‘Why is not this better now than groaning for love, thou art sociable, thou art Romeo, for this drivelling love is like a great natural.’
Light
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Shakespeare used techniques such as Light imagery to emphasise a mood or a particular speech. In Elizabethan times, when ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, the stage in which it would have been performed would have been very simple. Therefore, Shakespeare had to rely on the words spoken by the characters to create the imagery needed. By using light to denote love he could create the images he wanted and the audience could picture the mood as opposed to seeing it. An example of this is when Romeo describes Juliet, his love, as a light breaking through a dark window (Act 2 Scene 2) or a bright angel or the sun. Juliet then goes on to describe the suddenness of their love like lightning:
‘It is too rash, too sudden, too like the lightning.’ (Act 2 Scene 2 line 118-119)
This technique is so effective that Shakespeare uses it throughout ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Elizabethan life
Shakespeare was born and grew up during the Elizabethan times. Religion, money and wealth played a strong part in life in this era. In Shakespeare’s plays he reflects heavily on Elizabethan values in showing love and marriage to be the main focus of women’s life. Girls as young as 12 were encouraged to marry for Wealth and Status as opposed to love. According to an Elizabethan text it says:
‘It is generally considered foolish to marry for love, although love may occur in marriage.’ Elizabethan Life- Throughout the Ages
The idea of arranged marriages was very popular during this time and this topic is featured in Romeo and Juliet. Juliet’s parents, Lord and Lady Capulet, are approached by, Paris, a suitable husband for their daughter. Through looking at his background and status in wealth, Lord Capulet decides that the two should marry. However, it could be said that Shakespeare wasn’t in favour of these marriages because he made two main characters express concern about the age of their daughter being so young. This is shown when Lord Capulet says to Paris:
‘My child is yet a stranger in the world, She hath not seen the change of fourteen years, Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.’
(Act 1 Scene 2)
One of the most abnormal actions which would not normally fit in with Elizabethan life is when Romeo and Juliet marry because of pure love. When this play was written there was a small rising Elizabethan interest in marrying for love as apposed to status of wealth or family. By including this in the play he introduced his audience to what he thought should be accepted possibly in future life.
Sonnets
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Shakespeare uses different types of language technique to create an emotion. A prime example of this is when the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, meet for the very first time. They share a 14 line sonnet. In this sonnet there is religious imagery:
Which mannerly devotion shows in this,
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss. (Act 1 Scene 5 lines 97-99)
Here Romeo and Juliet use religious icons to express their love for each other and through mirroring the love between a pilgrim and a saint they are in reality talking about themselves.
One of the reasons why Shakespeare has used this sonnet in the first meeting, between Romeo and Juliet is to emphasise their mutual feeling of ‘love at first sight’. It brings both rhythm and elegance to the text. By including sonnets in his text, Shakespeare is able to enhance and beatify the emotion.
