William Shakespeare was born on 1564 on April the 23rd. He was married at the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway on 1582. He had his first child called Susanna a year later in 1583. Two years afterwards he had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Five years later he moved to Stratford upon Avon. In 1596 six years later Hamnet tragically died. Shakespeare baught a new house in Stratford. He then opened the famous Globe theatre in London In 1599. After fourteen years the Globe theatre burned down. Shakespeare died at the age of 52, accomplishing a lot in his life. He based this play on two real families which feuded like this in real life. They were the Guelphs and the Ghibelines. Next I am going describe and explain the character Romeo. By looking at the way he uses his language his actions and the important part he plays in the development of the plot focusing on Act 5 , Scene 3.
Romeo was a romantic young man who spoke very formally because he spoke with no rhyme scheme when some other characters do. His talking doesn’t really create an image inside your head. In this scene he expresses his love and sadness as Juliet appears to be dead. He uses descriptive words such as ‘morsel’ and ‘detestable’. In this scene he is very bossy ‘Give me that Mattock and the wrenching iron’. He wants everything the way he wants done. He is very commanding and determined. He is determined to achieve his goals. He can be very violent as he killed Tybalt in one scene. He also said to his hand Balthasar he would rip his limbs apart if he did not warn him of any intruders. He killed Paris in this Act. He can also be very kind as Paris is about to die his final wish is to be laid beside Juliet which he does for him.
I am now going to make a comparison between Romeo and Paris. I am going to write about the way they use language and their actions focusing on Act 5 scene 3. Romeo speaks formally because most of his language in this scene is very formally. Paris rhyme when he speaks making it informal but it you can make a better picture in your head of what is going on. They are both very demanding as Romeo bosses about Balthazar, but Paris bosses about his page. They both demand to give them something. Romeo says give me that Mattock and the wrenching iron and Paris says Give me thy torch boy hence stand aloof.
A quote from Paris
‘Sweet flower with flowers thy bridal bed I strew
Woe, thy canopy is dust and stones
Which with sweet water nightly I dew
Or wanting that, with tears distilled by moans
The obsequies that I fear thee will keep
Nightly shall be strew thy grave and weep.’
A quote from Romeo
‘Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death
Gorged with dearest morsel of the earth
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open
And In despite ill cram thee with more food.’
I think Paris sounds more detestable then Romeos as he uses rhyme. Romeo acts differently to Paris. Paris is a posh bachelor who shows off when ever he can. Romeo is a Montague. They have one thing in common they both love Juliet.
Shakespeare uses many dramatic devices such as the twist at the end of the play when Juliet awakes and sees Romeo and Paris on floor dead. Also there is a lot of fighting involved in the play for example when Paris and Romeo fight in the tomb. He uses the dramatic use of death quite a lot in this play. I think I see someone die in every act. The irony of the play is that we know that Juliet is alive and Romeo does not know that she is alive. The signs of her alive his obvious as she has got colour in her cheeks whilst a dead person would have pale cheeks she has red cheeks. This is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays as it has the dramatic twist at the end that many people enjoy. He bases the story on true life on the Guelphs and the Gheilbines. which also adds drama as you can see if he was reproduced the film exactly or he has changed it
The factors at the end of the play work very well. The death of Romeo works well with the twist as Juliet awakes to find that her true lover is dead by her bed side. She also awakes to find Paris dead as well. This is a problem for Juliet as the two men that loved her are both slain in front of her. It also works as she kills herself as well to be with them in spirit and soul.
In conclusion I think that Shakespeare and the play work very well. Shakespeare is good as he uses many dramatic devices that work with one and another. For example when Romeo dies and Juliet awakes. Also the irony works as we know that Juliet is alive whilst Romeo has not got the faintest clue. The play is set in Verona which is good for the play as the town has good scenic backgrounds if you watch the play on a video or DVD. I would advise to watch the play as it is quite good especially the modern one with guns as swords. All the dramatic devices work together which helps add to the drama. In all I think this play is excellent. There is definitely a lot of drama in the play which makes it better as sometimes you get involved in the plot and forget you are watching a film.
