...the case in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. One of the characters, Juliet’s Nurse, is required to keep the secret regarding the marriage between Romeo and Juliet, despite the fact that their families are enemies. Not only do secrets help develop characters and trust and relationships, but they also add dramatic irony, which both affects the plot and contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Secrecy is necessary in Romeo and Juliet because revealing secrets could lead to disastrous consequences. As previously stated, secrecy is sometimes necessary. It’s necessary to keep a secret because secrets...
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...Seth Brewster Mr. Hill English 2/21/19 Irony In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, dramatic irony acts as an important role that affects the play. The reader wants to be able to enter the play and inform the characters about what's going on. The first instance that dramatic irony is presented is when Romeo and Tybalt encounter each other. Tybalt wants to fight, but Romeo will not accept his challenge because at this point, they are cousins. Later in the play, Lady Capulet mistakenly interprets Juliet's feelings for the love towards Tybalt instead of Romeo. However, Juliet was already married to Romeo. Finally, in the last scene of the tragedy, Romeo kills himself thinking Juliet is dead. The theme of dramatic irony plays an important role in the...
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...and Its Significance in Romeo and Juliet Introduction Sometimes it’s absolutely necessary for a secret to be kept. Revealing a secret could lead to consequences that are absolutely disastrous, which is the case in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. One of the characters, Juliet’s Nurse, is required to keep the secret regarding the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, despite the fact that their families are enemies. Thesis: Secrecy is necessary in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet because, in some cases, the effects of exposing or revealing a secret could have disastrous effects. Body Paragraph 1 Topic Sentence: As previously stated, it’s sometimes necessary to keep something secret. I believe that it’s necessary to keep a secret because secrets and trust go...
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...The irony in Romeo and Juliet The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare in the 1500s set in the city of Verona. In the play, two young lovers are forbidden to be together because of a feud between their families, this eventually brings them to suicide and the families joining in friendship. Shakespeare uses a considerable amount of irony to show that that love will make you do crazy things. Shakespeare's play includes all three different types of irony: dramatic, situational, and verbal. An example of verbal irony is when Mercutio tells Tybalt “look for me tomorrow and they will find me a grave man,” moments before they fight, meaning he won’t fight tomorrow. This is ironic because Mercutio was killed...
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...Who or what is to blame for the tragic outcome of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet? In the tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, a play written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, many new themes, concepts and ideas are explored, that range from questioning the basis of society right to the concepts of fate, love and death, and addresses everything in between. They play gravitates around a central, tragic plot—starts as simple as boy meets girl, but little do they know the one cajoling a kiss from the other is the youth of their family’s greatest adversary, and this reluctance to let go leads on to a sequential chain of ill-fated events. As much as the tragedy covers many new ideas, it also leaves room for many unanswered questions. One of which...
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...far do you think Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as victims of fate? “Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1597, when people believed that their lives were controlled by fate, like a force or spirit that decides the course a person’s life should take. They believed in magic, horoscopes and that the Sun, Moon and stars could change their destiny. In this play Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as victims of fate in many different ways. At the prologue of the play the chorus describes Romeo and Juliet as "star-crossed lovers". This suggests that they fight against (or cross) their fate, which is written in the stars. It means that they are in love but fate is against them, their families have been arguing for years, so they have grown up hating each other, however Rome and Juliet are inseparable. Secondly, the Capulets and Montagues are at odds with each other. After the prologue, members of each house, as well as their servants break into a sword fight, crossing swords with each other. Sampson says "Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow." (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 60). The feuding between the two families motivates Sampson to challenge the Capulets. Another example of how the two houses despise each other is what Romeo and his friends have to do to get into the Capulet feast. So they will not be recognized, Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio wear comic masks to hide their faces. Romeo and his friends would never have known...
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...Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare Pre-reading 1. Vocabulary: Match word and definition. Words that may come in handy. Match the words in the left column with the explanations in the right column, and write the word over the definition. imagery | Word: Simile a comparison using “like” or “as” | soliloquy | Word: Run-on lines which the sense runs from one line to the next; lines which are not end-stopped. | blank verse | Word: Assonance the repetition of vowel sounds | tragic flaw | Word: Imagery language that produces pictures in the imaginations of people reading or listening | scene | Word: Blank verse unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter | personification | Word: Dramatic irony difference between the situation as known to the audience and as supposed by some or all the characters of the play | stage | Word: Rhyming couplet two lines of verse of equal length that rhyme one after the other | assonance | Word: Dialogue verbal exchange between two or more characters on the stage | antithesis | Word: Iambic Pentameter a ten syllable line of verse with five stresses: di dum, di dum, di dum, di dum, di dum | metaphor | ...
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...How Does Fate Play A Part In Romeo and Juliet'? Romeo and Juliet' was written during a period when Shakespeare had found the strength of his writing, it is believed that it was written around 1595 and he would have been about 26 years old when he wrote it. The play is a widely known tragedy concerning the fate of two young "star-cross'd lovers". It is one of the most famous of Shakespeare's plays and one of his earliest theatrical triumphs. In Romeo and Juliet', fate plays an extremely powerful role throughout the story. Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers," as the prologue at the start of the play indicated, they had fate against them. In that time, people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people's stars were crossed in the sky, they would never remain together. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet did not live happily ever after, as they both died at the end of the play. The prologue also shows fate was against Romeo and Juliet through the negative language and the foregrounds of their deaths: "The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove" This insight into the plot provides the audience with the anticipation of the finale and causes them to think negatively throughout the play. It also allows Shakespeare to make use of dramatic irony, as the audience knows something that the characters do not. This increases dramatic tension for the audience, which in turn...
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...eternal and universal. William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is one such text that uses the play form to address the impact of emotions overruling people’s thoughts and decisions. Shakespeare, demonstrating how their love is destroyed by the irrational hatred created by society, explores the impetuous and romantic love of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare examines the complexity of love and the inevitability of fate through the ingenious use of literary and dramatic techniques. Love is a convoluted emotion that sparks intense feelings of passion. The understanding of the emotion, its causes and consequences is timelessly relevant. The obsessive nature of love is...
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...The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Critique The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, set in the city of Verona, Italy, was written in the 1500's by William Shakespeare where two young people fall in love in rebellion to their parent's rules because of a feud that has lasted many years between their two families. In the play, Juliet's furious cousin Tybalt wants to kill Romeo, and in the process ends up killing Romeo's cousin Mercutio. In this series of events, Romeo kills Tybalt for revenge of his cousin's death and is banned from the city. This causes bad communication between the lovers and Romeo kills himself thinking Juliet is dead, which makes her kill herself because she is grieved by the loss of her beloved Romeo.By using irony, Shakespeare's...
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...This story of star-crossed lovers is one of William Shakespeare’s tenderest dramas. Shakespeare is sympathetic toward Romeo and Juliet, and in attributing their tragedy to fate, rather than to a flaw in their characters, he raises them to heights near perfection, as well as running the risk of creating pathos, not tragedy. They are both sincere, kind, brave, loyal, virtuous, and desperately in love, and their tragedy is greater because of their innocence. The feud between the lovers’ families represents the fate that Romeo and Juliet are powerless to overcome. The lines capture in poetry the youthful and simple passion that characterizes the play. One of the most popular plays of all time, Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare’s second tragedy (after Titus Andronicus of 1594, a failure). Consequently, the play shows the sometimes artificial lyricism of early comedies such as Love’s Labour’s Lost 1594-1595, . 1598) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (. 1595-1596, . 1600), while its character development predicts the direction of the playwright’s artistic maturity. In Shakespeare’s usual fashion, he based his story on sources that were well known in his day: Masuccio Salernitano’s Novellino (1475), William Painter’s The Palace of Pleasure (1566-1567), and, especially, Arthur Brooke’s poetic The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Shakespeare reduces the time of the action from the months it takes in Brooke’s work to a few compact days. In addition to following the conventional...
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...Romeo and Juliet Essay: Why Romeo and Juliet is Engaging Would you do anything for the people that you are loyal to? Romeo and Friar Laurence from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet would. The consistent and foolish loyalty captivates readers. Through his dynamic plot, Shakespeare is able to involve audiences in his stories. This play is no exception. Romeo and Juliet is an engaging play because of all the characters, the narrative techniques and the Theme. To start, Romeo is dramatic and twists the plot. “If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” (1.5.93). Romeo is a guy that will take a risk and be dramatic or romantic at that moment. In this moment Romeo kisses Juliet, and he just met her. Next, Friar Laurence is a sneaky character. He’s sneaky because he can makes plans and they are very smart plans. “Hold then, go home be merry. Give consent to Marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow. Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone let not the nurse lie with thee in thy chamber.” (4.1.92). Friar Laurence is telling Juliet a plan so that she can pretend to be dead and not marry Paris. Also, the Nurse is a dramatic character and she cares for Juliet. “She’s dead, deceased, she’s dead, alack the day”. (4.5.24). this tells us that the Nurse was very heartbroken and hurt when she found at that Juliet was “dead”. Furthermore, the characters in this...
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...We've all been there: waiting in line in the cafeteria and staring at the two best friends hunch next to each other talking in hushed voices. We instantly know that they are gossiping about someone. The unnerving part isn't that they are gossiping, but rather the question of who they are gossiping about. Are we at the center of this malicious conversation? Most people have experienced this, and even been the one to initiate such a conversation. And although the lesson that gossip is bad has been ingrained in us since before we can talk and vocalize such words, we still find ourselves being lured into drama time and time again because the of the infatuation for drama that we, as human beings, inevitably have. Shakespeare tapped into this desire...
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...swoon as they read Romeo and Juliet for the first time. The girls wish for a boy like Romeo to spot them in a crowded room and instantly fall in love, and even though they would never admit it, young men probably wish for the same. Even the students who scoff at Romeo’s flowery language and the dramatic irony secretly wish for the kind of overwhelming passion Romeo and Juliet share. However, the same students tend to overlook the warning Shakespeare has within the first page of the play. In the prologue, Shakespeare writes that Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of two families with such an intense hatred toward each other that it takes a child from each of the families committing suicide for the...
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...Shakespeare’s portrayal of actions and their consequences “Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” -Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson, a novelist and poet, explains that everyone commits regrettable actions and eventually always have to face the consequences that comes along with it. This belief is portrayed in William Shakespeare’s work, Romeo and Juliet, a tragic play that presents two youths, Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague, that met and fell in love at first sight. However, they are forced to keep their relationship a secret for their families, the Capulets and Montagues are bitter enemies. Because of this secrecy, misunderstandings arise and reckless decisions, along with their irreversible consequences, are...
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