“I'll lay fourteen of my teeth…”
This is the Nurses response to Lady Capulet when she says that Juliet isn’t 14, it means that she knows Juliet is 14. This tells me that the Nurse knows more about Juliet than her own mother. In this bit of the text you find out that Juliet is like a daughter to the Nurse, we also find at Lady Capulet doesn’t know as much about her as the Nurse does. Socially, historically and culturally I think it is very normal because wealthy families always tended to have Nurses look after there children all the time.
The next type of love is arranged love this is shown by Paris asking to marry Juliet to Capulet and him saying its okay. This is set in a street and Paris and Capulet are there with a Capulet servant.
“Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride”
This is Capulet saying wait 2 years because its to early for her to become a bride know. I think that this is unexpected by the audience as they think that Romeo and Juliet are going to be in love but so far Romeo says he is in love with Roseline and Capulet is going to let Paris marry Juliet. The social, historical and cultural aspects are that this was a common thing for Parents to arrange there children marriage also it wasn’t unheard of for people to get married and have kids at 14. It’s more dramatic today because it only happens very rarely. We see this type of love shown later in the play it is set in a room in Capulet’s house the characters are Paris, Capulet and Lady Capulet. They are talking about Paris getting married to Juliet.
“Tell her, she shall be married to this noble earl”
This is Capulet telling Lady Capulet to tell Juliet when she is getting married. Today this is very dramatic as only some religions still have arranged marriages; despite this in these certain religions they are becoming more lenient and letting people choose there own husband or wife. Arranged love was not an uncommon thing when the play was written so it didn’t shock the audience; the thing which shocked them is that she was supposedly getting married to Paris, also she still hasn’t met Romeo.
Brotherly love is shown by Benvolio towards Romeo. They are in a street talking about the Capulets’ party. Benvolio wants Romeo to go so he forgets about Rosaline.
“Go thither; and, with unattainted eye”
This is Benvolio telling Romeo to go to the party to see all the other girls and forget about Rosaline. This is dramatic because it comes after Romeo being infactuated with Rosaline. I think this is because Benvolio is trying to help Romeo forget and move on. All of Romeos friends are encouraging him to go because they want to see him happy. Socially, historically and culturally this was dramatic because normally if you were in love with someone you wouldn’t go out looking for another woman to try and forget about them. It is in a public place where Mercutio shows the ultimate act of brotherly love.
“Come, sir, your passado.”
This is Mercutio telling Romeo to draw his weapon because otherwise Tybalt will kill him. Romeo ignores him, because of this Mercutio gets stabbed and dies. This is shown dramatically because Tybalt is demanding Romeo to draw otherwise he will kill him and because Mercutio doesn’t want Romeo to die he goes up and tries to draw the weapon for him and ends up dying. This shows that Mercutio would do anything to protect Romeo even die. Socially, historically and culturally this is dramatic because there were not as many murders then.
Parental love is shown by Capulet towards Juliet. Paris is talking to Capulet about letting Juliet marry him. Capulet is saying how he doesn’t want her to get married, which shows his concerns for her.
“Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she…”
This tells us that Capulet has lost hope in his sons and believes Juliet is all he has left. Socially, historically and culturally this would have been dramatic because a father normally has a better relationship with his sons. It is dramatic because these days you wouldn’t talk to your parents about get married when you are only 14 years old. The language William Shakespeare has used is exaggerated this is to emphasise how much Capulet cares about Juliet. The Nurse shows parental love towards Juliet. Lady Capulet wants to talk to Juliet but needs help from the Nurse. They are in a room inside the Capulets house.
“An I might live to see thee married once, I have my wish.”
This tells me that the Nurse feels that Juliet is her child and hopes she can see her get married. Socially, historically and culturally this was not uncommon as Nurses were often like parents to the children they looked after. Nowadays this would be very unlikely as not many parents use Nurses to look after there kids.
Parental love is also shown by Lady Montague and Montague towards Romeo. The seen is set in a public place and Romeo is alone.
“Right glad I am he was not at this fray.”
This tells us that they are glad that Romeo wasn’t at the fight. So Romeos’ parents obviously care for him as they don’t want him in a fight. Social, historical and cultural this was not unheard of as Romeo is only 14, so he is not yet old enough to look out for himself. I think that this can be dramatic because it would seem that they look out for Romeo the most.
Moderate love is shown by Friar Laurence towards Romeo. It is set in Friar Laurence’s cell, Romeo is telling him about seeing Juliet Friar Laurence realises that this could end the hate between the Capulets and the Montagues.
“For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households' rancour to pure love. ”
This tells me that Friar Laurence wants peace between both of the families. The social, historical and cultural aspects add to how dramatic this is because of how he is looking at the marriage instead of thinking about Romeo he thinks of how everyone can benefit.
True love is shown between Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is at the Capulets’ ball when he first sees Juliet. The first time Romeo talks about Juliet he sounds more excited than he did when he spoke to Roseline. He uses religious words to talk about her; this shows that he respects her more than he did with Roseline.
“O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do: they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
This is Romeo asking Juliet to kiss him. This is dramatic because this is the first time they have met and Romeo is asking her to kiss him. It’s also dramatic socially, historically and culturally because you wouldn’t go up to someone you don’t know and ask for a kiss.
Romeo also shows his true love for Juliet when they are in Capulets’ orchard. Romeo sneaks in to speak to Juliet.
“With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls”
Romeo is telling Juliet how he climbed the walls. I think this shows that he loves her because he is taking a big risk and could be killed for breaking into Capulets’ Orchard. This was dramatic because of how much trouble he was willing to go through to see Juliet.
Another example of this is Romeo talking about his banishment. This is when Romeo is talking to Friar Laurence about what has happened. They are in Friar Laurences cell.
“Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say death…”
With this statement Romeo is basically saying that he would rather die than be banished this is he thinks that if he can’t be with Juliet then there is no point of living. Romeo takes this a step further by asking the Friar if he has anything he could kill himself with. Then he pulls out a dagger and threatens to kill himself. This shows that Romeo really loves Juliet and would do anything for her. This is dramatic because when you are 14 and have known someone for a few months you wouldn’t kill yourself because you can’t be with them.
In my essay I have found out that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is made dramatic by the different types of language that William Shakespeare uses to describe each type of love. I think the most dramatic type of love shown is brotherly love. I think this because just to exaggerate how much Mercutio cares about Romeo he dies trying to protect him. I also think that how William Shakespeare puts in things that the audience wouldn’t expect and would shock them makes this play more dramatic. At the beginning when Gregory and Sampson are talking about sexual things like taking the maids virginity and there pretty piece of flesh. I think this was a very clever way to start the play because straight away it grabs the audiences attention.Ian Wilcock
