Analyse Shakespeare’s use of dramatic devices in Act 5 Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet with reference to the socio-historical context of the play.

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Analyse Shakespeare’s use of dramatic devices in Act 5 Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet with reference to the socio-historical context of the play.

Shakespeare uses many dramatic devices throughout the play of Romeo and Juliet. However, most of these devices are present in Act 5 Scene 3. This is because it is the final scene, and therefore requires drama.

        Firstly, we must look at the play on a whole. There are many dramatic devices that lead the audience to the final scene. We see evidence of drama before the last scene, throughout the play. For example, in the beginning in the prologue there is mention of death several times: “misadventured piteous overthrows, doth with their death bury their parent’s strife”, “the fearful passage of their death-marked love.” This device has influenced the story by generating drama. This has been done to tell the audience to expect deaths and drama.

Another war drama is developed is in street brawls, clashes, duels, conflict etc. These are throughout the play and keep the audience poised on the story and keep the audience on their toes. In the first scene, there is a street brawl between Tybalt and Benvolio, Tybalt starting the fight: “As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee coward!” This is another of Shakespeare’s devices of drama. Fighting so early on in the play would be an example of things to come and would shock the audience as they would be surprised to see a fight so early on in the play. This incident occurs for that sole purpose, so that the audience are surprised and therefore, wonder that will happen next, which leads to tension and suspense. Much later in Act 3 Scene 1, long after the first duel, there are two deaths due to fighting. Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend dies because of Tybalt: “O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio is dead.” Then later, there is more conflict when Romeo seeks his revenge upon Tybalt and duels with him: Tybalt says, “Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here, shalt with him hence.” Romeo says, “This shall determine that”. These deaths and conflict serve the purpose of waking up the audience and reminding the audience that the play is a drama and that there is the love side of the story, but also a fierce dark side to it.

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Shakespeare also uses a lot of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet, but mostly in the last act. For example at the end of Act 5 Scene 1 Romeo says: “to Juliet’s grave” and when he does reach the grave in scene 3 he treats the place where Juliet rests as a tomb and describes and acts as if it is a grave: “I descend on this bed of death”. He also thinks she is dead: “thence from her dead finger a precious ring.” This creates a dramatic effect by making the audience frustrated and makes the audience more in ...

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