Romeo and Juliet free essay sample

Robert Louis Stevenson is a Scottish writer born, November 13, 1850 and died December 3, 1894. He says, â€Å"Everybody sooner or later sits down to a banquet of consequences. † Consequences are often formed when people make hasty decisions and do not think there thoughts through. Such is the case in the play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† when the two characters do not think of how decision will affect them in the future. In the play hasty decisions caused Romeo and Juliets deaths. Hasty decisions were made going to the party, being married and drinking the potions. Romeo going to the party was a hasty decision and in turn he finds himself with consequences too large. A servant was wondering the streets of Verona with a scroll he could not read. In the scroll it was a list of people who were invited to Lord Capulets party. Romeo offered to read it and found out that his true love was going but Benvolio tells him that if they go to the party Romeo will find other girls much prettier. We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Romeo comes back and tell Benvolio, â€Å"Ill go along, no such sight to be shown. /But to rejoice in my splendor of my own† (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 106-107). Romeo at the party finds a women who is young and beautiful and her name is Juliet. Romeo forgets about his other true love and asks some one at the party who she is. To Romeos surprise he finds out that she is a Capulet. Montagues and Capulets are enemies and Romeo is a Montague. Romeo says after hearing Juliets a Capulet, â€Å"O dear my account! My life is my foes debt† (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 132). Romeo goes to the party so he can find that Capulets are not the prettiest people and that there are such thing as more than one choice but instead he falls in love with another Capulet. Romeo is faced with yet another issue that he did not think all the way through. Romeo is to marry Juliet the day after they met. Juliet talked to Romeo and said, â€Å"Thy purpose a marriage, send me word tomorrow† (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 151). Juliet and Romeo are making last second preparations on a marriage and they barely know each other. The next morning Romeo pays Friar Lawrence a visit and to tell him of the news that he and Juliet will be married that very day. The Friar likes the idea because he believes that the marriage will bring peace between the Capulets and Montagues. Romeo says, â€Å"That thou consent to marry us today† (Act 2, Scene 3, Line 151). Romeo does not think that maybe he should wait for a little while before marrying a girl he met yesterday. Romeo does not realize the consequences of his decision. When Romeo hears that Juliet has fallen into a deep sleep he immediately thinks she has killed herself because of his banishment. So instead of asking the Friar who is a trusted friend what happened he goes and buys poison. The poison only works if put in food; Romeo says, â€Å"Farewell, buy food and get in flesh† (Act 5, Scene 1, Line 88). Romeo lays himself next to Juliet and dies from the poison but Juliet is only asleep. When Juliet awakes she stabs herself with Romeos dagger only to see Romeo dead. The first watchman say, â€Å"Rome dead, and Juliet dead before† (Act 5, Scene 3, Line 203). In that instant moment a bond grows between the Capulets and Montagues. The parents realize that blood was spilled because of there hatred for one another and because of not seeing future consequences. Hasty decisions can lead to big consequences and sometimes people are not able to solve the problem before the consequences are give out. In the play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† hasty decisions were the reasons for there deaths. Romeo did not think of the consequences of going to the party, having a marriage or of drinking the poison. If Romeo thought of the decision before his answer the deaths might have not been as tragic. So does â€Å"Everybody sooner or later sits down to a banquet of consequences? † Romeo and Juliet free essay sample Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is one of the most famous love stories. Most people think it is just about romantic love, but indeed it has many different forms of love that exists which is portrayed throughout the Shakespearian novel. The novel uses the main theme of love to push the story along and keep it going. Presented are variations of love including forbidden love, unrequited Love and blind love. This essay aims to analyse these three types of love chosen. Romeo and Juliet is a brilliant play about a young boy and girl, whom fall deeply in love with each other. Romeo is from the house of Montague, while Juliet is from the house of Capulet. Both families have been feuding with each other for a long time; however, despite the families feuding, Romeo and Juliet marry each other in secrecy. This is an example of forbidden love. We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and juliet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Romeo and Juliet the two main characters rush into love and it didn’t end up the way they planned it to. They see each other’s seen beauty and think they will live happily together, but things change throughout the story that take a turn for the worst. Romeo gets banished from Verona making their love for each other hard making them sneak around to manage it. Juliet pretends to kill herself so Romeo would come back but Romeo goes back thinking Juliet actually killed herself, so he decides he must kill himself. Juliet wakes up and sees her love dead and decides if she cannot live with Romeo she will not live at all, and kills herself also. The first time Romeo sees Juliet he says, â€Å"Did my heart love till? / Forswear it sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night† (1. 5). Romeo without hesitating decides that he is in love with Juliet now even though he has not spoken to her at all. Which brings us into unrequited love and the one sided love between Romeo and Rosaline. You are never positive if someone really loves you or not. All you know is that you truly love them. That is what makes unrequited love difficult for people. In Romeo and Juliet, unrequited love is present whether it was apparent or implied, we don’t know. When we are introduced to the character Romeo, he is infatuated by Rosaline which he thought was love at first sight, but she happens to not be in love with him and plans to become a nun. Romeo is in love with Rosaline while Paris falls in love with Juliet which are the most obvious examples in Romeo and Juliet. Romeos apparent love for Juliet is no different than his love for Rosaline because Romeo is in love with the idea of being in love. Although, I do believe there is an unrequited love between Juliet and her parents. In Romeo and Juliet, love and hate are just two emotions on the same side. Both emotions are intense emotions that as Benvolio says, get the mad blood stirring (3. 1. 4). When the hatred is going on between the Montagues and Capulets, it finally pushes Romeo and Juliet to their tragic deaths but which their parents thought they were doing right for their children. But if theyre just two emotions on the same side, then can this kind of passionate love even exist without hate? Romeo and Juliet free essay sample Poems and plays often have to deal with the theme of power and control. In Shakespeare’s â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† Capulet wields the authority. Shakespeare portrays Capulet as a patriarchal ruler who is not afraid to show his controlling side. His aggression is key aspect in the play and becomes a catalyst for the outcome of our â€Å"star crossed lovers†. I will also examine the exertion of power in the poems â€Å"My Last Duchess†, â€Å"Hawk Roosting† and â€Å"Human Interest†. Firstly, I will begin with examining the theme of force in Shakespeare’s â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†. The first key scene to consider is act one scene on in which a battle between the Capulets and Montagues occurs. In this scene Capulet himself is not afraid to get involved in the battle. â€Å"Give me my longsword, ho†. The use of the imperative â€Å"Give† shows Capulet commanding other to do his deeds. It also shows him expecting others to be governed by him. We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This re-enforces the aspect of a patriarchal society in which man rules. This shows that he exerts power and control without think of any consequences or how it affects others. Secondly, I will examine act one scene two. In this scene Capulet’s character changes his mood and Shakespeare depicts him as fatherly. He appears to give Juliet her own choice in who to marry. â€Å"My will to her consent is but apart†. This quote contradicts the earlier scene in which Capulet is very demanding of others. This illustrates that Capulet has a good relationship with his beloved Juliet; he trusts Juliet to make a good decision. He treats her like a human rather than an object; but his power to force her into a marriage if he feels it necessary is implicitly present. The next scene to investigate would be act one scene five in which Capulet hosts his â€Å"accustomed feasts†. In this scene we can see how Capulet can gradually lose his temper. Capulet begins to use gentle imperatives toward Tybalt such as â€Å"content thee, gentle coz†. The word â€Å"content† is used as an imperative but in this case it is not used as impertinent word, like â€Å"give† in the earlier scene. This part of act one scene five shows the audience a low level of Capulet’s anger. It shows Capulet using his dominance but without becoming enraged. As act 1 scene 5 progresses Capulet becomes less patient repeating the word â€Å"go to! go to! † The use of repetition implies Capulet is becoming less patient with Tybalt and the use an exclamation also adds to the portrayal of Capulet’s irritation. As the scene proceeds the imperatives become shorter, increasing the audiences knowledge of Capulet’s impatience. Towards the start of the scene we see Capulet exerting little aggression but as we examine the scene closer we see that Capulet loses control over himself and becomes angry at Tybalt. In contrast to act one scene two we see Capulet objectifying Juliet in act three scene four. We see Capulet acting as if he can sell his own child as if it were a business deal. The quote â€Å"I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love† implies that Capulet is going to give away Juliet’s love to Paris. The word â€Å"tender† clearly tells the audience that Capulet believes that he can give his daughter’s love away to with no question asked. The fact that Capulet is not hesitant to sell his daughter implies that he knows that he rules everyone and that he can control others. It also tells us that he believes he can make decisions for other people without them knowing. The word â€Å"my† is a possessive pronoun which re-enforces the idea that Capulet owns Juliet and has the right to give her away. In this scene Capulet is portrayed as avaricious as he is setting up a marriage in which money is the prime objective and not the happiness of his own child. This in turn suggests that Capulet has exerts enough force that he can sell his own daughter’s love for money. In modern society this appears as cruel and heartless. Above all act three scene five shows Capulet animosity toward Juliet. In this scene Juliet gives a negative response toward Capulet after she is informed of the planned wedding. After she has responded Capulet ignores her; he talks as if she is not there. â€Å"How will she none? Doth she not give us thanks? Is she not proud? † The repetition of the word â€Å"she† indicates that Capulet does not want to acknowledge Juliet, or make a personal connection with her. He chooses to act as if she is not in the room; he excludes her from the scene. This scene reveals to the audience that Capulet maintains the belief that he has enough power to command everyone around. Furthermore, Capulet insults Juliet; thinking he has the right to do I . The insult â€Å"mistress minion you† includes alliteration of the harsh â€Å"m† sound† which appears blunt to the audience. The word â€Å"mistress† indicates that Capulet saw that Juliet was a spoilt child who did not appreciate what he had done for her. The word â€Å"minion† tells the audience that Capulet thinks that Juliet is a slave and should be treated like one. I addition Capulet also uses the insult â€Å"Out, you baggage! † which shows the audience that Capulet sees Juliet as someone he can insult with no consequences. Capulet berates Juliet by using the word â€Å"baggage† as he entirely objectifies her. Capulet is disparaging when he vilifies Juliet by comparing her to a bag. She is not given an intimate beloved connection and Capulet sees her as an accessory. This metaphor tells us that Capulet thinks that Juliet is an item to which he can do with what he pleases. A bag could also be seen a burden that weighs you down. A member of the modern society would side with Juliet, but a wealthy individual living in the Elizabethan era would agree with Capulet. Capulet is clearly illustrating power and control throughout this scene as he presumes that he can slander Juliet without anyone standing up to him. After Capulet leaves the scene Juliet is astonished when she finds no support from the other characters. Juliet even threatens her mother when she does not sympathise with her. â€Å"Make the bridal bed where Tybalt lies†. Juliet feels the need to stop the marriage, however her mother refuses to help and still follows the order of the patriarchal society; she is weaker and must obey Capulet. It is clear that Lady Capulet’s actions are supervised and overseen by Lord Capulet himself. Capulet already has control over his wife. Whereas Juliet is breaking filial obedience by disobeying Capulet repeatedly. In conclusion Capulet is generally portrayed as a vehement, zealous character who follows draconian principles even if it means vilipending a family member. We see Capulet’s benevolent side infrequently on the few occasions when the other characters are obeying him. We constantly see Capulet expressing his pre-eminence and dominance over others. Capulet has his power and control through intimidation and derision. He belittles and humiliates others and their fear of him means he gets what he wants. The poem â€Å"My Last Duchess† is a dramatic monologue. This poem is one long stanza in which the Duke, through the language that he uses to describe his former wife, reveals his own character and attitude, and how he subtly exerts power and control. The Duke refers to his former wife as â€Å"My Last Duchess†. The possessive pronoun â€Å"my† gives us the first implication that he saw her as a possession and that she is merely one in a line of many Duchesses. He is very possessive of his wife and wishes to control her even after death. The word â€Å"last† should not be interpreted as final, but as previous; the Duke intends to acquire another Duchess but indicates he would kill her, like his previous one, if she does not obey. + Similarly, in â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† Lord Capulet is very possessive of Juliet. â€Å"I will make a desperate tender of my child’s love† This indicates that Capulet sees his own daughter as his possession to give away. This is extremely similar to the Duke implying that he owns his wife and can do anything with her. The possessive pronoun â€Å"my† is also used by Capulet to indicate that he owns Juliet as if she were an object. The Duke and Lord Capulet both objectify and control their subordinates. Both the Duke and Lord Capulet live in fiercely patriarchal societies having power over their dominion as head of their respective hierarchies. The most engaging element of the poem is probably the speaker himself, the Duke. Objectively, its easy to identify him as a monster, since he had his wife murdered for what comes across as fairly innocuous crimes. However, he is impressively charming in his use of language; he is affable and precise in the way he speaks. â€Å"Will’t you sit and look at her? † Although this may seem like the Duke is very courteous and civilized, with further analysis we see that Browning has clearly used ironic disconnect. In fact, the Dukes excessive demand for control, ultimately comes across as his most defining characteristic. â€Å"I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together. † The obvious manifestation of this is the murder of his wife. The emissary is the Duke’s audience much as we are Robert Brownings, with the Duke exerting an unequivocal control over his story reflecting Browning’s precise crafting of the ironic disconnect. In contrast, Capulet is not at all subtle; he uses strong imperatives to simply command others. He does not hesitate in insulting or violently threatening family members. â€Å"My fingers Itch† He uses his intimidation to dictate the other characters. Also the insult â€Å"baggage† as previously analysed is exceedingly harsh and slanderous. Capulet is blunt and not afraid to speak the truth; as envisaged by him. In conclusion, the Duke and Capulet are similar in the amount of authority they wield, but the Duke is impressively subtle. Capulet, however, uses fear to his advantage, commanding and controlling his subjects. Capulet does not think twice in what he says, he is direct and ungracious whereas the Duke appears polite, pleasant and courtly; but in fact he is more deceitful and cunning in the execution of his power and control. Romeo and Juliet free essay sample In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act 3 Scene 5 shows the key relationships between Lord and Lady Capulet and their daughter Juliet. It concentrates on the conflict between them. This scene contrasts and compares strongly with three poems I have studied about parental relationships, which are; Catrin, Father to Son and This be the verse. In Catrin we see a mother’s love and also the conflict between her and her daughter, relating to Romeo and Juliet, with the relationship of Juliet and Lady Capulet. Father to Son concentrates on the conflict between a father and son. Lastly in This be the verse, Philip Larkin portrays very negative image about the relationship between parents and children, and concentrates mainly on conflict. The poem suggests that parents without meaning too ruin your life, which is similar to Romeo and Juliet. As Juliet’s parents start with good intentions but inadvertently not only ruins her life but leads to death. We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The three poems I studied are all very modern unlike Romeo and Juliet, which makes us read Romeo and Juliet differently to the poems as we have an understand that at the time parents had a lot more control over women. As women of this time had a lower status to men and all men owned their wives and children and to see a women even speak without a males consent to do was surprising. In Romeo and Juliet, the parental relationships concentrate on the conflict between Lord and Lady Capulet with their daughter Juliet. It’s also suggested that the nurse has brought Juliet up. Firstly, Juliet’s strained relationship with her mother is rather distant. Unlike the nurse’s relationship who is much more mother-like than Lady Capulet. Her father is much more opinionated and very much tries to control Juliet in her choices. Suggesting the time at which the play was written. In Act 3 scene 5, we see a changing of relations between Juliet and her parents and the nurse. Towards the beginning of the scene Lady Capulet enters Juliet’s room and perceives joyful news. We know this as she says â€Å"I’ll tell thee joyful tidings†, suggesting that Lady Capulet thinks she is telling news what Juliet wants to hear and that she Is being a good mother. However, to Lady Capulet’s surprise Juliet does quite the opposite, she says â€Å"I will not marry yet† this directly informs Lady Capulet of her choice. The disobedient behaviour surprises Lady Capulet, to implying she wants her daughter dead â€Å"fool were married to her grave† the use of fool is very insensitive and concentrates her opinions of her daughters resistance to not marry Paris. This extreme behaviour demonstrates Lady Capulet distant and not mother like behaviour to her daughter as any true mother would support the daughter’s wishes if the reasons were justified. Throughout the play, Lord Capulet presents his character as very aggressive and controlling. Act 3 Scene 5 demonstrates this, as he seen getting outrages at Juliet’s resistance to not wanting to marry Paris. He enters the scene, towards the end of Juliet’s and Lady Capulet’s brief discussion as Lady Capulet’s acquaints the â€Å"joyful tidings† to Juliet. He c++++ b- atechizes to Lady Capulet, â€Å"Have you deliver’d to her our decree†, this demanding expression informs us of Capulet’s decision to the marriage of his daughter and Paris. The use of â€Å"deliver’d† enlightens us on that Juliet has no choice in the matter of the marriage. When delivering news to someone, we’re giving them an order which we expect to be obeyed. Unlike if he ‘asked’ which is a request, and by definition leaves an opening for someone to decline. When Capulet realises Juliet has refused to marry Paris â€Å"not marry Paris†, Capulet response is far from calm, and he directs unthinkable insults at his own daughter. Green-sickness carrion is a double insult; it means she looks as green as something thats been dead a long time, and it means she is afflicted with the disgusting sickness that comes from being a girl, and not a married woman. A baggage is a good-for-nothing, someone whos just a burden, and tallow is animal fat used to make cheap candles. These disgusting insults to his own daughter, shows Capulet’s surprise and disgusts at his daughter not being obedient for once. Juliet and the Nurse share a very close bond throughout Romeo and Juliet, one that surpasses one of a girl and her servant. Since being her wet nurse and being there for Juliet for all her life the Nurse’s and Juliet’s relationship is very much mother and daughter like. The nurse gains the utmost trust in Juliet, meaning Juliet is comfortable and at ease speaking to the Nurse. However in Act 3 Scene 5, the nurse sides with Lord and Lady Capulet, â€Å"I think it best you married with the county†. Juliet feels betrayed and thus ends her faith in the Nurse and her intimate ties as well â€Å"Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain†. The nurse tries to comfort Juliet in her desperate situation, the Nurse offers her an easy solution — marry Paris and forget the dishclout Romeo. This amoral recommendation betrays Juliets trust and indicates the Nurses inability to understand the passionate intensity and spiritual nature of Romeo and Juliets love. After all, the Nurse regards Romeos and Juliet’s love as a temporary, physical relationship, and she sees Juliets marriage to Paris in entirely practical and economic terms. The Nurses failure to stand up for Juliet in the face of Capulets onslaught is also understandable. She understands Juliet’s great struggle if she chose to go against Lord and Lady Capulet’s demands. In the poem Catrin we see a mother and daughter’s relationship. In the poem, Gillian Clarke uses her own relationship with her daughter to present the love and conflict of parenting. She uses two crucial points in her relationship between her daughter, the birth and the present time. In stanza 1, she concentrates on the struggle of child birth. She describes it as â€Å"Fierce confrontation† and the struggle of fighting over the â€Å"red rope of love†. This â€Å"red rope† is the umbilical cord and shows the physical tie between her and her daughter. The use of ‘love’ in the description of the red cord shows us that she is bringing in the concepts of both love and conflict in the relationship of parents and children and that in this relationships it is both physical and emotional. In Stanza 2 she repeats this concept of the love and conflict of parenting, as her daughter wants to go play in the dark for one more hour â€Å"In the dark, for one more hour†. She starts the stanza off by saying â€Å"Neither won nor lost the stuggle†, this image recalls the tug of war image. It also shows that feelings may run very high on either side but the struggle between parents and children is not about winning or losing, but about change and growth on both sides. This is similar to the father poem in ‘From books of matches’ as the father does not agree with what his child has done, stating â€Å"you’ve lost your head†. ‘Trailing love and conflict’ is another reminder in Catrin that Clarke believes that the mother/daughter relationship is a somewhat turbulent one; there are confrontations and fights, but in the end it is a relationship with a deep ‘pool’ of love that will always be there, no matter the confrontation In the poem Father to son, the father speaks about the distance between him and the father despite living together since the time of his son’s birth. This links to Romeo and Juliet with the relationship of Lord Capulet and Juliet, as they are very much distant but again live in the same house. First of all the title suggests, the poem encompasses the feelings the father has towards his son, the use of ‘to’ in the title makes it looks like the poem is a letter from father to son, conveying the fathers feelings. The phrase also implies a one sided conversation with the father in the dominant role and the son passive and silent. The poems first verse is ‘I do not understand this child’, this immediately setting the tone of the poem. We learn about the distant straight away. Also the use of â€Å"this child† instead of a name confirms that the Father is neither addressing the son in the poem nor thinking of him as his son. Throughout the poem the father is not addressing the son directly but refers to him in the third person as if talking to another person, an outsider. This demonstrates the distance of their relationship. The use of â€Å"Built to my design† demonstrates the father and son relationship, as every biological parent has but yet outsiders see this bond but are not aware of the distance. Then going onto say â€Å"Yet what he loves I cannot share. † These two verses displays many relationships between parents and children except the word ‘loves’ is too strong for a normal parental affinity to be without. Starting off the third stanza with â€Å"silence surrounds us†, is again demonstrating the distance between the father and the son, as there are no foundations for them to relate to each other. The final stanza finishes off with â€Å"longing for something to forgive†, this is suggesting he wants forgiveness from his son however neither of them wants to make the first step but this verse is suggesting that if least they long to forgive, they will find a way to make things work. The structure of the poem very much relates to the constant distance of the relationship between the father and the son, as each line has the same number of syllables throughout the poem. However the poem has no regular structure and has only one verse made up of twenty four lines. There is also no significant rhyme scheme, as each line has the same number of syllables throughout the poem. Jennings poems, relates to the play Romeo and Juliet, because the regret to the response to Juliet’s death, is similar to the response of the regret of not having a relationship with his son. Also the main link is the distance between Lord and Lady Capulet relationship with Juliet, they also live in the same house but have no connection. In ‘This be the verse’, Philip Larkin writes the poem in the second person which suggests to us that he is wanting to teach us something. Unlike in Catrina where Clarke presents the relationship as love and conflict, Philip presents the relationship between parent and child as very negative and only concentrates on the bad points of parenting. He describes the relation between ‘you’ and your parents in stanza 1. He starts the poem of with â€Å"they fuck you up, your mum and dad† this strong opening which jolts the reader to pay attention, as the obscenity of the taboo language shocks the reader, it also very much sets the tone of the poem. The use of ‘mum and dad’, instead of mother and father suggests the tone is very informal. He then goes onto say that â€Å"They fill you up with the faults they had† Larkin shows sympathy to kids how they inherit their parents bad behaviours, and no matter how hard they try to avoid it, they will become just like their parents. The next stanza, Larkin offers an escape to the blame of the parents when he describes them as â€Å"fucked up in their turn†. He’s saying that parents cant help that they have inherited their parents drama and how it is a tradition to wreck your children. This is all very extreme opinions. He then goes on to say that Old-style hats and coats this points out previous generations, such as parents or grandparents. Soppy means overly sentimental and stern means strict; so the previous generation was overly protective, which is inevitably passed on to their children. His opinion is pessimistic, how it’s a never ending cycle. The last stanza, continues with the negative tone. The first verse is â€Å"man hands on misery to man† he is trying to say that misery is a part of life and there is no escaping it. He ends the poem with â€Å"get out as early as you can, and have any kids yourself† this is a very strong point to make and it emphasises the negative impression Larkin wants to convey about the relationship between parents and children. This poems links to Romeo and Juliet, of the conflict between Lord Capulet and his daughter Juliet in Act 3 scene 5 when Juliet disobeys his order to marry paris. In conclusion, analysing Act 3 Scene 5 gave us great detail of how Shakespeare presents the conflict and love between Juliet, her parents and the nurse. With linking the relationships in Romeo and Juliet and the 3 poems reflected the attitudes of when they were written and the patriarchal society. The relationship with Juliet and Lord Capulet emulates the Love and conflict in the relationships the strongest, how earlier on in the play Lord Capulet shows concern and love towards Juliet but in Act 3 Scene 5 demonstrates the conflict. The negativity of This be the verse, the mothers love and conflict in Catrin and, the distance in Father to Son all demonstrate the main aspects of the parental relationship’s in Act 3 Scene 5. Romeo and Juliet free essay sample According to Aristotle (335BC), an essential element in the ‘good or fine’ character of every great tragic hero is ‘hamartia’, the fatal flaw. The tragic hero’s fatal flaws inevitably lead to negative consequences in his life. The character of Romeo, the tragic hero[1] of William Shakespeare’s cautionary tragedy Romeo and Juliet, contains three key fatal flaws that condemn him and others to death. Through employing the dramatic techniques of meaningful dialogue, soliloquy, narrative structure, and characterisation, Shakespeare privileges that Romeo’s flaws of irresponsibility, rashness and waywardness were stereotypical of upper-class youth[2] during the Renaissance[3]. Romeo’s fatal flaw of irresponsibility is foregrounded throughout the play as he repeatedly relies on fate. By obliviously relying on chance when he is ‘in love’ and then blaming fate when he meets conflict, Romeo shirks off responsibility for his own actions and decisions (Shakespeare, 1597, I. i. 160). By gate-crashing Capulet’s banquet, where ‘’tis no wit to go’ as a Montague, he recklessly lends himself to chance (I. We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page iv. 50). Indirectly, this risk taken by Romeo is the cause of Tybalt’s and Mercutio’s death. After irrationally mourning for Mercutio and murdering Tybalt, Romeo then dubs himself ‘fortune’s fool’ (III. i. 132), blaming ‘[t]his day’s black fate’ (III. i. 114) for his predicament. Through this event, Shakespeare conveys a cautionary warning to the audience by inviting that Romeo’s irresponsibility in love results in the downfall of Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt. When in love, Romeo also possesses the character of rashness. It is a common element in tragedies for the tragic hero to hastily disregard repeated forebodings and warnings of doom, and that this would contribute to his eventual downfall in the play (Aristotle, 335BC). In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo receives countless premonitions and omens from ‘the stars’ hanging above foreshadowing the lovers’ approaching doom (I. iv. 113). Yet, the hero does not appear to take these to heart when in the face of love. Just before attending Capulet’s banquet, Romeo reflects, ‘I fear†¦/ Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars†¦/ With this night’s revels’ (I. iv. 112-115). Nonetheless, he immediately decides, ‘Let come what may, once more I will behold/ My Juliet’s eyes! / In our hearts dwell love and endless peace’ (i. iv. 121). It is almost as if Romeo’s rational judgement is ‘hoodwinked’ by Cupid’s bow (I. iv. 4). In Act Three, both Romeo and Juliet perceive the other as ‘one dead in the bottom of a tomb’ (III. v. 56) and ‘pale’ (III. v. 57). Romeo even further comments, ‘Dry sorrow drinks our blood’ (III. v. 59). Shakespeare couples this dialogue with Romeo’s premonition in Mantua – ‘I dreamt that my lady came and found me dead’– to convey an obvious sense of foreshadowing and foreboding doom to the audience, as it was a commonly thought in the Renaissance that dreams actually came true (V. i. 5). Nonetheless, Romeo obliviously pursues his deepening relationship with Juliet. For the rest of the play, he gives no contemplation to the ‘ill-divining’ warnings (III. v. 54). Indeed, the ‘misadventured piteous overthrows’ (I. Prologue. ) of the lovers and those around them did come true in the end, even when Romeo attempts to ‘defy you, stars’ (V. i. 25). Shakespeare almost forces the audience to believe that Romeo’s obliviousness to the omens he encounters along the ‘fearful passage of their death-marked love’ may have ca used their death (I. Prologue. 9). Through this privileged belief, Shakespeare cautions the audience about the flaw of rashness. Another way through which Shakespeare depicts Romeo as impulsive and rash is manipulating the play’s narrative structure, particularly plot development and the outcomes of Romeo’s impetuous decisions. Shakespeare’s primary source when writing Romeo and Juliet was Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem, Romeus and Juliet. Instead of consolidating his relationship with Juliet for three months like Romeus does, Romeo is betrothed to his lover within twenty-four hours of their first encounter. Shakespeare’s adaptation heavily accentuates Romeo’s recklessness by suggesting that his decisions are excessively quick and ill-considered. The foreshadowing of Romeo’s eventual downfall occurs when Romeo confers with Friar Laurence about marrying Juliet ‘on sudden haste’ (II. iii. 96). In reply, the friar cautions, ‘Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast’ (II. iii. 97). This proverb, verbalised by a strong symbol of wisdom and nobility, is possibly the most central moral lesson in Shakespeare’s didactic play. This privileged belief of care and wisdom in one’s every actions is also foregrounded later when Romeo irrationally murders Tybalt with ‘valour’s steel†¦[and] fire-eyed fury’ (III. i. 110-119), as well as when he immediately rushes to the apothecary for a ‘dram of poison’ (V. i. 63) to commit suicide upon hearing news of Juliet’s ‘death’. In both situations, Romeo’s decisions and actions are consumed with his passionate, ‘brawling love’ (I. i. 168) for Juliet that ultimately reduces him to a ‘desperate man’ (V. iii. 59) and a ‘weary’ ‘life†¦taker’ (V. i. 65). Because both situations result in terrible downfall, Shakespeare cautions that recklessness in love is a fatal flaw in one’s character, just as Levenson (1987) wrote, ‘Youth repeatedly expires in its own ardency like a flash of lightning, while mature society endures – for better or for worse – to perform the funeral rites. ’ Throughout the play, Shakespeare repeatedly foregrounds Romeo’s waywardness in love. His love ‘groaned for†¦tender Juliet’ (II. Prologue. 3-4), exemplified by his thoughts, ‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. / For I never saw true beauty till this night’ (I. v. 51-52), fully exposes the protagonist’s waywardness. Even when Romeo learns that Juliet is a Capulet – ‘Is she a Capulet? / O dear account. My life is my foe’s debt’ (I. v. 123-124) – he immediately resolves to rebel against hardened interfamilial distinctions with a ‘passion [that] lends them power, time means, to meet,/ Tempering extremities with extreme sweet’ (II. Prologue. 13-14). Just as Mercutio calls him, Romeo descends into madness; ‘Romeo! Humours! Madman! Passion! Lover! / He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not’ (II. i. 9-17). Mercutio likens him to an ‘ape’ (II. i. 18), dead from the spirits of love that must be ‘conjured’ (II. i. 28) out of him in order ‘to raise up him’ (II. i. 31) back to normal. Shakespeare positions the audience to perceive Romeo as ‘blind’ (II. i. 34) and lost or ‘not to be found’ (II. i. 45) in his love. The erratic nature of his love is also foregrounded in Romeo’s soliloquy where he cries, ‘Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say â€Å"death†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (III. iii. 13). Shakespeare invites that Romeo prefers ‘some vile forfeit of untimely death’ (I. iv. 117), ‘[f]or exile hath more terror in his look’ (III. iii. 14), forcing the audience to believe that Romeo’s wayward, day-old relationship with Juliet has already transformed him into an irrational, raving, ‘unthankful’, ‘deadly†¦rude†¦mad man’ (III. iii. 25-53). This aspect of irrationality in his nature is further oregrounded by his rants in third-person speech, where he refers to himself as ‘Romeo’ (III. iii. 34-41). It is almost as if, in his rage, he has detached his mind from his physical body. As the play progresses, the audience notices that Romeo increasingly prioritises ‘my Juliet’ (V. i. 15) far above his own ‘de spised life’ (I. iv. 116). Shakespeare cautions the audience that the flaw of waywardness caused by love has fatally plagued Romeo: ‘Thus with a kiss I die’ (V. iii. 121). ‘In tragic life, God wot, No villain need be! Passions spin the plot: We are betrayed by what is false within. ’ (George Meredith, 1862) Romeo and Juliet, the ‘epitome of youth’, are betrayed only by Romeo’s false and fatal flaws of irresponsibility, rashness and waywardness when in love (Ashcroft, 1982, p. 25). Shakespeare masterfully instructs the audience on the flaws of upper-class youth in love through setting an example of Romeo and Juliet’s ‘death-marked love’ (Shakespeare, 1597, I. Prologue. 9). Shakespeare concludes with, ‘For never was a story of more woe/ Than this of Juliet and her Romeo’ (V. iii. 316-317). Shakespeare’s masterpiece certainly is a cautionary Aristotelian tragedy of youth and love. (901 words) Appendix A: Who is the tragic hero of the play? Although both Romeo and Juliet are ‘eligible’ to be the tragic hero of Romeo and Juliet due to their ‘rich and noble status’ and altruistic characters, it is Romeo who plays this role. (Aristotle, 335BC) Shakespeare constructs him as a flawed character throughout the play, presumably because he is constantly in love, while the virtuosity of ‘true and faithful Juliet’ is only tainted by Romeo’s negative influence. (V. iii. 09) Shakespeare positions the audience to compare Juliet’s personality before and after meeting Romeo in order to highlight his effect on her.