The dramatic language is also used by Shakespeare to diminish the effect of Romeo’s speeches, for example when he says “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, still-waking sleep”. These are all very dramatic metaphors, and because they are used in a group reduce the effect that one of them may have had by itself. Putting them together like this is a clever technique by Shakespeare, as it gives the impression that Romeo is just trying to add effect to what he is saying, and that he is not really feeling it at all. Another technique to achieve this is by having Romeo use rhetorical questions, and questions in general, for example “What it is else?” This gives the feeling that he is playing to an audience, as usually rhetorical questions are used in persuasive writing to achieve an effect on a reader. This again achieves the effect that we believe Romeo is simply saying things because he wants the effect, and doesn’t really feel it. The audience therefore thinks less of him as we believe Romeo is insincere which creates a negative opinion. Through this, we are also led into distrusting him, which may be the effect Shakespeare wanted so that he could attempt to change our opinion throughout the play.
The overall effect of Romeo’s language in these speeches is that they seem very rehearsed, mainly because he uses clichéd phrases to describe what he feels. For example, Romeo uses fire and sea when describing his love, which is typical imagery, used usually to describe love. It gives the feeling to the audience that Romeo has learnt it from a book, and this is where the rehearsed feeling originates. It emphasises the feeling of insincerity that the audience picks up from his earlier language, and again leads us to disliking him as we do not know what his motives are for speaking as he is. The overall rehearsed feeling that the audience receives from the speeches is cleverly engineered by Shakespeare; both through the language used by Romeo and also the style of the poem. Contrasting in form to the rest of the play, these speeches by Romeo are written and spoken in rhyme, which immediately becomes obvious to the audience as it so unusual in the play. Using this technique is clever because it makes the lines sound very trivial as they would be spoken in rhyme which would give the lines a lighter feel. By doing this, Shakespeare also is implying that the whole scene, and especially Romeo’s lines in the scene, are artificial, as they would have been engineered to rhyme by him. This gives the feeling that Romeo has also engineered what he is saying to achieve a particular effect, again making the audience feel that what he is saying is very insincere. This feeling leads us to distrust Romeo, a feeling that Shakespeare has created in the audience’s minds by the use of various techniques.
Although I feel that the majority of what Romeo speaks in this scene leads us to dislike him, there are some aspects of what he says that could lead people to feel differently towards him. In this way, Shakespeare is clever as he uses the different techniques and methods to create a small amount of ambiguity in the language. Even though Romeo speaks in a dramatic way, the actual words behind the dramatics could be seen as serious. For example, towards the end of the scene Romeo says “O teach me how I should forget to think”. In this quote, it gives a small serious note to what he is saying, because it is as if what he is feeling is so painful that he truly wishes to be able to forget her. It is less dramatic than the surrounding language as, although Romeo uses “O”, the rest of the language in the quote is much more everyday and less poetic. This gives the impression that for the first time, he is really saying what he thinks. This quote also implies that Romeo is sincere as it is in reply to Benvolio saying “Be ruled by me, forget to think of her”. As Romeo then replies “Teach me how I should forget to think”, Shakespeare is implying that for Romeo, to think is to think of Rosaline. To the audience, this begins to show that perhaps all he thinks about is Rosaline, which could lead some people to see past the over dramatics and believe he is genuine.
Another method of presenting Romeo in this early scene by Shakespeare is by having Benvolio as the other character in the conversation. By doing this, Shakespeare achieves two responses. The first is that the audience may believe Romeo is being entirely sincere, as he is expressing his feelings to someone who is a close friend, raising the probability that they are his real feelings and he is simply confessing what he feels. The other response could be to find Romeo more dramatic in comparison, as Benvolio uses more understated language. An example of this is when Benvolio says “Groan? Why, no” in response to Romeo saying “What, shall I groan and tell thee?” As the audience dislike Romeo for his over-dramatics, Benvolio disagreeing with the use of the dramatic word “Groan” puts him more into an audience’s favour as we feel that he is a more down-to-earth character and are able to believe what he is saying more, as his language is more realistic. The comparison again alienates Romeo from the audience as a character, because we cannot empathise with what he saying as it is hard to believe. It would be especially hard for a modern audience to empathise with Romeo, as they would have the barrier with the Shakespearian language as well as the dramatic.
In the play, Shakespeare uses comparison a lot to present Romeo, both with other characters and by using different language. The main character that Romeo is contrasted with throughout the play is Mercutio, as they have many scenes together. The contrast between them, for the majority of an audience, would lead to Mercutio being the favoured character, as in general we perceive him as more interesting. An example of this is in Act 2 Scene 4, where Mercutio says “How thou art fishified!” This quote is very light-hearted, and also makes Mercutio seem a humorous character, as the use of the word “fishified” implies that he is very witty and therefore makes him seem an interesting and amusing character. Also, it is a word that he has invented himself, giving the impression that he has a good imagination and as a result means the audience would be inclined to give him more attention. The use of the “fish” imagery in the word gives connotations of Romeo gasping for air, like a fish – showing that perhaps Mercutio is implying that Romeo is struggling with his situation. This seems as if he is laughing at Romeo, and therefore the audience are perhaps able to relate to Mercutio more. When an audience thinks of Romeo in the early parts of the play, as a result of the comparison with Mercutio we dislike him more.
Although this is one outcome of a direct comparison with Mercutio, by putting the two characters together in the same scenes means that Shakespeare can also achieve another effect completely. When Romeo is in a scene with Mercutio, in general his language becomes more everyday and we see a funnier side to him. In the same scene as mentioned above, Mercutio and Romeo have a conversation full of funny, sharp exchanges which lead the audience to believe both characters are amusing and clever, and so we find them more interesting. In turn, this presents Romeo in a better way and gives us a more favourable opinion of him. An example of the more interesting language from Romeo in this scene is when he says “A sail, a sail!” Although he is being rude towards the nurse here, the audience does not mind as Romeo is acting much more like a typical teenage boy, giving the feeling that he is being genuine. This remark is also quite witty and shows he is quick thinking, making him a more interesting character to the audience. During this exchange, some members of the audience will struggle to keep up with the witty remarks, meaning that Romeo is put in the superior role, a direct contrast to earlier on in the play when the audience feels superior.
A modern audience would perhaps be able to enjoy the scenes with these two characters more, as in the 16th century, it could have been seen as inappropriate and audiences may have been more shocked at the jokes. In modern times, audiences would be used to this sort of behaviour more, and so would perhaps like Romeo more as he becomes easier to relate to by way of acting more like a modern teenager.
The main comparison Shakespeare uses to present Romeo, however, is his language when he speaks about Rosaline and Juliet, and also after meeting Juliet. The first time we see him speak about Juliet is in Act 1 Scene 5, and the first comparison that can be made instantly is that he is speaking entirely about her, and does not mention himself until the very end of the first speech. This gives the impression that he has forgotten about himself and all his thoughts are focussed on Juliet. This simple contrast means that the audience are beginning to like Romeo more.
A point in the play where it is easy to contrast Romeo’s language is at the beginning of Act 2 Scene 2, when Romeo is in Capulet’s orchard. He speaks for a long time on Juliet, and again refers to himself only in relation to her, whilst making her the most important point in his speech. Again, this is a contrast to his early language which was centred around himself. However, although this is true his language is still poetic for large parts of the dialogue; in places it again becomes exaggerated and over dramatic, for example when Romeo says “O speak again, bright angel”. Here, he continues to use “O”, again perhaps ruining the overall effect with the dramatic language. Although the audience would have warmed to Romeo slightly as he seems less self-involved, the exaggeration means we are not able to tell if he is genuine, and suspect that he is simply fickle. As it was such a short time ago that Romeo was in love with Rosaline, combined with the fact he does not seem to have changed, an audience would feel distrusting of him.
We also see how Shakespeare uses Juliet to change Romeo’s language; in Act 2 Scene 2 she reprimands him for swearing by “th’inconstant moon”. This shows to the audience that Juliet is thinking the same way that they are – she believes that his dramatic and poetic language shows that Romeo is insincere. From this point onwards in the play, we see that his language changes; perhaps to please Juliet or perhaps simply as a result of her influence. Either way, the change has a positive effect on the opinion the audience has of Romeo from the beginning of the play. The first example of this is in the next scene, where Romeo is talking to Friar Lawrence and asking him to marry himself and Juliet. During this dialogue, his language has become ordinary and without exaggeration, which makes him seem more sincere, for example “As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine”. This quote uses very average language, without exaggeration. However a clever technique used by Shakespeare during this scene shows how happy Romeo has become; most of what he says is said in rhyme. This gives the impression that he is much happier, and when read, as the rhythm of the lines would be upbeat it would imply Romeo was in a happier mood. This presents him as being much more sincere at this point in the play, as the love with Juliet is making him happier than his love for Rosaline. However, a 16t h century audience could have been less inclined to like the new Romeo, as it may have been slightly shocking in those times for him to have transferred his affections so quickly. Now, this would be seen as quite typical behaviour in a young person, and so modern audiences would be able to focus on Romeo’s new personality rather than concentrating on his fickle behaviour.
Later on in the play, although Romeo is hysterical about certain situations in the play, his language remains relatively informal, but dramatic. In these situations, however, an audience might find the dramatics easier to warm to, and these is a clever technique of presenting Romeo, as it turns a typical characteristic into something that could be admired. He says “Doth not she think me an old murderer”, which is a fairly dramatic phrase as he uses the word “murderer”. However, Romeo’s first priority is to ask what Juliet now thinks of him, so whilst although he has returned to his dramatic language, the audience might find this acceptable as he is worried that Juliet hates him. This means he is thinking less of himself, and presenting him with a more vulnerable side means the audience are able to warm to his personality. This means that slowly the audience are able to see the changes to Romeo’s personality.
The moment in the play where the change in Romeo’s language is most obvious is when he told about Juliet’s death. Where we would expect his language to be incredibly melodramatic and exaggerated, he replies to the news with only one line relating to Juliet or himself: “Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars”. This line can be combined with the one spoken later “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight”. Both these lines are free from melodramatic language and are every-day language. At first, an audience could be confused at his lack of pain at the news and wonder whether Romeo really cared about Juliet at all. However, they would realise that Romeo was defeated by Juliet’s death, as his use of understated phrases such as “lie with thee tonight” show that he does no longer want attention. As he uses the word “Well”, it makes him sound resigned, as it is simple, and gives him an every-day tone of voice. Shakespeare could have used much more dramatic words here as Romeo would clearly be upset; however the lack of them has a much greater effect as it is such a contrast to language we have seen him used before. Shakespeare is clever in doing this, because it is a point in the play where we begin to feel as if he is being truly sincere. This change due to Juliet is a main technique used by Shakespeare to present Romeo throughout the play.
The change in character could be showed also through the production; costume colour could change during the play to show how Romeo changes from overdramatic to more sincere and realistic. The acting would also be important in showing the change; using first the methods mentioned earlier and later on a quieter, understated style of acting would work alongside the language change, showing how Romeo changes as a character. Having this aspect in the production would be important in modern times, as the changes in language would be harder to notice for modern audiences, meaning that we would find it difficult to see the subtle differences in what he says, only really noticing how the actor delivers the lines.
An audience would reacted differently now to Juliet’s father forcing her into a marriage, as in earlier days this would have been seen as normal, but now a forced marriage, and even an arranged marriage is considered very old fashioned, and having contrasting opinions in this matter could affect how the whole play is seen. In the 16th century, audiences may have been more against Romeo, however, as they might have felt he was taking Juliet away from a very profitable marriage, but in modern times audiences could favour him as he could be seen as saving her from a marriage she does not want. This aspect may have affected the overall view of Romeo in those times, as this unfavourable opinion of him from the start of the play may have been hard to change for an audience watching then.
Although Romeo may be disliked by audiences towards the beginning of the play for his over-dramatics, Shakespeare uses various methods and techniques to change how audiences feel about him throughout the play. These methods all try and show the reader that the main thing that has changed how Romeo behaves is his love for Juliet, and he has presented the character in a way that ensures audiences know that is the reason for the change.
