.1.128-129). Tybalt’s relentless threatening behavior never fails to make an already hostile environment even worse. His cruel character is perpetual no matter what the
The friar wanted to unite the two families and he sees this marriage as a way to end the "ancient grudge". "For this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households' rancour to pure love. " The audience are also aware that Tybalt had issued a challenge to Romeo, unknown to Romeo, because he hadn't returned home after the ball. Tybalt, a Capulet, had seen Romeo at the feast and vowed to take revenge at this insult to his family pride. Mercutio and Benvolio fear for Romeo's life because he is no match for Tybalt, an experienced swordsman.
Who would be willing to die for their loved ones? Romeo and Juliet would and did. Romeo and Juliet’s love and death brought two families together who could not even remember the origin of their hate. When the parents saw what their children's love for each other, they realized that their fighting had only led to suffering and insoluble conflict. Romeo and Juliet loved each other to an extent that they killed themselves rather than live apart. They did it with no hiatus. Juliet says before she kills herself, “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.”( 5, 3, 182-183) demonstrating how she would rather die than not be with him.
Contradictions in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In the play "Romeo and Juliet", Shakespeare uses contradictions both to involve his audience in the action and to highlight the important themes and events. The play was written on several different levels of understanding. It could be viewed as a simple, tragic love story but the conflicts within and between the characters give us a fascinating study of human nature. The contradictions within the text in the form of oxymorons and puns counter this simplicity and lead us to examine each line for its true purpose. The variety and interest capture and entrance the audience.
Romeo is angry and in need of revenge, which creates an intense fight between Tybalt and Romeo. Romeo wins this battle, killing Tybalt. He leaves in a hurry, only to discover that he would be banished from Verona. The death of Tybalt is absolutely devastating for Juliet. Her cousin was murdered by her husband.
Romeo is an extremely impulsive individual. Throughout the drama, Romeo makes decisions without considering the consequences. His mistakes bring about several complications that eventually lead to his untimely death. From the beginning of the novel, Romeo continuously falls in love with different people. The first Act of the play portrays an ardent love for the gorgeous Rosaline who refuses to love him. Romeo's maudlin behavior is a concern to his friends, who decide to take him to the Capulet's masquerade party. Here, Juliet's beauty strikes Romeo and his previous love for Rosaline instantaneously diminishes. After the party, Romeo encounters Juliet and makes the impulsive decision of promising to marry her. Romeo recounts the story of his newfound love and the desire to marry her, to his adviser, Friar Lawrence, and seeks his advice. The Friar explains that, "Young men's love then lies/ not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" (89). The Friar tries to convince Romeo that his love is not true, for he hastily changes his mind about the love of his life. But Romeo does not change his mind and is wed with Juliet. Romeo is also quite brash in his decision to slay Tybalt. If Romeo considered the consequences of murdering his enemy, he could have prevented his banishment from Verona. Romeo fails to consider that there is no need to slay Tybalt because Tybalt is already headed for assassination due to the fact that he started a fray and murdered Mecrutio. Unfortunately, his impulsiveness overpowers him and Romeo fights Tybalt. If only Romeo had thought rationally, he would not be separated from his dear, sweet Juliet. His banishment causes Romeo to cry out with extreme anguish to the Friar, "Hence 'banished' is 'banished from the world,' / And worlds exile is death.
Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet become embodiments of impulsiveness. Through their rash words and actions in the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare sets forth that both are too hasty in their decisions, leading them into unfortunate events. As the plot unfolds, Romeo and Juliet’s futile love is torn apart by their family’s hate and animosity towards each other. Despite their constant struggle to let their love survive, it is doomed from the beginning of the tragedy. It is plain that lack of foresight and wisdom leads to disaster all around.
When one looks closely at the story of Romeo and Juliet, one will see that it is a story with many ethical aspects. The first ethical concern was the two feuding families. How moral is it to hate someone only because they have a certain family name? This all come from a time period when people were fairly focused on religion, which teaches us not to hate. I also question this because I think it is ironic that both Romeo and Juliet seem to be fairly religious, since the first person Romeo went to for help was Friar Lawrence, and a few scenes in the play took place in or around the church. I think that this hatred is especially bad in the case of the Capulets and the Montagues, because I was always under the impression that the families had been feuding for so long that no one really knew why they hated each other anymore. This was the beginning of the problems for Romeo and Juliet. They had a moral decision to make. Should they stay true to their families, and deny their love, or should they stay true to their feelings and disgrace their families? In order to resolve this dilemma, Romeo turns to Friar Lawrence, who perhaps could be seen as the most moral character, to begin with. Because he was a holy man, he was the most logical confidant of anyone in the play. People see men of the cloth as reliable and a good source of advice. Of course, Friar Lawrence has every intention of helping the two lovers, also hoping that he could reunite the feuding families. However, unbeknownst to him, everything he will do throughout the play will have an unnerving consequence. No matter what he did to correct what he had done wrong, it only drug him deeper into trouble. Who ever would have thought that by marrying the two young lovers, he would have caused all of this heartache for the families, and really for all of Verona? No one ever considered the fact that two young people wanting to get married would have affected the entire city. Friar Lawrence was only trying to be a good friend and ally, but everything he did just ended up backfiring for him.
Take no note of him. It is my will, the which if thou respect, Show a fair presence and put off these frowns, An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast.” (Shakespeare, 527) He says this meaning that Romeo has not done anything to harm them, so Tybalt is not allowed to do this either. When Tybalt says, “It fits when such a villain is a guest.
After the wedding, Romeo runs into Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, who hates him. They engage in a duel, and Romeo kills Tybalt. He fled the scene of the crime. Later, he discovers from Friar Lawrence that rather than executing him for murder, the Prince of Verona has declared that he be banished forever. Instead of being relieved and grateful, Romeo laments his fate and claims that he would rather be dead than be separated from his dear Juliet.