...We see darkness used by William Shakespeare, one of the great writers of the Elizabethan Era. He uses it as a motif in his plays. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the motif of darkness represents foreshadowing of tragedy and the sinful situations faced by Romeo. A source of evil in the Elizabethan era is darkness. During this time period, there are a lot of superstitions flying around. Many of the superstitions involved items of darkness. A black cat...
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...consequences. In Shakespeare's timeless tale Romeo and Juliet, there are two households divided over a feud. The two star-crossed are Juliet from the Capulets, and Romeo from the house of Montague. At the beginning of the play, Romeo is lovesick over a requited love and is advised to look upon other beauties. In the Capulet household Juliet is already set to marry Count Paris and is preparing for the Capulet ball. Romeo and Juliet eventually meet and instantly fall in love without knowing the other’s true identity. This love soon leads them to rush into a marriage along with some help from Romeo’s friend Friar Laurence. Shakespeare uses the motif of sight and blindness to illustrate Romeo’s flaws, which lead to his downfall. In Shakespeare's play Romeo’s major flaw is that he is impulsive and makes quick decisions based off his instinct. This is shown at the beginning of the play when Romeo is in love Rosaline. He quickly changes his mind when he catches a glimpse of Juliet claiming “Did my heart love till now? forswear it sight!”(I, v, 50). He instantaneously forgets about Rosaline and when Friar Laurence inquiries where he was, he states “With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No. I...
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...Themes Although Romeo and Juliet is classified as a tragedy, it more closely resembles Shakespeare's comedies than his other tragedies. The lovers and their battle with authority is reminiscent of As You Like It and The Winter's Tale. "Characteristically, those comedies concern themselves with the inborn, unargued stupidity of older people and the life-affirming gaiety and resourcefulness of young ones. The lovers thread their way through obstacles set up by middle aged vanity and impercipience. Parents are stupid and do not know what it best for their children or themselves . . . [Romeo and Juliet] begins with the materials for a comedy - the stupid parental generation, the instant attraction of the young lovers, the quick surface life of street fights, masked balls and comic servants" (Wain, p. 107). Indeed, one could view Romeo and Juliet as a transitional play in which Shakespeare merges the comedic elements perfected in his earlier work with tragic elements he would later perfect in the great tragedies -- Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. This mixture of styles ultimately hurts Romeo and Juliet, exposing the immaturity of the playwright. The heroes of the play must contend with external forces that impede their relationship, but, unlike the great tragic heroes, they are devoid of the inner struggle that makes for great tragedy. The influential Shakespearean scholar, A.C. Bradley, went so far as to neglect the play entirely in his well-known collection of lectures...
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...The sky is like an hourglass, time is the sand in it, while night is when most of the sand is in the bottom half, and day is when most the sand is in the upper half. Time flies by as the sand slowly slips from the upper half into the bottom half, changing day into night. In William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, the two houses, the Montagues and the Capulets hate each other. Romeo, a Montague, falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet, often at night, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet garden to talk to Juliet. Fate divides them apart many ways, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo, and Juliet drinks a potion as part of a plan. But miscommunication happens and Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, thus commits suicide by drinking poison. Juliet wakes...
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...and is seen when Capulet abuses Juliet when she refuses the marriage and the fact that Lady Montague only has two lines in the whole play as her husband is the higher status. Male dominance in the Elizabethan Era was common in society but Shakespeare has produced a play about women breaking the status que and leading her own life against the wills of society in a time where women couldn’t even perform on stage and the female roles were performed by men. Throughout the play women as whole are portrayed as “the weaker vessels” and are objectified by men. Mercutio in particular talks about women in a purely sexual way suggesting that they serve no other purpose other than sex “An open-arse and thou a Poperin pear”. However Juliet is not portrayed in this way and there are many references to suggest that she has a higher status in society than Romeo. A suggestion of this is in 2.2 Juliet stands on the balcony whilst Romeo is admiring her from below. The proxemics of Juliet higher up on stage suggests that Juliet is of higher status in their relationship. At the beginning of the scene Romeo uses the motif of Juliet as the sun “Arise fair sun” showing Juliet as something wonderful; during Romeo’s soliloquy the audience haven’t found out weather Juliet loves Romeo yet but Romeo has shown all of his feeling for Juliet. Juliet has much more stage time than Romeo and Romeo doesn’t feature in the whole of Act four and the focus of the action is on Juliet, therefore highlighting that her...
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...Light Over Dark: The Choice Romeo and Juliet Didn’t Make The purpose of the light/dark motif in Romeo and Juliet is to show how Romeo and Juliet are unable to tell light from dark, or good from bad. I think everyone has the potential to distinguish what choices lead to “light” and what choices keep them in the “dark”. So Romeo and Juliet had that potential but I don’t think they wanted to know about that, since nothing else mattered to them but them. In this play, Romeo and Juliet do never make a clear choice of light over dark because they almost do not want to deal that decision in the middle of their romantic journey. They could have brought their situation which was becoming more of a mess each day, into the light by talking openly about it. However that would’ve ended the feud between the families that would have to be dealt with in some way and I’m sure Romeo and Juliet would not have lost their lives doing that. By ignoring their responsibilities and ignoring the darkness that was rising on them quickly both Romeo and Juliet allow tragedy to take them both. In the first scene, Romeo is depressed because his love for Rosaline is a one-way love. His parents are worried because Romeo spends all his time in the dark. Even when it is light, he shrouds himself in darkness to reflect his dreary mood: Away from the light steals home my heavy son / And private in his chamber pens himself / Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out / And makes himself an artificial night (I...
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...Anna Current Mrs. Nelson 1st Honors 9th Lit Oct 23rd, 2015 Don’t Assume Anything The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Research Paper “The world is such a scary place. Sometimes it seems like it's nothing but anger. And violence. And hurt. It can be terrifying when you're out there in it. But if you know where to look for it... the world also has warmth. And love. And forgiveness. The world has joy in it. When you find a place that allows you to experience that joy, when you find people that make you feel safe and loved, like you belong... you don't walk away from it. You fight for it.”( Espenson). In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare a lot of violent and scary things happen, but the characters somehow find a way, in the midst of the chaos, to find that happiness. Shakespeare focuses on the power of love to capture the attention of his audience. This love leads to things all throughout the play to come across as much different than suspected and end up defying stereotypes. Shakespeare uses characterization, visual motifs and dialogue to convey this theme that things aren’t always what they seem. The first way that Shakespeare conveys this theme to his audience is through showing the thoughts on marriage from Capulet and Lady Capulet. Capulet says “And too soon marred are those so early made. / Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she; / She is the hopeful lady of my earth. / But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart, / My will to her consent is but a part...
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...Fleeting Love In Act 2 of the tragic play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lovers begin their whirlwind romance. After meeting Juliet at the Capulet party, Romeo Montague confesses his love to her, and despite his awkward, somewhat unconventional confession, Juliet’s reciprocated feelings are also revealed, and the two are married the next morning. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the ever-oblivious Romeo, his new cousin-in-law, Tybalt, sends him a letter demanding a duel. Time plays a menacing force in the play, and drives the protagonists to rush their relationship. Two acts of the play pass in just two days, creating fast-paced action The sun and the moon, two opposite celestial beings, are destined to chase each other, falling into a cycle, never managing to truly catch the other. In this way, the orbs are similar to Romeo and Juliet, who face an obstacle at every turn in their dizzying...
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...young people in the play. Do these two people do the “right thing” by Romeo and Juliet? The nurse and Friar are sophisticated characters that act as parental figures within the prolix and truculent play. The timeless classic Romeo and Juliet (RJ) by William Shakespeare revolves around the notion of determinism, death, love and deception. Despite Romeo and Juliet having warring parents who pay little regard to them, the Nurse and Friar act as parental figures towards them who guide through vexed situations in their best interest, however, this only prolongs their declivity, with the Friar acting as a motif of death and the Nurse acting as a beacon of hope. By understanding the way Shakespeare has shaped the characters of the Friar Lawrence and the Nurse, the audience can understand the way they are presented in the play and the role they play in foreshadowing Romeo and Juliet’s’ cataclysmic fate. In the midst of this thespian play, the Nurse is depicted as a more favorable parental figure rather than Juliet's Parents. This decision is reasonable considering the social taboos of the historical context during the Elizabethan era, which depicts parents of high status as being stern and adamant, making it fairly uncomfortable for the young to discuss personal affairs. Juliet is preferable of the Nurse over her own mother because the Nurse has been looking after her from a very young age, stating that Juliet is like her own daughter, and even remembers that ,"Come Lammas Eve at...
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...Literacy for Work and Community life Text Analysis: Romeo and Juliet Film Response In 1996, Australian director Baz Luhrmann decided to adapt Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into his own style as a modern film. Romeo and Juliet is a story of how they met and fell in love with each other, but both tragically ended their lives due to their feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. In the prologue, it starts off with a newsreader on a TV, acting as Shakespeare’s narrator. The prologue and opening scene were significant because it showed the audience, right from the beginning, how deep the hatred was between the Montagues and Capulets, which focuses on the themes family feud and hubris. Luhrmann uses a wide shot of skyscrapers, one belonging to the Montagues on one side of the street and the Capulets on the other side. This gives the audience a hint of what might be rivalry, hatred, and battle, which highlights the theme family feud. The opening scene involves boys from the Montagues and Capulets at a petrol station. Baz Luhrmann uses costumes to portray the opposing families, the Montagues and Capulets. For example, the Montagues were wearing beach clothing which gives proposes to the audience that they are carefree. On the other hand Tybalt, who represented the Capulets, wore a black suit suggesting that he was much more intelligent. Tybalt was introduced with an extreme close up and his face was filled with disgust and hatred which was directed towards the Montagues...
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...Today I will be pitching forward to you, my own vision for Romeo and Juliet. Why is Romeo and Juliet still relevant to a modern audience after over 400 years? Simply because it contains themes that are still applicable to a modern audience, of love, hate, youth, mortality, fate, foolishness and exile. All timeless themes and relatable to all age groups, specifically adolescents. Although these themes may resonate with youths, the target audience for this historical drama will be the older generations. By keeping the original text, costuming and setting, the film will aim to inform the viewer about the daily lives of the elite in the 1500’s, as well as conventions and struggles of the time whilst still using well-known actors to relate to the...
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...time period’s societal expectations. Romeo and Juliet are blinded by their newfound feelings and their false sense of freedom in which they, without the proper guidance of an elder's advice, are left unknowingly desperate and inescapably doomed. The two lovers live in a time period with societal expectations of the upper class, and William Shakespeare’s constant allusion to this aspect within his iconic play, Romeo and Juliet, contributes to the development of the social class motif. Many problems originate from the wealthy background...
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...Love is a prominent motif in 1984. It is portrayed as a restriction; a law in which to love is to commit a crime. This restriction arouses the concept of forbidden love, where two people in love are prohibited to meet each other or be with each other. Forbidden love is seen primarily as thought-crime in Big Brother's empire Oceania. Thought-crime is basically when a person simply thinks of committing an action that would cause harm to the society or lead to the start of the revolution. The best example of forbidden love is seen when Julia wanted to meet Winston. For them to communicate out of work would have been thought-crime so to cope with it they meet in Victory Square. There, without any eye contact, Julia informs Winston where they can meet secretively. This sort of meeting is forbidden love because previously Julia had given Winston a note saying "I love you" which directly shows the love and thought-crime is the equivalent of forbidden (Orwell 108). The fact that Julia and Winston met in Victory Square also hints forbidden love because two lovers had to inform each other as to where they could meet in secrecy thus showing the restrictions of Oceania. Another example where forbidden love is seen is in Mr. Charrington's house. He is a prole, people of Oceania who are said to be equal to animals and have no contact with the real working class of Oceania, and his house supposedly has no telescreen. This poses as a great opportunity for Julia and Winston to meet...
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...Translator’s Coming of Age by Omaya Ibrahim Khalifa Through studying the three translations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet done by Mohammed Enani in 1965, 1986 and 1993 respectively, this study adopts a diachronic approach. In addition to examining the historical dimension, this study attempts to address itself to crucial questions related to the process of translating a literary text. A few of these are: how a translator can approach a given text in three different ways and how each translation changes according to the approach and the methods chosen by the translator. More importantly, the study proposes to discuss the pragmatic conditions governing the act of translation and how far these result in prominent modifications in the relationship between the source and target texts. The first part of this study discusses the problem or problems which confront a translator attempting to transpose Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into Arabic, and the second analyses the three translations and how each deals with the problems discussed. Mohammed Enani, in his introduction to his third translation of Romeo and Juliet, singles out tone as the main difficulty that faces any translator attempting a rendering of the play. In the Elizabethan era romance was regarded as a subject for comedy and as such allowed playful treatment. Harry Levin explains that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was an innovation at the time. He reveals the effect of the play on contemporary audiences as follows: ...
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...out And makes himself an artificial night He talks about Romeo as he is depressed and locked himself in a room. Capulet says: At my poor house look to behold this night Earth treading stars that make heaven light He means there will be a lot of beautiful ladies at the party and their beauties will light up the night sky. Romeo says: Give me a torch: I am not for this ambling Being but heavy, I will bear the light Romeo said this to Benvolio at Capulet party. He doesn’t want to wear a mask because he is in the bad mood, heavy and he will stand still and carry the light. Romeo says: But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun Romeo said this to Juliet. He is saying that her beauty is like the sun. Shining beauty, pure, shiny. Romeo says: Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she Romeo said this to Juliet at the balcony. He is saying that he does not want the sun to arise because that means he will have to go home and there are chances that he will see Juliet again. Act 1 scene 5 Romeo says: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows Romeo describes Juliet's beauty in terms of dark and light. "She...
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