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Influences on Shakespeare's works
Character development of Romeo and Juliet by williams shakespeare
The drama of Shakespeare
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The Globe Theatre was the home of many of William Shakespeare’s plays made up of a variety of different genres. This includes tragedies.
Today, people have a much different definition of tragedies than people did then.
When we hear the word tragedy, we immediately think of a large number of innocent deaths. But is it the same as it was before? No, of course not. People in those times thought of it as a hero falling in love, having a fatal flaw, which usually lead to their deaths.
Romeo and Juliet is a great example of a Shakespearean tragedy. Even though we do have quite the same idea of tragedies, a modern view would be World Wars I and II. This is because a lot of innocent people were hurt and killed over two countries fighting.
So how is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy?
William Shakespeare, a well-known author, was the man who wrote the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The play is about two families living in Verona in the 1400’s who have held a grudge against each other for many years and their children who fall in love.
The various decisions made by the characters in the play are what makes the production such a tragedy. During the play, Romeo made many decisions, some good and some bad, but they all had a great effect on the outcome of the dramatic story. Some of the decisions the audience could hear through what Romeo said.
One of the first lines that reminds the audience of the coming events is ‘Direct my sail’. Romeo is saying this as if he is a boat, and he is allowing fate or ‘the stars’ as he later calls it to direct him wherever it wants him to go. Later in the play, Romeo claims that he had a dream that he will meet a beautiful lady, but it will end in death and sadness. But he doesn’t care. He believes that ...
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...s love was actually dead, so he killed himself, then Juliet awoke, found Romeo dead, and killed herself to be with him.
All of these points and more are all small but powerful contributors to the tragic, un-seen deaths of these lovers.
But is there anything that does not fit in with the tragic genre?
Shakespeare also wrote plays about romance and comedy. People may feel that there were parts of the play that were a bit different to a tragedy. They fitted in with a romance genre more. But that may have helped the production to be more successful, and have a more tragic end. Overall, the whole production felt and looked like a great example of a Shakespearean tragedy.
So fate did choose the right path, but not for Romeo, or Juliet, but for their families. But, they will never know that. That is why this production is such a successful one, and such a good tragedy.
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a story of two young lovers. These two hearts, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet belong to feuding families. The family feud causes them to keep their love a secret and therefore only Romeo, Juliet, Benvolio, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence know of their love. Romeo and Juliet are able to look past the feud and let themselves fall in mad love with the other. They let themselves do almost anything for the other and at times it seems like too much to do, even for the one they love. Although fate and character traits play a key role in the play, ultimately Rome and Juliet’s personal choices lead to their downfall.Fate originates all of the conflicts in Romeo and Juliet, from when they met until they die.
Romeo and Juliet is widely known to be a tragedy, but what caused the atrocity for which it is so renowned? Some may argue fate was to blame for Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths, that the situations these young lovers faced were depicted as being out of their control. Could Romeo have refused to attend the Capulet masque? Was Romeo destined to duel the raging Tybalt? Did Romeo and Juliet truly have to kill themselves? If one considers the specific circumstances and causes of these situations, the fact that all scenarios are the result of choice rather than chance, and the notion that the characters were never left without options, only one conclusion can be determined. It was unarguably the decisions made by characters, not those made by fate, that were responsible for the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet.
“It lies not in our power to love, or hate, for will in us is over-rul'd by fate.” In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it is clear that the leading theme is fate, as it is mentioned several times. Shakespeare allows the audience to see everything that happens “behind closed doors.” While some characters’ actions did affect the outcome of the play, fate is the ruling force.
Since the beginning of the play, the existence of fate has been leading Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. This is first evident in the play’s dialogue when the Serving man asks Romeo to help him read the guest list for Capulet’s party. Shakespeare writes, “God’I’ good e’en. I pray, sir, can you read?/ Ay, mine own fortune in my misery” (I,ii,58-59). This demonstrates the theme of fate because Verona is a large city and the Serving man can be in any street in Verona asking any individual to help him read, but he coincidentally encounters
Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's first authentic tragedy. It is about two lovers who commit suicide when their feuding families prevent them from being together. The play has many characters, each with its own role in keeping the plot line. Some characters have very little to do with the plot; but some have the plot revolving around them. While the character of Friar Lawrence spends only a little time on stage, he is crucial to the development of the conclusion of the play.
In efforts to overcome such hindrances to their love, Juliet feigns her death as planned. However, as a result of miscommunication, Romeo takes the news seriously, and thus, being propelled by zealous devotion, both use death as the key to unity. A variety of themes are implicated throughout the play. Fate, in particular, is well demonstrated. By using the motif of stars and characters such as Friar Lawrence, Juliet, and Romeo, Shakespeare truly and masterfully conveys that fate is the inevitable, unalterable and omnipotent force that controls all actions unto their consequences.
In every fairy tale, movie, story, and play there is always a ‘happily ever after’ but in not in this case. The star struck lovers, Romeo and Juliet, both from families who loathe each other, end up taking their lives because they rather die than live without one another. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by, William Shakespeare, mainly focuses on how selfishness can lead to tragedy. The selfish personalities of the characters caused conflict, betrayal, and death.
Romeo and Juliet made many choices out of their own free will, including an irreversible decision that ended in despair for all characters. “All are punished!”(5.3.305). In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the actions of Romeo, the actions of Juliet, and the actions of others prove that free will is more paramount than fate in the plot of the play.
The death of the two lovers in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet seems preventable. Misinformed characters spur a series of unfortunate and ill-timed events that lead to Romeo and Juliet taking their own lives. The audience is constantly aware of Romeo and Juliet’s looming death and always hold knowledge that the characters do not. Shakespeare incorporates this dramatic irony in numerous places in the play which keeps the audience on edge and gives the same sense of fate that the characters experience
There are many tragedies to be found in literature, but only a few are like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is a story of forbidden love in which a young couple are torn apart by their families’ feud in Renaissance Italy; the play’s tragic ending has both main characters die. Many aspects of this play have sparked a heated debate: is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy or is it simply tragic? Some critics claim that the play lacks elements that are necessary for a tragedy. Yet Aristotle explicitly states the essential components of a tragedy in his Poetics, and Romeo and Juliet meets those requirements. Romeo and Juliet can be considered an Aristotelian tragedy because of Romeo’s impetuousness, Juliet’s loyalty to Romeo, and the play’s peripeteia.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is often referred to as a classic love story. It is a story of love at first sight and fighting between families. The classic is a true tragedy because of the way it is created. Romeo and Juliet is an Aristotelian tragedy because it clearly follows the model shown by Aristotle. All aspects of the plot and characters perfectly follow way Aristotle defined. The plot follows the events that need to occur and the main characters have a flaw. Pity and fear is felt for the characters throughout the play. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a true Aristotelian tragedy because of the characters, plot, and the fact that it triggers pity and fear.
The play veers between love and hatred. The acts get more and more powerful until the death of the two protagonists. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet are redemptive. Shakespeare is very good at using different techniques to tell their story, all while centring the theme around love and
Romeo and Juliet, one of the most famous and acclaimed plays of William Shakespeare, recounts the romance of a couple whose lives destiny would at the end head towards tragedy. This play takes place in Verona in the late 1500’s. The play deals mostly with the fact that Romeo couldn’t be with Juliet since their families were such big rivals. However, though all of their family hated each other so much, Romeo and Juliet had never met before.
The major climax of the play comes when the friar gives Juliet a potion that will make it seem as though she has died, when in fact she is alive the whole time. While in Mantua, Romeo mistakenly hears that Juliet has actually died and he goes to lay by her side. Just as he takes a vile of poison and dies Juliet awakens to find her love lying dead at her side. She cannot fathom living in a world without Romeo so she takes his sword and ends her own life.
In contemporary theatre, a tragedy generally includes death and destruction, a romance gone horribly wrong, the hero or heroine’s total collapse, or any combination thereof. It puts the audience in a depressed, angry, or at least contemplative mood. In some ways, the Shakespearean tragedy does fit this mold: there is almost always an excess of dead people, and you can usually be sure you won’t laugh the theatre laughing.