The plot of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is based around a families hate for each other and the ironic love of their children. Shakespeare uses this to an advantage by making
First, the main thing is where? The setting is Verona in Italy. This was probably a good place to set a love story as in England at that time and even now, we portray Italy as the country in of Romance. Also the audience would have found the situation of Romeo and Juliet more believable. A 13 yr old girl going against her parents wishes, to be with her lover even if it meant killing herself. The audience would have believed all things romantic are possible in Verona, and Shakespeare used this as he could have no limitations to his writing.
The characters also show their love in different ways particularly to Juliet. Lady Capulet is very business like with her daughter ‘this is the matter: Nurse, give leave awhile, we must talk in secret:-nurse, come back again’. This line shows that Lady Capulet thinks she is close to her daughter but then realises she cannot be alone with her and calls the nurse back in. But Shakespeare makes a joke of how upper class children do not have a close relationship with their parents. The fact that the nurse had to be with her is like a Lawyer and there client, a business like relationship.
However the nurse is more like a friend than a carer, telling her to sleep with men and have fun ‘Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.’ But in front of Lady Capulet, the nurse becomes a carer again, talking about breast-feeding and caring for her ‘thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat’.
Whereas Romeo’s feelings for Juliet are never certain, at first he is in love with Rosalind, he believes that if someone says they see someone more beautiful than Rosalind then they should be burnt a the stake for lying ‘Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars’. Romeos words are inspired by the practice of burning witches and heretics at the stake; this was common at the time of Shakespeare. But he quickly transfers his feelings to Juliet making his love for Rosalind fickle.
Romeo also seems confused by the meaning of love as he uses many oxymoron’s ‘Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing, of nothing first create! O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Sick health.’ It seems he prefers the idea of being in love rather than actually doing it.
When we first meet Juliet she acts like 'A good girl' and she always does what she is told and always acts with great courtesy "Madam, I am here. What is your will?" and has a more religious way of talking about love, ‘For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.’ ‘You kiss by the book.’
Not only does this make us think she believes in marriage and God, but this also gives the impression of and innocence and purity.’ she hath not seen the change of 13 years’
Even though Juliet is only 13 she speaks about sex and love.
It was appropriate in Shakespeare’s day for a girl of 13 to be married and have children. It was also acceptable for the parents to decide who their child was to marry; arranged marriages were common and acceptable in those times. But Juliet’s attitude changes when she meets Romeo, she follows her heart rather than her parents. This would have been almost forbidden at the time ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, as children always obeyed their parents. When Juliet ditches Paris to be with Romeo, this would have been shocking to the audiences of the time, but it also exciting and more romantic that they could do something so outrageous to be together.
Shakespeare also played with the language of the script, using the class difference of the audience to an advantage. This gave him an opportunity to make upper and lower class jokes as well as characters. The lower class characters, such as commoners or servants, speak in prose and use a lot of slang, to relate to the lower class audience. Using sexual jokes and un-rhyming verses, ‘For Juliet’s sake stand and rise.’ Stand and rise is the nurse making a joke of Romeo because he should have had sex with her by now. The lower class would have loved this, a lower class character making a sex joke at an upper class character. Whereas the upper class characters speak in Blank-verse, using puns and soliloquies. This would have applied to upper class audience members who would understand these jokes more than the lower class.
In general I felt that Romeo and Juliet had a moral to the story. The way that they both overcame their families hate for each other. The fact that they killed there selves shows there commitment and love for each other.
