Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
literary meaning of romeo and juliet
importance of marriage and love in romeo and juliet by shakespear
romeo and juliet literatureanalysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: literary meaning of romeo and juliet
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as a Tragedy
"Romeo and Juliet" is the most famous love story in the English
literary tradition. The play focuses on romantic love, specifically
the intense passion that arises at first sight between Romeo and
Juliet. The play covers a very short time span of three days, in which
Romeo and Juliet meet, fall in love, marry and die. The "story of…woe"
is inevitable from the moment the Prologue addresses the audience from
the stage.
At the beginning of Act Two Scene Two Romeo, having met Juliet at the
ball, finds himself in Capulet's orchard and sees Juliet at her
window. He compares her to the sun "Arise, fair sun, and kill the
envious moon." She speaks, not knowing he is there, and expresses her
love for him, "be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
In the course of the play, the young lovers are driven to defy their
entire social world. An example of this appears in this scene with the
defiance of their families,
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name," Juliet proclaims, "Or if thou
wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a
Capulet."Another example of this is when Romeo abandons Mercutio and
Benvolio at the end of the previous scene in order to go to the
Capulet's orchard. Romeo also defies his ruler when he returns to
Veronafor Juliet's sake after being exiled by the Prince on pain of
death in Act Three Scene One.
After hearing Juliet's declaration Romeo steps from the shadows and
declares his love for her. He will do anything for her love. Juliet
fears that her family will discover and bring harm upon him. She asks
that he pledge his love to her again. Sh...
... middle of paper ...
...would have allowed their love to live. That irony does
exist, and it is tragic. But because of the power and beauty of their
love, it is hard to see Romeo and Juliet's death as a simple tragedy.
Romeo and Juliet's deaths are tragic, but this tragedy was fated: by
the stars, by the violent world in which they live, by the play, and
by their very natures. We, as an audience, want this death, this
tragedy. At the play's end, we do not feel sad for the loss of life as
much as we feel wrenched by the incredible act of love that Romeo and
Juliet have committed as monuments to each other and their love. Romeo
and Juliet have been immortalised as the epitome of true love not
because their tragic deaths bury their parents' strife, but rather
because they are willing to sacrifice everything, including
themselves, for their love.
Aristotle defines a tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”. However, it is his claim that a story must contain six parts in order to be a tragedy that causes much controversy. Many critics argue that William Shakespeare does not follow the guidelines for a tragic story in his famous piece Romeo and Juliet. Their main argument is with the way he presents his tragic elements. But as Lois Kerschen says, “Shakespeare may have altered the classic form of the Greek tragedy, but that does not mean he totally ignored the Greek formula”(261). It is his strong emphasis on certain elements that prove his case. Shakespeare’s contribution of harmatia, catharsis, and anagnorisis to Romeo and Juliet prove the story to be a true Aristotelean tragedy.
How Shakespeare Develops Tragedy in Romeo and Juliet In this scene Juliet is faced by a dilemma, should she stay married to her rebellious husband or should she get married to the true gentleman County Paris? Her parents threaten to disown her if she does not marry Paris; in this situation Juliet grows as a person and becomes more mature as how to handle her problems. This scene opens with Romeo and Juliet talking in bed, the morning after there wedding night. Juliet is trying to convince Romeo not to go because she thinks it is still night.
Someone once said, "All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason that motivates characters in literature." This means that all literature is an expression of emotion and it is the emotion that is the main character, and often the setting and theme as well. It is not the reasoning within the story that draws you in, but rather how the story deals with the emotions we all have felt. It provides us with a possible scenario of the impact of focusing only on emotion and losing focus on reason. The power of emotion driving literary characters to see their emotions through, make us wish we could feel so strongly about something or someone and the way we would all like to think we would see our emotions through. Atticus Finch, from the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, and Romeo Montague from Shakespeare's drama, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, both are driven only by their emotions. Both are so driven to see their powerful emotions, no matter what might happen to them, that their emotion and the opposite emotions of everyone else around them becomes the main character, setting and theme in these stories. You are drawn in to the emotion by asking would I have the courage to stand up to my home town full of racism to seek justice for a black person as Atticus did in To Kill A Mockingbird? Could I be so in love, as Romeo was, that I would be willing to give up everything I had, my family, my position in society, even my own life, for the love of another person?
Romeo & Juliet Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.
A tragedy imitates the emotional events of life by showing instead of telling. It does not have to be an exact replication of life, but instead have some realistic aspects to it. This type of play is special because an event in the plot is caused by a preceding choice or action performed by the character. Therefore, unlike a story where occurrences are caused by coincidences, a tragedy must have events that inescapably connect to one another as a result of the characters’ choices. Consequently, this idea of cause and effect must direct the plot of the play until the protagonists have an unfortunate end. Thus, the audience watching the tragedy will experience fear and pity for the characters since their actions will lead to their dramatic downfall. Similarily, William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, conveys these fundamental ideas, but it mainly emphasizes on certain tragic concepts. These components, explained by Aristotle, certainly make this play a quintessence of tragedy. They support the chain of events in Romeo and Juliet by using character traits and majors events to connect the plot and illustrate how the characters create their own ending. For this reason, Romeo and Juliet is a genuine tragedy because of its use of significant, tragic elements; tragically-flawed protagonists; and inevitable fate.
end I will come to a final decision of who actually was to blame for
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy mainly because of the downfall of the main characters through weakness or misfortune, which lead to their deaths but these flaws are not the only reasons for this tragedy, it is possible that their fate was “written in the stars” as there are many references made about these stars. Fate (the fact that life is already planned out and is out of human control) must be one of the key factors in causing the tragedy of the “star-crossed lovers” Romeo and Juliet. It is possible that there was “some consequence yet hanging in the stars”(I iv) that already had their lives scripted down and no matter how much Romeo wanted to defy them “I defy you stars”(I, vi) he could not. This must mean that Romeo’s life was already planned out. But fate was not only interpreted in the stars, somehow it seemed that some of the characters foreshadowed their own fate, like Friar Lawrence foreshadowed “love so gentle in [Romeo’s] view, should be so tyrannous in proof”(I, I), this meaning that Romeo may see the love he has now, as wonderful, but as it continues it causes trouble.
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
What are we made of? I mean humans of course, but what are we made of. We know what our bodies are composed of but what is in our souls or spirits. Are humans really superior to other living things. Yes we can talk, but what are we made of? We are made of our feelings. Our standards, our way of life, our way of thinking and everyone is different. Some may be straight A students with a normal life while some have had a rough journey and less than perfect grades. But there are some things that I think most people have in them. It’s a positive spirit. Now, everyones is triggered by different stuff but we all have one. But, of course where there is a positive spirit there is a negative spirit which is much, much easier to catch. Even though The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet doesn’t scream positive messages about human spirit there are still some in it such as, love can make you do crazy things, in hard times people can unite, and that even when everyone is against you, you can still do what’s right.
The story of Romeo and Juliet is an inevitable tragedy. Many events take place, which are quite detrimental to the love Romeo and Juliet have for one another. By mentioning marriage and death together, Shakespeare foreshadows Romeo and Juliet's tragic ending. From the very beginning of the play throughout and to the end, there has always been the intent of a tragedy, and Shakespeare uses much dramatic irony to express this.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet The prologue is read by a News Reporter on television. One line says from ancient grudge to new mutiny, this shows that the families have had a grudge for a long time. Another line says civil blood makes civil hands unclean this means that the fighting is upseting the public members. Another line says a pair of star cross’d lovers take their lifes this is talking about Romeo and Juliet.
to light that it is a false death. Romeo rushes to her side to murder
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.
Everyone is to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo, Juliet, Friar Laurence, and Romeo and Juliet’s parents all played their own role in causing the four deaths of Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, and Paris. It is not just one of them to blame, every one of them did something to cause the tragedy. Some of them played a bigger role than others, but everyone contributed. Fate had nothing to do with it and it was all the different characters faults. Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence’s rash decisions where the main cause of the tragedy.