Later on in the play, when Juliet rebels against Capulet’s choice he is outraged, and he says “Speak not, reply not, do not answer me!” this once again emphasises the lack of choice that the women of Verona had. It also shows how aggressive Capulet became very quickly, suggesting that men in Verona wanted power over whatever they owned.
Another result of the male dominance of Verona is the attitudes of the young men. There is much boasting between the young men; whose attitudes towards love, is that they see it as a brutal conquest, not an equal relationship between two people. When Mercutio mocks the nurse he shows this kind of attitude, “A hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent”.
Likewise, in the first scene, two servants boast about their superiority. When Sampson says, “women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall”. This summarises the attitude of the Verona society and gives the audience the impression that women are treated badly, so when Romeo and Juliet’s love is seen as different it makes it more poignant.
Another reason for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is fate and the power it has over everyone in Verona. The belief in fate is echoed throughout the play.
In the prologue the chorus say that the lovers are “star-crossed” meaning that they are fated.
In Act 1 Scene 4 Romeo shows he has belief in fate by saying, “my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars” meaning that he has a bad feeling about what fate has in store for him. Juliet, also has a premonition about the bad things that lie in store: “methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb.” These premonitions are ominous and suggest that something bad may happen.
When Romeo hears of Juliet’s death he challenges fate: “Then, I defy you, stars!” this gives the impression that he feels so strongly that he considers himself able to change his fate.
Before Romeo kills himself he talks about getting rid of fate: “ shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh”. This signifies that he feels that fate restricts him and controls him, this can go some way to explain the frustration that Romeo’s character feels.
Chance is another reason why the play ends in such a tragic way, making no-one responsible as it was just bad luck. The prologue mentions the “misadventured piteous overthrows” meaning chance or accidents. This implies to the audience from the beginning that to some degree the outcome of the play is just bad luck.
Occurrences like: it being down to chance that Capulet’s servant chose to ask Romeo and Benvolio to read the invitation list and not anybody else: “I pray, sir, can you read?”. If Romeo had never gone to the Capulet ball he would never have met Juliet.
If Benvolio and Mercutio had never have met up with Tybalt then Mercutio would not have been tempted to fight and he would not have died – had Mercution not died then Romeo would not have been banished.
It was also chance that when Friar Lawrence sent the letter to Romeo, Friar John who was delivering the letter was stuck “in a house where the infectious pestilence did reign” and so the letter could not be delivered.
The motives of Friar Lawrence should also be questioned as his actions also have an effect on the outcome of the play.
Firstly, the Friar does wrong to marry Romeo and Juliet for the wrong reasons. That is not because he thought that they were in love but to stop the feuding: “for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancour to pure love”.
Also, Juliet has to question the motives of the friar before she takes the potion in Act 4 Scene 3. When she says, “lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured” this evokes a feeling of tension because no one can be sure of the friar’s motives at this point.
It should be taken into consideration that the friar devises a dangerous plan which means that his part in the marriage of Romeo and Juliet is kept concealed. The friar says, “I do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate an execution as that is desperate which we wish to prevent”. By saying this he shows he is as desperate as Juliet to stop her and Paris marrying.
I would say, therefore, that all of these reasons together result in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. As just the feud without the chance happenings would not have had this result and without the feud the chance happenings would have been of no importance.
In addition to these reasons which lead to the tragic end of Romeo and Juliet, the language used by Shakespeare throughout the play hints at the tragedy that will occur.
A big hint that is given by Shakespeare regarding the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is with the premonitions that both of the lovers have during the play. Romeo fears what fate has planned for him, “my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars.” Juliet sees Romeo as dead: “ methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb”. These premonitions are ominous and create a tense atmosphere.
There is a theme of opposition and division that runs throughout ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In the play there is division between the Montagues and the Capulets, Shakespeare hints at more opposition and division in the language, with words and phrases that appear throughout the play.
Many examples of the language show these oppositions. In Act 1 Scene 1, Romeo says, “here’s much to do with hate but more with love”. This line summarises the part that love and hate have in the play, in that the play has a lot to do with hate – between the two families, but love is stronger – between Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare uses the opposites light and dark to different effect throughout the play. For example, when Romeo and Juliet are parting after their wedding night, Romeo says “more light and light, more dark and dark our woes!” This evokes a feeling of sadness as the audience knows that they will have to leave each other. This is also unusual as usually the darkness is associated with unhappiness and not light. Then, later in the play Romeo also says, “her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light”. This is effective because it is such a powerful image, and gives the opposite effect to the other quotation - that the light is good and the dark is bad. These two quotations show Shakespeare’s ability to manipulate the language to make the audience think.
Another opposition of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is between life and death. Shakespeare finds many ways to portray death, often using personification. Throughout the play there are many mentions of death: “we were born to die”, “untimely death”, “cruel death” “love devouring death”. By mentioning death so often Shakespeare creates a tense atmosphere and hints that if anything goes wrong death will be close by.
In Act 1 Scene 1 Shakespeare uses language to effect when he uses oxymorons. Romeo uses phrases, such as, “heavy lightness”, “feather of lead”, “bright smoke”, “sick health”. These are very effective because they give the impression that in Verona nothing is as it seems, so even when the special love between Romeo and Juliet is revealed there is always the strong possibility that something will go wrong.
This is once again emphasised when Juliet uses oxymorons in Act 3 Scene 2 when she talks about Romeo. She calls him: “beautiful tyrant”, “dove-feathered raven”, “damned saint” which once again makes out that nothing is as it seems in Verona.
Shakespeare also impacts on the audience by the language used in the play. The use of figurative language: similes and metaphors is very effective. For example, the use of religious imagery when Romeo and Juliet first meet in Act 1 Scene 5, there is the use of a lot of religious images: “holy shrine”, “pilgrims”, “trespass”. These images are effective because it shows how Romeo talks to Juliet is in such direct contrast to the way other women have been talked to by men in Verona. This indicates that the love between Romeo and Juliet is different to the other ‘love’ that has been shown in the play. By using religious images, Shakespeare also suggests that the love between Romeo and Juliet is something precious and holy like religion.
Another example of Shakespeare’s language and how it impacts on the audience is in Act 3 Scene 5 when Romeo and Juliet are parting. Here Shakespeare uses more opposites: the lark and the nightingale, the sun and the moon, night and day, staying or leaving “It was the nightingale, and not the lark that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear”. This scene is cleverly written as it keeps the audience guessing – is it night or is it day? Is it the lark or the nightingale? It shows the audience how much love Romeo and Juliet feel for each other. It also reinforces the idea that not everything is as it seems.
It is not only Shakespeare’s language that it effective but also his characters. The character of Mercutio, for example, is seen as a clown for much of the play who loves to make people laugh often by telling sexual puns. However, Shakespeare impacts on the audience by showing another side of Mercutio’s character. In Act 1 Scene 4 Mercutio makes a speech about Queen Mab: “She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes in shape no bigger than an agate-stone”. This speech causes the audience to consider Mercutio as a deeper more well-rounded character who not only has the ability to make people laugh but also to make them think. This is another example of how appearance and reality can be different.
Shakespeare also included sonnets in ‘Romeo and Juliet’, there are several sonnets in the play. The prologue – at the start of Act 1 and at the end of Act 1 and also the first meeting of Romeo and Juliet are all written in sonnet form. I think that this is effective because it breaks up sections of the play. I also think that it impacts on the audience because sonnets were often written about love, and therefore are associated with love. For the first meeting of Romeo and Juliet to be written in sonnet form could be perceived as significant and signifies to the audience that Romeo and Juliet are or will be in love.
In conclusion it would be fair to say that, the feud is in some way responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, however other factors to contribute to the ending which are equally as important. As well as the themes the language and styles used by Shakespeare also have an effect on the way that the audience thinks about the play. The depth of character that is created by Shakespeare is also very effective. That is when all of these things are put together they make ‘Romeo and Juliet’ such a complex plot and have the desired effect on the audience.
