William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

‘Romeo & Juliet’ is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous play. Written in

the period of time between 1589 and 1595, Romeo & Juliet tells the

tragic love story of two young adults torn apart by name, yet drawn

together by the power of love, to an untimely ending. This essay will

be focusing on Act 3, scene 5, in which Romeo leaves Juliet after

their wedding night, for her to be scolded and insulted by her father,

left alone by her mother and turned against by her nurse, leaving

Juliet in perhaps her lowest state in the play.

At this point in the play, Juliet, a member of the Capulet family,

has met, fallen in love with and married Romeo Montague, the son of

her father’s arch rival, Montague. All this has happened behind the

back’s of both families, and has left them under a lot pressure, but

in an amazing bond of love. But, unfortunately, Romeo has been found

guilty of killing Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and has been banished from

their home town of Verona. Also, Juliet’s father, Capulet, is

pressurising her into a marriage that she cannot have, due to her

marriage to Romeo, let alone wants, leading to the argument of Act 3,

Scene 5. The scene is quite important to the play, with Capulet’s

anger leading him to give Juliet an ultimatum – marry Paris, her

suitor, or be forever disowned from the Capulet family. The scene also

shows the plays strong themes of love, marriage and power, and shows

that overall, love is all that matters, and will triumph over all

else, even if it means disastrous results.

As the scene opens, Juliet is parting with Romeo after their wedding

night together. They are d...

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...s and marriage. Marriage is thought to

be something that is basically up to you and something that your

parents have little or no control over, but the play reveals how easy

we have it today, when compared to the struggles of marriage that were

around in Shakespeare’s day. The scene also shows that Shakespeare

must have thought of marriage differently to others in his day, as he

allowed Romeo and Juliet to end up together, although only in death.

I think the play in general is fantastic, but especially Act 3, Scene

5, which divulges a lot about the struggles and hardship of life then

compared to the ‘struggles’ we experience today. It shows us also how

we should consider our families, whilst still showing a strong theme

of life: if something is meant to be, it will be, no matter what the

difficulties or consequences.