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Literary analysis romeo and juliet
Literary analysis romeo and juliet
Character analysis for romeo and juliet essay
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The play is about two star-crossed lovers who go against the odds for their love and from it comes tragedy that they don’t expect. There is a mix between comedy and tragedy in this play because of the beginning where it all develops with humorous characters but ends with tragedy. William Shakespeare uses the foils of Romeo and Mercutio to show two different aspects of characters. Romeo although he is very close to Mercutio shares a lot more differences than similarities with him, making Mercutio a direct foil to Romeo and vice versa. Mercutio exhibits an opposition to love and romanticism while Romeo is more of that character that falls in love easily and see's love in a romantic way. The foils between Romeo and Mercutio shows how such close …show more content…
characters have a very opposite personality, which is something very creatively imaging by William Shakespeare. Romeo is one of the main characters of the play.
The fact that Romeo see's love as something romantic is something that distinguishes him. We may realize how he is with love and easily falls in love where he expresses his feelings, "Why, such is love's transgression. Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest With more of thine: this love that thou hast shown Doth add more grief to too much of mine own." this shows how hurt he is because of love and how we can see his romantic side too describing what love feels like at that moment. In addition, Romeo is a serious character throughout the whole play. In one piece of the play he states something as a reply to Mercutio making fun of him for being a lover, "He jests at scars that never felt a wound." at this I can infer how serious he is, in this case you can infer it with love, because Mercutio was making fun of him because he was a lover stating it was easy for Mercutio to make fun of him because he has never loved. To continue, Romeo is also an emotional character. Throughout the whole play you can tell that Romeo is very emotional, in the beginning of the play he is sad because Rosaline rejects him then further on in the play falls in love with Juliet and at the end he ends up killing himself because of the love he felt for Juliet he could not feel for anyone else and without her he was nothing. Romeo is a character that exhibits serious
traits. Mercutio is the foil of Romeo because of such opposite personality and ideas that they have. Mercutio is a very lighthearted character. We can infer that Mercutio is lighthearted in some way from what he says, "Why, isn’t all this joking better than groaning about love? Now you’re sociable. Now you’re Romeo. Now you are what you’ve learned to be and what you are naturally." From this he is telling Romeo to have fun and be happy and not be sad about love as he does, so from those words he says you can tell that Mercutio is a very lighthearted person that is happy and has no worries. Also Mercutio is a very funny character in contrast with Romeo. From a conversation he has with Mercutio you can know that he has a sense of humor yet it is in an inappropriate way, "ROMEO: Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy. Mercutio: That’s as much as to say, such a case as yours constrains a man to bow in the hams." In this dialogue I can see that Mercutio takes that Romeo's "business" was something sexual, it is inappropriately something that is funny and tells us of the sense of humor that Mercutio carries. Also, Mercutio is a very happy character in contrast to Romeo. Mercutio is always a very happy character and does not care for love neither does he suffer for it unlike Romeo, he is always bringing up jokes and making fun of Romeo because of how he suffers for love; this reflects how Mercutio is a very happy person that has no worries. Mercutio is a character that is very opposite to Romeo from Mercutio being very funny to Romeo being a serious character. The opposite personalities of Mercutio and Romeo make for a good foil and how William Shakespeare makes them very close characters when you would expect them to be enemies or something like that is very nice. William Shakespeare gave us two perspectives of such great characters and although Mercutio and Romeo had opposite personalities Romeo was the main character and Mercutio definitely had the potential to be so too. These two characters are a part of what makes the play so good.
In “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, two very young people fall in love but cannot be with each other because of the feud in between their families. The feud ends when Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves because of heartbreak over the other. The minor characters Mercutio, Tybalt, and Friar Lawrence serve as foils to Romeo, to help support the theme of patience.
There is no doubt that Romeo rushes into love throughout the play. One example of this is when he falls in love with Rosaline. Although Rosaline is not a major role in the play, it shows the sorrow and uncertainty Romeo goes through after not being loved back. Marilyn Williamson said “During the time in which he was infatuated with Rosaline, he was. withdrawn into darkness” (6).
Romeo- Love causes Romeo to act impulsively and put himself in dangerous situations. For example, in act two scene two, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet grounds due to his love for Juliet. He loves her so much that he was willing to risk being caught by Juliet’s kinsman. If he was caught, a fight could have broken out, which would put Romeo’s life in danger. Also, he would lose his life due to the prince’s penalty. However, due to his intrusion of the Capulet party in act one scene five, it is Tybalt’s rage that jeopardizes Romeo’s well-being. This shows the intensity of Romeo’s love for Juliet, and how he cares more about seeing her than his own safety. For example, in act five scene three, Romeo kills himself because he believes that Juliet
A foil is a character who serves as a contrast to another character. Writers often use foils to emphasize differences and traits of characters. Such an author would be William Shakespeare, author to many plays, including “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”. William Shakespeare uses foiling to emphasize one of the main character’s traits and differences. This “ foiling” relationship is between the main character Romeo and Paris.
Romeo has a very extreme look towards love. To him love is almost exclusively about what is on the outside; not what they act like. His love is pithy; he was
Most importantly, Romeo’s poor choices and decisions lead to the tragedy of the drama. From the beginning of the story Romeo reveals his immaturity and ill-equipped emotions. His first mistake reveals itself when he claims to be deeply depressed. Romeo claims that he feels like “sinking ‘under love’s heavy burden’,” (Dupler). At this point Romeo has succumbed to his emotions, due to the fact that a girl named Rosaline refuses to reciprocate his love for her. Romeo’s friends Benvolio and Mercutio “urge him to stop philosophizing about his lost love and to seek another young lady as a new object of his affections” (Dupler).Romeo now demonstrates that he seems incapable of listening to his friends’ suggestions and chooses to continue in a juvenile state of depression. Romeo makes another fatal decision when he nurtures an undeniably damned relationship. Romeo admits that he still loves Juliet once her lineage appears as Capulet when he says, “Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foes debt” (1.5.115). Romeo irresponsibly supports the idea of a relationship between himself and Juliet only because “The young hero is simply shifting his attention to a more receptive subject as he responds to the erotic spurring implicit in his name” (...
It is difficult for the audience to ignore this attractive role. His functions are entertaining the audience and being a turning-point figure. To begin with, he always says jests and puns to make the whole play livelier and the audience will burst out laughing at his words and funny actions. Next, his appearance is crucial to link the plots. He convinces Romeo to attend the Capulets’ ball and that is the place where he first meets Juliet. In addition, Mercutio’s death turns the atmosphere of the play. From now on, Romeo and Juliet becomes a tragedy. It is a success that Shakespeare adds this fantastic role to Romeo and
Romeo, son of Montague and Lady Montague, is introduced into the story as a depressed, upset young man, moping over a girl who will never love him back. As he says to Benvolio, “She’ll not be hit with Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit, and, in strong proof of chastity well-armed, from Love’s weak childish bow she lives uncharmed” (Romeo and Juliet I i 203-206). Romeo states that his true love will not love him as he thinks of her, as she intends to stay chaste and turn into a nun, thus upsetting Romeo and putting him in a depressed state of mind. He is a very extreme person, and in a way, that contributes to the hastiness of the whole play, as Romeo is always at either of his two extremes; his mood either quite happy or relatively dismal. He shows that in his thoughts, as he is at first convinced he should never love another woman, but then he meets Juliet only days afterward and forgets about his previous love. His encounter with Juliet is hasty, but he claims he “never saw true beauty till this night” (Rom I v 52). Romeo reveals his personality, and how quickly he is able to get over someone whom he thought he was in love with. However, after encountering Juliet and falling in love once more, Romeo develops an obsession of sorts w...
The excerpt shows how even Mercutio recognizes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets being destructive, and how it is now gotten so out of hand he has been dragged into it. Mercutio tries to open Romeo’s eyes on how if this feud continues there will be a demise for both families; but by Romeo choosing to ignore this advice and killing Tybalt he is setting himself up for his failure/downfall. Thus, Romeo is shown as a tragic hero because his demise is partly his fault and not an accident.
Through his motivation to find love, Romeo, a dynamic character, changes from a subdued individual, into a jovial lovesick character. In the early sections of the play, Romeo is in love with a woman named Rosaline who does not reciprocate those feelings. This leads him to drone on about, “sad hours “ (I.i.146) and how he would, “rather weep” (I.i.167) because he is, “out of her favour” (I.i.154). The importance of Romeo’s affection for each of his women is essential to address. The feelings that Romeo possesses inevitably leads him to become sorrowful over rejection but then, optimistic for Juliet. Later on in the play, once Romeo meets Juliet, he is quick to forget the love that he had for Rosaline and the grieving that he had underwent. After meeting her at Capulet’s ball Romeo states that she is, “my
Throughout the play the audience sees Romeo’s personality unraveling and that one of many character traits Romeo has, is that he is dramatic and cries over little things that are not important. In the opening scene of the play Romeo had recently been heartbroken by Rosaline and is depressed over her. “Tut, I have lost myself; I am not here; This is not Romeo, he’s some other where” (1.1. 192-193). Romeo is dramatic because he takes this heartbreak as if it was the end of the world and like he would never be in love again unless it was Rosaline. Shortly after, Romeo falls deeply in love with Juliet to the point that he would do anything for her. However, he gets banished and is forced to live in exile in Mantua which is far away from Juliet.
I believe Romeo is both right and wrong: unrequited love is painful, but Romeo does not truly love - as he is merely infatuated by a woman. Another type of love we are exposed to during the same scene is the love of Lady Capulet. Lady Capulet, as well as The Nurse, believes love comes from appearance, both physical and political, and has nothing to do with emotion. She shows this when she speaks favorably of Paris's looks and his nobility. She also shows that it is a superficial love by the way she treats Capulet when she publicly denounces him.
Romeo has a passion for love that is unbreakable, and he will do anything to get who he wants, no matter the consequences that might follow. An example of this is when Romeo goes to Juliet’s balcony and confesses his love for her, but what he does not understand is that “if they do see thee, they will murder thee” (Shakespeare II.ii.75). Romeo has trouble accepting the reality that it will not work out for him or her because of family differences. The intensity of love in both of these texts becomes a dangerous and violent thing.
Romeo's inclination to fall in love easily was first shown in his love for Rosaline. It was illustrated perfectly when he first met Juliet. "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night". (Lines 50-51, Scene 5, Act 1) He say this but he seemed to have forgotten Rosaline like old news, even though he speaks of Juliet as he spoke of Rosaline only a few short hours before. "One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun ne'er saw her match, since first the world begun" (Lines 94-95, Scene 2, Act 1). Romeo immaturity was further shown by the way he handled Tybalt's slaying of Mercutio.
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love tales, but what if the play is not actually a tale of love, but of total obsession and infatuation. Romeo has an immature concept of love and is rather obsessive. Romeo is not the only person in the play who is obsessed though. Many people throughout the play notice his immaturities about love. Very rarely was true love actually shown in the play. attention. Romeo childishly cries to his friend, Benvolio because Rosaline will not love him back and says " She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now" (I i 219-220). Romeo is stating that he's ready to die for loving Rosaline. This is exactly the same attitude Romeo had towards Juliet a little later in the play. During Scene I, Act ii, Romeo's friend, Benvolio tries to get him to go to the Capulet's party to help him get over Rosaline and meet other women Romeo gets very angry and emotional when he suggests this. “Now Romeo is beloved and loves again, / Alike bewitched by the charm of looks” (II 5-6). The chorus expresses Romeo’s juvenile way...