Romeo and Juliet

"Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,"

Act 5 Scene III

Ironically though, had Romeo not have been this kind of "act before you think" character he would have realised from day one that he and Juliet could not have been together and would probably have left well alone.

Romeo and Juliet met with a "holy palmers kiss" Act 1 scene V and are parting with "a righteous kiss" Act 5 Scene III.

The last scene of Romeo and Juliet is surprising to the audience in many ways, they already know what fate has in store for Romeo and Juliet, they have already been told this in the Prologue of Act I.

"A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life:

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-marked love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage,

But they do not know how these occurrences will happen. The first surprise I think they have is that Paris reappears to mourn the death of Juliet, the audience have no doubt forgotten about poor Paris, but never the less Shakespeare feels the need to bring him back, I think this is to maybe cause a stir in the audience, the audience will feel sorry for Paris, he has done nothing wrong except fall in love with his betrothed. The audience is aware that Romeo is on his way to the Capulet vault yet Paris is there already; this would have grabbed the audience's attention adding more suspense to how Romeo was to die.

Paris brings flowers to Juliet's grave and expresses his love with a sonnet,

"Sweet Flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew -

O woe, thy canopy is dust and stones! -

Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,....."

This I think could be interpreted in two different ways, it could show that Paris was truly in Love with Juliet despite the lack of interest she showed in return, or it could just be that Paris was being a true noble man showing respect for Juliet. Paris has had limited opportunity to show his feelings and the audience may assume that his love for Juliet is moderate compared to that of Romeo's.

Friar Lawrence's part is causing anxiousness and excitement within the audience, since marrying Romeo and Juliet everything he touches seams to go wrong, first of all there is an outbreak of the plaque so Friar John can not deliver his message to Romeo, then he is unable to make it to the tomb in time (very ironically as earlier on in the play when advising Romeo not to rush in and marry Juliet he says to Romeo

"Wisely and slow: they stumble that run fast."

The reason Friar Lawrence does not make it in time to the Vault to save Romeo is due to the fact he is running through the graveyard stumbling and falling).

Finally he is unable to persuade Juliet to leave Romeo's body and run (to save his neck) and then he is unable to escape from the vault in time to not be caught by the Capulet.

The friar is very clever in his speech of events to the prince, he is quick to blame it on an "Act of God" yet he seemed to be the one playing God when he was deciding Romeo and Juliet's fate, putting Juliet to sleep and then waking her from the dead.

Juliet's suicide is an act of love just as Romeo's was. She attempts to die with a kiss, as he did, but actually taking poison from the kiss. Instead she has to die in a more dramatic way. It would take a lot more courage to drive a dagger through your heart than to take poison.

This suicide would have sent trauma through the audience, the audience would have been in complete shock, they knew Juliet had to die but to die in this manner would be staggering.

The ending of the play is sad but there is also a message to the audience, a lot of the situations occurred unnecessarily.

Ironically Capulet himself used very violent and explosive language when persuading Juliet to marry Paris he uses a lot of slang, which is quite different to how Juliet's mother talks to her.

"Hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch"

Baggage meaning worthless woman

"And you be mine, I'll give you to my friend

And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets"

If Capulet had accepted Juliet's decision not to marry Paris she would never have taken the sleeping potion and so never entered into the sequence of events in the last few scenes.

Throughout the play it is hinted by Romeo and Juliet that they will both die, that they can both see it as their destiny.

After their wedding night just as Romeo is leaving the Capulet house Juliet is concerned that she may never see him again

"Me thinks I see thee, now thou are so low,

As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.

Either my eyesight fails or thou look'st pale."

Act 3 Scene V

In Act 3 Scene III Romeo has a knife in Friar Lawrence's cell and threatens to kill himself once he has been banished not only from Verona but also from his newly wed. In Act 4 Scene I Juliet also threatens to kill herself with a knife to the Friar. Juliet also threatens to kill herself when Capulet decides that Juliet will marry Paris.

Name: Rachael Worton

Subject: GCSE English

Tutor: Linda Bradshaw