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Dramatic effects through the language in Romeo and Juliet
Essays on romeo and juliet development of characters
Essays on romeo and juliet development of characters
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The Language of Romeo and Juliet in the Balcony Scene
Act II Scene 2 is one of the most famous scenes of
Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet. It is
commonly known as the "Balcony Scene" because Juliet appears on a small
balcony outside her bedroom window, and exchanges words, expresses true
love with Romeo who is standing below in her father's orchard. The scene is
famous for its moving and vivid images, used to express love between two
people of contrasting nature. In my study I will compare the language of
Romeo and Juliet in this famous scene.
The balcony scene is physically separate from the rest of the play
by being set in a moonlit garden. The lovers exist outside the feuding and
quarreling but cannot completely ignore it. Their love is shown as eternal
and pure, rather than motivated by physical desire, lust or money grabbing.
This is reflected in the kind of language and imagery that the lovers use.
In this scene we notice that the way Romeo expresses his love is
different from the way Juliet expresses her love. Romeo speaks in high-
flown language to express his love but compared to his, Juliet's language
it is more sincere and filled with sweet seriousness.
Romeo expresses his love for Juliet right at the beginning of the
scene through the use of light imagery. He declares:
"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the
envious moon ... Her vestal livery is but sick and green"
Romeo connects the pale moonlight with sickness and grief and says that
only fools have anything to do with it. Here Romeo refers to how foolishly
he fell i...
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...c., 1986.
Bryant, J. A. Jr., Introduction, Romeo and Juliet, New York, Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1986.
Clark, W. G. and Wright, W. Aldis , ed. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol. 1. New York: Nelson-Doubleday
Cole, Douglas, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Romeo and Juliet. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970.
Granville-Barker, Henry. Prefaces to Shakespeare. New York: Hill and Wang, 1970.
Lamb, Sidney, ed. Complete Study Edition, Romeo and Juliet: Nebraska, 1965.
Lipson, Greta Barclay and Lipson, Susan Solomon, Romeo and Juliet Plainspoken: A Speech-by-Speech Modern Translation, Illinois, 1985.
Shakespeare, William. "Romeo and Juliet" 1597. Clark and Wright 247-277
Watts, Cedric. Twayne's New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991.
Aubrey, Bryan. “Critical Essay on ‘Romeo and Juliet’.” Drama for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 21. Detriot: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
The Red Scare happened during the Cold War when the US and Russia were threatening each other by trying to build more power than the other. At the time, Americans were very fearful of communists, so when one man named Joseph McCarthy, a Senator from Wisconsin, starting telling people that there were communists living among them, many people believed him (Westlund). The composition of The Crucible is about the Salem Witch Trials, but there are clear parallels that can be connected to the McCarthy Hearings. The people in Salem were afraid of witchcraft and many people believed accusations because they were afraid. The comparison was very controversial and ended up getting Arthur Miller accused of communist affiliation. The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Hearings are compared in The Crucible and there are clear parallels seen in the story
One example of The Crucible being an allegory to the McCarthy Era is the similarity in the way people were accused. In both instances “Habeas corpus” and “Innocent until proven guilty” are not present. In The Crucible the accused entered the courtroom with a decided fate. To Judge Danforth they were guilty unless they could prove themselves innocent or confess and give him the names of other witches. Even though this was unfair, people were afraid that if they stood up to it than they too would be accused. In John Proctors case this was true. John Proctor goes to the courthouse to free his wife who has been accused of witchcraft. Slowly, Danforth and Hawthorn turn it against him and accuse him of witchcraft. All hell breaks loose in the courtroom and Proctor has an outburst.
The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never occur again. People look back on these times and are appalled at how horrendous the times were; yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time, Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials.
...ations were accused without solid information that could not be proved in any way. These events in history affected people by basically destroying their lives. McCarthyism affected people that were put on those black lists. Once they were put on those black lists it was almost impossible for them to get a job that would help support them and pay for all of their bills that they had. During the Salem witch trial the event destroyed john procter’s family and forced his children to live without a father. Although McCarthyism was mostly bad the good was that the idea of McCarthyism destroyed it self and ended the rise of communism in the United States of America. Due to hysteria in the 1950’s America and the Salem witch trials both resulted in corruption and the destruction of people’s lives. “The Crucible” was written in response to this hysteria in the 1950’s.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a masterpiece of its time, not only because of its compelling ideas and relative historical accuracy, but also because of its uncanny ability to draw its readers and viewers to the edge of their seats… and further. Written to point out the evil and perversion embodied in the McCarthy trials of his time, Arthur Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials as a powerful parallel. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in Salem Massachusetts, from 1692 to 1693, in the course of which over 200 people were falsely convicted of witchcraft, and 20 were hanged for refusing to “confess.” It was a grim time ruled by hysteria, as fear became the driving force of the leadership and led them to commit unimaginable acts, acts that would a distinct scar on their society for many years to come. In order to make the Witch Trials more relatable, Arthur hones in on the lives of several people of the town of Salem, chiefly John Proctor and Abigail Williams.
Shakespeare, William, and Burton Raffel. Romeo and Juliet. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1997. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Language of Literature. Ed. Arthur N. Applebee. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2002. Print.
Besides similarities between “The Crucible”, Salem witch Trials, and the McCarthy Era there are differences. The Crucible/ Salem witch trials had people being hung that were believed to be witches compared to people just being put in prison when they were accused of being a communist in the McCarthy era. Also, anyone was able to charge someone else in “The Crucible” where during the McCarthy Era Joseph McCarthy was the one charging people, and no one else had any say about who was charged.
Many people look back on the events of the Salem witch trials and laugh at the absurdity of the allegations. It seems crazy that society could be fooled into believing in things like witches and deal with the events in such an extreme manner. It is a common belief that witch hunts are things of the past. Many people would agree that they no longer exist today; however Arthur Miller, author of the play, "The Crucible", points out that society has not come very far from the days of the Salem witch trials. In his play, he used the Salem witch trials to represent the McCarthy Era because he saw that the nation was facing the same events that Salem went through back in the late 1600's. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" in an attempt to create moral awareness for society. He did so by making a few small changes to the history and creating parallels in the play with racism, human tendencies, and H.U.A.C.
Few people are willing to stand up to the overwhelming power of authority, especially during a time like the Red scare. Hardly any authors are able to recognize meaningful similarities between the present times and an event that happened many years ago—and write about it effectively. Only one has had the courage and intelligence to do both. Arthur Miller was an American author who wrote plays, essays, and stories and has published works dating from to 1936 through 2004. The Crucible, one of his most famous plays, premiered in New York on January 22, 1953 (InfoTrac). It is a historical-fiction story set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The witch hunt described in this play is similar to the Red Scare, an anti-communist movement led by Senator Joseph McCarthy that lasted from the late 1940s to the late 1950s (Broudin). During both time periods, most people respected high authority while a few dissenters challenged conformist views. The public was censored in what they could say because of the fear of being accused of witchcraft or communism. The hysteria of the times triggered a mob-mentality to emerge among the citizens, which influenced nearly everyone to join the terrible movements. Miller presents all of these ideas in The Crucible using his own experiences as influences. He incorporated many of his own traits into the characters’ dispositions. He also described many situations in the play that were similar to the ones he was in, including how he was censored by the Red Scare. Many people will often conform while only a few will challenge authority, will use censorship to prevent others from expressing their views, and are easily affected by hysteria; these characteristics influenced Miller’s life and are reflected by him in Th...
Events have played out in history that made people realize the inhumane acts of people and the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era were two of them. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were almost 260 years before the McCarthy “witch hunts” in the 1950s yet there are similarities between them. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is about the Salem witch trials and is an allegory to the practicing of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare in the United States, which Miller was a victim of. Although there may be differences between “The Crucible” and McCarthyism, ultimately the anger, lack of evidence, and the people were alike in both events.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1