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Literary analysis romeo and juliet
Romeo and juliet historical context
Social relevance of Romeo and Juliet
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How does Shakespeare use opposing forces in Romeo and Juliet? Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet uses opposing forces to express the differences and problems splitting Verona. He uses themes of Life and death, Light and dark, young and old, free will and fate and many other themes that are constantly being brought up throughout the play. Shakespeare used many of these opposing forces and sonnets as at the time he wrote the play this was very big and popular among the people. The first theme that comes up in the prologue is the idea of free will and fate. In the Prologue the Chorus explains that two families of Verona are enemies, and that "A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life" (Prologue Line 6). The use of the word "cross'd" in star-cross'd …show more content…
On first seeing Juliet, Romeo exclaims, "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; … So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows" (Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 44-48) Romeo describes Juliet's beauty in terms of light and dark. "She doth teach the torches to burn bright" means both that her beauty is brighter than the light of any torch and that she makes the whole room light up. The brightness of Juliet's beauty is made even brighter by the contrasts with the blackness of the "Ethiope" and the blackness of crows. The use of antithesis with the "snowy doves" and the "crows" creates a powerful opposing force showing how she stands out from the others. Another interpretation of the dove is that it is a symbol of peace and sets in place an image of Romeo and Juliet's love creating peace between the two rival families. Another moment is when Juliet is waiting for Romeo to come to her bed. In her imagination, the night will bring her love. She goes on to say, "Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, / That runaways' eyes may wink and Romeo" (Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 5-6). Juliet is seeing things as though she is in bed, the curtains are closed, creating a dark atmosphere where they act their love. In the dark, the pair will create their own light, because "Lovers can see to do their amorous rites / By their own beauties" The use of courtly love is very common in theatres at the time of Romeo and Juliet because in those days people would dream and fantasize about courtly love and was an entertaining
Juliet is brighter than the torches which light the whole room and that she teaches them to be as bright as she is. Romeo then goes on to talk of Juliet as "a snowy dove trooping with crows," saying that Juliet is a bright, white dove, a symbol of peace. walking among black crows; she stands out like a beacon of light in the dark. Romeo then asks. My heart loves it till now, forswear it.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as a Play Of Opposites In the play Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare utilizes opposites in both the thoughts and actions of the characters in Romeo and Juliet. Outlined are contrasts of crime and violence versus peace and law, love versus hate, and young versus old. The uses of crime & violence versus peace and law are demonstrated in Act 3, Scene 1.
Sometimes when people are amongst conflict, they act impetuously in certain situations. In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, careless actions take place by the characters when they are put into stressful and difficult situations. They are not thought through and result in consequences for more than just themselves. In Romeo and Juliet when in the midst of conflict, characters tend to think and act impulsively and not think of the reaction to their actions. They do not think of the consequences their actions may bring, or how they may affect others in the future.
Conflict has many different meanings for both physical and verbal abuse. Conflict could be a viscous feud or a full on physical fight. These days in television soap dramas we intend to see more verbal conflict than physical violence. But over the last couple of years new television programmes have been released which contains a lot of action-packed fighting and physical conflict of some kind. Some programmes include physical and verbal conflict including, “Eastenders”, “The Bill” and other programmes similar to these. The releasing of films such as, “Indiana Jones”, and “Rambo” catches the audience’s attention by involving action-packed, exciting features such as heavy arguments or thrilling battles. Some films are made to include action and excitement but when audiences watch it they cannot help feeling sorry for the victim or just generally sad for the people having the fight. In the same way Romeo and Juliet presents conflict more intense than most soap dramas. When the play was first performed in “The Theatre”, in Shoreditch in the mid 1590’s, the Elizabethan audience was shocked at how Juliet disobeyed her father and also how Romeo and Juliet disobeyed their families. Sympathy must be felt for the audience because they would have never known the idea of a son or daughter disobeying their father. The law at that time stated that the daughter was the property of her father until the daughter got married then her husband “owned” her as property. From this sympathy must be felt for Juliet because she is a victim of arranged marriages. When the play was first performed it got massive great responses which then lead to the play being transferred to The Globe theatre at the start of the 1600’s. Props and different costumes helped ...
Romeo and Juliet are madly in love with each other and will go to any lengths to be together.
On first seeing Juliet, Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to emphasise Juliet’s beauty. Romeo exclaims ‘O, she [Juliet] doth teach the torches to burn bright!’ he describes Juliet’s beauty as being brighter than the light of a torch. Light and dark imagery is used to create mood and show contrast as the light of a torch is used to show the way in darkness and is also suggested to be a beacon of hope, this proposes Romeo was in the dark and Juliet is his light to guide the way. Romeo also compares Juliet to ‘a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear’ the bright glare of Juliet’s looks are made even brighter as a ‘bright jewel’ contrasts against the darkness of an ‘Ethiop’s ear’, this simile is used to highlight Juliet as a rare, unique...
be that love is a good thing, but in the play it is love that leads to
In Romeo and Juliet, both Shakespeare and Luhrmann explore the idea that familial love can lead to external conflict. In both texts, many scenarios of conflict occur between the Montagues and Capulets, and family loyalty is portrayed as its source. During the service station scene in the film, the Montagues are dressed in loose, exuberant clothing that complements their easy-going nature, whereas the Capulets are dressed in dark, tight-fitting clothing that augments their tense, more serious nature. Their respective loyalties and contrasting identities, represented by Luhrmann through costuming, intensify the quarrel between them. Shakespeare’s use of figurative language serves a similar idea. In the lines “To move is to stir, and to be valiant
dead. A letter was sent out to Romeo telling him of the plan, but he
John Steinbeck once said “It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone”. In order to appreciate something for all that it truly is, one must learn to compare it to its opposite. These opposites both complement each other and bring out the worst in one another. Moreover, they also produce energy through the tension they create. This is true of opposition everywhere, literature included. Authors often make use of it, thus making their works more interesting and relatable. In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to create a tension that mirrors the energy we encounter in our everyday lives. In particular, this energy is found in setting, characterization, and the theme of love.
In the beginning of the scene, she urges the sun to set and night to come. She not only asks the night to guide her but also to hide her so she can “grow bold” (3.2.15). She wants to be passionate and please Romeo, in spite of her nervousness. As she is speaking, she realizes that there is nothing wrong with having sex with a loving husband. When she has this revelation, her longing for Romeo is renewed. While calling out for him, she refers to him as “day in night” (3.2.17), reminiscent of Romeo referring to Juliet as the Sun and saying that if her eyes were stars birds would mistake the night for the day. Juliet is as in love with Romeo as Romeo is with her. She is waiting for him to come to her room, for him to stand against the darkness “whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back” (3.2.20). He and she will glow with their love for each other, making up for the lack of light in the night. Juliet also trusts that Romeo has not been immodest with other women in the past. When asking night to help her, she says the match is being played for “a pair of stainless maidenhoods” (3.2.13), meaning both her pure virginity and Romeo’s. She trusts that Romeo’s virginity hasn’t been profaned previously. She manages to talk herself out of her nervousness by being poetically exuberant in expressing her romantic feelings towards Romeo,
‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare incorporates the theme of conflict through many different characters and situations. The definition of conflict is “a fight, battle, or struggle; especially a prolonged struggle; strife” The play mainly focuses on the tragic lives of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet; the two characters belong to the Montague and Capulet households respectively, which have held ongoing grudges against each other for years. The play ends with both main characters committing suicide, to be together in heaven. As with many of Shakespeare’s works, the theme of conflict is a strong one. For a start, there is the ongoing conflict between the two families; the Montagues and the Capulets. The audience is unsure how this grudge started; this reflects how tedious some ongoing grudges can be. This is a vital conflict to keep the structure of the story, as without this conflict Romeo and Juliet would not have encountered the problems they had with their marriage. However, there are different ways of putting this grudge across - through dialogue, such as Mercutio’s intell...
Shakespeare starts the play off with the prologue, a fourteen-line sonnet spoken by the Chorus. The prologue is an introduction to the play, and it describes “two households …in fair Verona”. The houses hold an “ancient grudge” against each other that remains a source
The No side of the group had a very good point. We believe that people don’t choose their own destinies because of outside forces. This is a very true point. We had great evidence that helped prove this point. “Sir, Paris I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love. It think she will be ruled in all respects by me; nay more, I doubt not” (lll.iiii.12-14). In this quote Capulet is choosing to have Juliet get married to Paris. Capulet is the outside force here he is altering Juliet's destiny. Juliet is already married to Romeo she can not say this or Capulet would have had Romeo killed. Therefore since Capulet is altering Juliet’s destiny this proves our point that outside forces alter our destiny.
This piece from the prologue also shows how Romeo and Juliet’s deaths stop the family's long standing feud. Further along near the end of the play, after the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Montague says “For I will raise her [Juliet] statue in pure gold”(5.3.298). This shows how sorry even the opposing families are of Romeo and Juliet’s fate. These passages demonstrate how love can be destructive and how tragedy can end hate.