English Coursework - Romeo and Juliet
Comparing
William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' is a tragic play about two forbidden lovers,
whose family's deep seeded hatred for each other kept them apart. The audience are
aware from the beginning that both Romeo and Juliet are destined to die and this gives off
the impression that they are ill fated from the beginning. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a
Capulet, defy their parents and marry in secret, knowing that they could never be together
publicly. After Romeo was banished from Verona for killing Juliet's cousin Tybalt, Juliet's
grieving for the 'loss' of Romeo is mistaken by her father for that of Tybalt. In an attempt to
pacify her he arranges for her to marry Paris. Juliet is horrified at this and so seeks the
priest's help. He gives her a poison, which will put her to sleep for twenty-four hours, thus
enabling her to be presumed dead and not have to marry Paris. After this period of twenty-
four hours, Romeo, who would have been informed of the plan by the priest, was supposed
to come to the chapel of rest where Juliet's body would be laid and as she awoke they
would be together. The news of this plan does not reach Romeo and he thinks that Juliet is
dead. He goes to visit her body in the tomb and just before she wakes up, takes a deadly
poison, which kills hoi instantly. Juliet awakes to find Romeo dead and, overcome with
grief, she kills herself. This ends the Capulet and Montague feud.
Romeo's speech in Act II, Scene II is just after he has met Juliet for the first time at the
Capulet Party. He came disguised to the party and upon setting eyes on Juliet, fell deeply in
love with her. At the end of the party Romeo leaves his friends to find Juliet as he cannot
bear to be apart from her. He climbs the walls of the Capulet house and climbs onto Juliet's
balcony, just under her window. He then begins to speak of her beauty. Romeo's uses
extravagant love poetry to express his feelings for Juliet. He uses metaphors and similes
throughout his speech to convey just how strong his feelings are for her and how beautiful
she is in his eyes. In fact, most of Romeo's speech concentrates on the physical side of his
(soon to be) relationship with her. The first metaphor used is that of the sun and the moon.
He compares Juliet to the sun and then goes on to say "arise fair sun, and kill the envious
moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she."
This means that not only is Juliet as beautiful and bright as the sun, but the moon, the
opposite to the sun, is envious of Juliet because she is so bright and beautiful; the moon is a
pale and sickly green colour, in contrast to the sun's brightness. The fact that he associates
Juliet with images of light is indicative of the way in which he sees her - happy, bright,
beautiful and dreamy. Something bright is normally associated with beauty as opposed to
something dull. He sees her in a good rather than a bad light. Romeo then uses repetition,
to demonstrate his wonderment and happiness as Juliet approaches the window - "It is my
lady. O, it is my love."
The next metaphor used by Romeo is that of Juliet's eyes in comparison to the stars. He
says, "Two of the fairest stars...to twinkle in their spheres till they return." Romeo is saying
that Juliet's' eyes are so bright that if two of the brightest stars in heaven were to have to go
away they could ask Juliet's eyes to take their place whilst they were away. That's how
bright and beautiful they are - they are equal to that of the most beautiful stars in the sky.
He then extends this metaphor to that concerning Juliet's cheek. He says that as well as her
eyes being brighter/equal in brightness to those in the sky, he cheeks would shame those
same stars if they were to be placed in Juliet's face. Even her cheeks are more beautiful and
bright than these ...
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away they could ask Juliet's eyes to take their place whilst they were away. That's how
bright and beautiful they are - they are equal to that of the most beautiful stars in the sky.
He then extends this metaphor to that concerning Juliet's cheek. He says that as well as her
eyes being brighter/equal in brightness to those in the sky, he cheeks would shame those
same stars if they were to be placed in Juliet's face. Even her cheeks are more beautiful and
bright than these brightest stars. Her cheeks would shame the stars as "daylight doth a
lamp." Had her eyes replaced the stars in heaven, they would have light up the sky so bright
that "the birds would sing and think it were not night."
Romeo then describes his 'desires' on more of a physical level. He has described Juliet's
beauty which is physical in itself but he now goes on to say "See how she leans her cheek
upon her hand: O that I were that glove." The glove is touching Juliet's face and this is
obviously what Romeo wishes he were doing, thus he wishes to be the glove. Upon hearing
Juliet speak Romeo (silently) replies, "O speak again, bright angel." This angelic reference is
again something connected with beauty, light and purity. It is also a heavenly image showing
as strong connection with religion and also suggesting subtly that the only place Romeo and
Juliet will truly be able to be happy together is in heaven. The fact that Juliet is referred to as
an angel depicts how she is viewed in Romeo's eyes - as heavenly creature/goddess. She is
viewed not only as a bright angel but as " a winged messenger of heaven unto the white
upturned eyes of mortals, that fall back and gaze on him when he bestrides the lazy-pacing
clouds, and sails upon the bosom of the air" i.e. when this heavenly angel is seen by humans,
they will all stop and gaze at it in wonderment.
This speech is typical of Romeo. It is very romantic and poetic; the poetry is gentle and
flowing. It makes the audience feel very romantic and the metaphors and style give the
reader a true sense of what Romeo feels for Juliet and how much he loves her. The fact that
he uses such heavenly images also shows how much he loves her. The fact that Romeo
constantly compared Juliet to light and angels suggests sincerity and consistency, making you
more inclined to believe that he really does love Juliet. With Rosaline it was only her beauty
that attracted him to her, whereas with Juliet he sees her in more genuine and characteristic
terms. He uses soft and gentle language, which hints at his gentle nature as well as the
gentleness he sees in.
Juliet's speech in Act IV Scene III is just after Tybalt's death. Juliet's father mistakes her
grief for Romeo being banished for that of Tybalt's death and hurries to find her a suitor.
This is obviously exactly what Juliet does not want since she is already married to her true
love, Romeo. Juliet visits the priest and begs him to help her. He gives her a poison, which
will 'kill' her for forty-six hours so that she will not have to marry her suitor, Paris. After this
time she will wake up and be able to run away with Romeo. This speech is just before Juliet
is about to take the poison. She obviously has mixed feelings about taking it and a lot of
rhetorical questions. Among her fears are that the poison may not be successful at all or that
if it is successful she will be laid to rest in the Capulet's tomb amongst the bodies of her
ancestors and the recently deceased Tybalt.
She is alone and begins her speech with a decisive, "come vial." She is determined to take
the poison. She then begins to question its reliability to the extent that she points to a dagger
beside her and says, "No, no; this shall forbid it." In other words, if the poison fails then she
will kill herself with the dagger. Although Juliet is concerned that the vial will not work, the
fact that she puts all of her faith in it shows maturity as well as her unswerving devotion to
Romeo. The vial is her only comfort as she slowly begins to lose control.
Her second fear stems from distrust of the friar. She fears that he has actually given her
'eternal death' poison in order to hide the fact that he has already married her to Romeo.
She is acting calmly and thinking rationally even though she is nervous which further shows
her maturity and ability to cope. She then becomes indecisive and this results in her building
up a state of tension and anxiety for herself. She says, "I fear it is, and yet, methinks it not."
With every sentence she changes her mind. She consoles herself and still remains hopeful
with the thought that the priest has "still been tried a holy man" and therefore would never do
such a thing. There is still a trace of optimism as Juliet thinks there is a slim chance the plan
will still work. It is however from here onwards that she begins to lose control. She gets no
comfort from her thoughts or from physical items and she is obsessed with images of torture.
The constant mention of death contrast with Juliet; slight mention of life, where she says
"...thrills through my veins" and "heat of life." She is comparing her future, which should be
full of hope, to one of darkness and death. This change of mood builds up a feeling of
tension and panic.
Her third fear is possibly the most prolific. It is the fear that she will wake up before
Romeo comes to her and that she will be alone in the tomb where her cousin, Tybalt, has
just been laid to rest as well as to those "whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in"
i.e. the many hundreds of Capulet relatives that occupy the tomb already. She uses cold
imagery to depict what she will find in this tomb and the picture she paints is very graphic
and somewhat horrific. To describe the bodies she uses words such as "festering" and
loathsome smells." She also creates images with phrases such as "Where bloody Tybalt, yet
but green in earth lies festering in his shroud" and "And madly play with my forefathers'
joints". She uses sounds and smells to make her speech come alive and to demonstrate her
fear at having not only to kill herself temporarily but to have to face the harsh reality of
waking up surrounded by dead bodies. She personifies her tomb by comparing it to a huge,
foul mouth caused by the stench of rotting bodies. She thinks that she will feel strangled on
account of these smells. The words "stifled" as well as "strangl'd" add to the feelings of
torture and fear.
The reference to Tybalt's body provides the main terror of the speech. It appears as if
most of Juliet's fear has stemmed from waking up beside his body. It is when she gets to this
part of her speech - describing her fear of waking up in the tomb next to Tybalt's body -
that the speech becomes disjointed and the speech 'picks up' some speed. It becomes
uncontrolled towards the end with all her fears tumbling out, to the point where she appears
somewhat hysterical, whereas at the beginning, although panicked, she seemed somewhat in
control. The end of her speech shows determination and commitment to love - the fact that
she is prepared to suffer in order to be with Romeo.
The first image we get of the speech is a feeling of coldness, which depicts death -
something cold, empty. She uses phrases such as, "freezes up" which adds to the fear - that
of the reader for Juliet and that of herself. The use of the word "dismal" adds to the feeling
of darkness and emptiness. It is used at the beginning of the speech when Juliet realizes that
she must carry out this act alone, without the help and advice of her trusted nurse or her
mother. This makes the audience feel even more sorry for Juliet: not only does she have to
go to such lengths to be with the one she loves but she has no one to turn to and must act
alone. Her words also suggest an element of disorder. Phrases such as, "bones are
pack'd" give over a feeling of disarray. This is symbolic of Juliet' current state of mind and
gives the audience a feeling that she is in a complete state of disarray, not dissimilar to an
image of bines strewn all over the place.
Juliet is worried that she will see the skeletons and ghosts of her deceased family. Again we
notice the use of language, which sends out a feeling of terror and ugliness. She also uses the
word "Alack," which is an exclamation of fear and building tension.
Juliet speaks of "...mandrakes shrieks." Mandrakes were a mythical creature whose cry had
the power to kill those who heard it. She is worried that the sounds in the tomb will be as
bad as those the mandrakes make, and she will go mad or become demented.
Here, we notice that Juliet makes references to all her senses being assaulted and many
images add to this feeling. All Juliet's senses are referred to in her speech; they will all be
affected. Her sound will be affected by the fatal cry of the mandrake "...shrieks like
mandrakes," her touch by what is around her and how she may be forced to feel it. She
fears that she will touch "...my forefathers' joints," and "...the mangled Tybalt." Her sense
of smell will be affected by the putrid stench of bodies rotting, her sight by the bodies of her
dead family around her "...my cousin's ghost.", and her taste by the poison she will have to
take. This gives the impression that Juliet's whole body is involved in this traumatic
experience.
By the end of the speech, Juliet has totally lost touch with reality and has let her crazed
ideas take control of her. She says that she feels she will " dash out her desperate brains."
This, along with words like "...pluck," and "mangled..." go to a feeling of violence and a lack
of control. Juliet has not even been buried in the tomb, but she is so frantic that she is
already hallucinating. She says "..I see my cousin's ghost." She thinks that as Romeo killed
him, Tybalt is out for revenge and will take it out by killing Juliet. Juliet is so distressed that
not even thoughts of Romeo can calm her because she thinks that Tybalt is going to come
back from the dead just to kill him.
Juliet exclaims "Romeo Romeo Romeo!" After all this dark language she does see a future
for them together and drinks to their love. She hopes that maybe they will be together again
and either becomes a little optimistic or drinks in desperation that her dream will come true.
Usually when one makes a toast they do it on wine or alcohol of some type, and toast to life.
Juliet's mind has become so twisted because of her desperate situation that she cannot think
of life, only death and morbid things.
Both speeches are similar and different in certain ways. Firstly, the themes of both speeches
are completely in contrast. Whilst Romeo's is on the theme of love, light, brightness and
celestial beauty, Juliet's speech is completely morbid and deathly. She is totally obsessed
with images of ungainly items and ugliness, while Romeo is obsessed with images of light.
Romeo uses the sun, moon and stars to describe Juliet; in fact almost all of the speech is
about Juliet, whereas Juliet only briefly mentions Romeo's name at the end. In Romeo's
speech, his family does not abandon him; he does not give the impression of being lonely,
but Juliet is all alone. When she goes to call out to the nurse or even her mother whom she
is not at all close to, she stops herself and realises she must do this alone. She even talks to
herself or perhaps the vial and dagger, for comfort and reassurance that she is doing the right
thing. Both the characters are highly emotional and their speeches reveal the intensity of
their feelings. They both personify items in their speeches but the items chosen are different.
Romeo gives the sun, moon and stars human qualities and equates them to Juliet (except that
he says Juliet is better), but Juliet personifies the tomb where she is about to be laid.
Although both of the speeches are motivated by love - Romeo's in a positive way i.e. his
love has enabled him to express his feelings poetically and in an extremely passionate way
but Juliet on the other hand has had to go to such extreme measures - killing' herself on
account of her love for Romeo. Whilst Romeo's speech is beautiful and passionate, Juliet's
is pessimistic, doubtful and dark. Both therefore make the audience feel differently whilst
watching them. Juliet's was very morbid whilst Romeo's was full of love. They both
exaggerate and tend to lose touch with reality, Juliet because she is about to die and Romeo
because he has just discovered Juliet. Romeo speaks about giving life in contrast to Juliet
who speaks about taking away life. Both of the speeches give off very different
atmospheres and feelings. Juliet's speech made me feel very sympathetic towards her. I
was able to put myself in her position because the imagery and she used and the phrases that
enabled me to picture the scene. Although she was a bit too hysterical, she is not to blame.
Romeo's speech had the opposite effect. It made me feel very hopeful and happy for the
both of them, even though they were from opposing sides and I knew that in the end they
died. The speech was purely about Juliet and although I felt it was over exaggerated at
times, this can be accounted for by saying that Romeo had such strong feelings for Juliet.
Both speeches were twinged with sadness though because I knew that in the end they would
never be together.
Gemma Hersh 11JS