Romeo and Juliet is a play about contrast.

GCSE Shakespeare Coursework Assignment

‘Romeo And Juliet’

William Shakespeare was born on 26th April 1564, he was an English playwright and poet. During his lifetime, Shakespeare was well-known to people in England, but he was looked upon only as a writer of popular plays. He wrote his plays to suit the kind of audience that would be watching them. William's Shakespeare father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker who owned a shop in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. William Shakespeare's mother was born Mary Arden. William Shakespeare was the third of eight children. He got married to Anne Hathaway when he was 18, they had 2 girls and a boy. Shakespeare was educated at the Stratford grammar school which had been demanding, dull, and strict. In 1585 shakespeare left stratford for london and there he started writing plays.

There was a plague in 1593, when all the theatres were closed. From 1594 to 1608, Shakespeare was fully involved in the London theatre world. In addition to his duties as a shareholder and actor in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, he wrote an average of almost two plays a year for his company. In 1599, Shakespeare and six associates became owners of the Globe theatre, a new outdoor theatre in the London suburb of Southwark. William Shakespeare died in stratford-upon-avon 1616.

Romeo and Juliet is based on 2 italian families, the Montecchi and Capelletti. The play is the story of two teenage lovers in Verona, Italy, who are caught in a bitter feud between their families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest romantic tragedies. The major contrast in the play is between Love and Hate. The other contrast is ‘Honesty and Dishonesty’. Hate is shown many times in the play. Example in the start of the play there is fighting going on between the Montagues and Capulets, this is an ancient grudge which has gone on for years. In act 1 scene 1 the Capulet servants plan a fight by bitting their thumb at the Montagues. The Montagues have no choice but to fight and if they don’t they are cowards.

Capulet servant says “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”

Montagues servant says “I do bite my thumb, sir.” And they fight. Then the

prince comes and stops the fight by threating execution to anyone starting a

fight. Romeo wasn’t involved in the fight, he Was somewhere else. The Montagues were concerned about Romeo’s strange, anti-social behaviour.

Tybalt is from the Capulets and is the cousin of Juliet. Tybalt hates the

Montagues and Romeo in particular. He shows his hatred at the Capulet

Masked ball party. When Tybalt finds out that Romeo is at the Capulets

Party, he is outraged and wants to have a fight but Capulet stops him.

Tybalt says “This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier,

boy.”

Capulet says “Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone;He bears him like a

portly gentleman;” (Act 1 Scene 5)

Tybalt also shows hatred to Romeo in Act 3 Scene 1. In this scene Tybalt is

determined to get revenge on Romeo for attending at Capulets ...

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Montagues and Romeo in particular. He shows his hatred at the Capulet

Masked ball party. When Tybalt finds out that Romeo is at the Capulets

Party, he is outraged and wants to have a fight but Capulet stops him.

Tybalt says “This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier,

boy.”

Capulet says “Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone;He bears him like a

portly gentleman;” (Act 1 Scene 5)

Tybalt also shows hatred to Romeo in Act 3 Scene 1. In this scene Tybalt is

determined to get revenge on Romeo for attending at Capulets masked ball

party. This shows how much hatred Tybalt has got for Romeo. He comes

looking for Romeo and when he finds him he insults Romeo. But nobody understanded Romeo’s response when he said that he loves him.

Romeo : “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee Doth much excuse the appertaining rage To such a greeting: villain am I none;”

Then there is a fight in which Mercutio gets killed. Romeo gets angry and kills Tybalt because Mercutio is his best friend.

Tybalt : “Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence.”

The Capulets want revenge on Romeo after Tybalt’s death. Lady Capulet shows hatred by saying

“For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.”

Now both hosehold have a strong hatred for each other.

The next huge contrast to hate is love in Romeo and Juliet. There is two types of love, courtly love and real love. Courtly love is shown at the start of the play when Romeo thinks he is in love with Rosaline. Real love is shown later in the play when Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time, they both know thay have found the real thing. Courtly love was a European tradition and had been around since Elizabeth times. It was really a set of rules about the way lover from aristouratic classes should behave. Example:- The man should fall in love with a woman of a higher social class, who is also, probably married, so that she is unattainable. The tradition is from literature and has little to do with life but some lasted beyond the middle ages.

In the play Shakespeare shows real love many times. Example when Romeo and Juliet find love in the first sight in Act 1 Scene 5.

Romeo says to Juliet “This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”

When he says this he is about to kiss Juliet. The Conversation is based on religion.

Romeo and Juliet find out they are in love when they speak to each other in a Shakespeare sonnet. Example from line 97 in Act 1 Scene 5:-

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:” till line 105 Act 1 Scene 5

“Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.”

They speak in Shakespeare sonnet which is a romantic and poetical way. In the sonnet they express their feelings in religious language.

“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.”

Sonnets were very common at that time and William Shakespeare wrote many of these.

Romeo and Juliet know that they shouldn’t see each other bacause of the grudge the two families had. But still Romeo and Juliet meet each other because of the strong relationship and feelings they had for each other. Even the chorus mentons that although they have found love, its difficult for Romeo and Julietto meet. They seek help from Friar Lawrence and the nurse so that their famalies don’t find out that they are in love. Romeo doubts his love for Rosaline bacause when he saw Juliet for the first time he instantly fell in love and he says

“For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

Also Juliet feels differently about Paris then to what she feels for Romeo.

When Juliet discovers that Romeo is a Montague she says

“My only love sprung from my only hate”

Romeo and Juliet are so much in love that they cant wait to get married. The only problem is that if their families find out they are going to be in trouble so they seek help from Friar Lawrence and the nurse to get married privately.

We many times come to find out that Romeo and Juliet feel for each other is real love. Romeo wants to meet Juliet even when his live is in danger this show how muchhe loves and cares about Juliet.

Juliet says “If they do see thee, they will murder thee.”

Romeo says “Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet, And I am proof against their enmity.”

Romeo even tries to make friend with the members of the Montagues like Tyblt.

“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee Doth much excuse the appertaining rage” (Act 3 Scene 1)

Romeo and Juliet both talk to each other in aloving way and they even have a greater bond in their relationship.

Now Juliet has got a problem and that is she has to marry Paris in saint peters church. but she cant do beacause she is already married to Romeo. Juliet feels so strongly towards Romeo that she even goes against her parents wishes.

Juliet says to Lady Capulet “I will not marry yet; and, when I do, I swear,
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate, Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!”

When Capulet arrives he threatens Juliet that if she doesn’t listen to her parents will then she will be thrown out.

Shakespeare uses language very effectively in the play. The audience didn’t come for special effects as we do, they went to the theatre to listen the beautiful language and poetry used by the actors on stage. With this language the audience will get help to imagine emotions and feelings. Through language Shakespeare could show love, joy, hatred, sadness and e.t.c. In Romeo and Juliet he also shows how language creates hatred and also love.

Oxymorons are used many times in the play by Shakespeare. The word oxymoron comes from the Greek meaning ‘sharp and dull’. Romeo and Juliet is a play about opposites so lots of oxymorons are used. Example ‘loving hate’ and ‘cold fire’.

Another contrast in ‘Romeo And Juliet’ is between light and dark. This also links with another major contrast which is love and hate. the play shows many images of lightness and darkness. Example in Act 1 Scene 5 when Romeo sees Juliet he says

“O she doth teach the torches to burn bright.” Then he says

“It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear….”

As you can see when Romeo speaks about Juliet he uses both lightness and darkness to describe her. The things he uses for lightness are sparkle of eyes, jewels, sun, moon, stars, fire and lightning and they are all set against the night which is the darkness of the view of night. In also Act 5 Scene 3 the contrast between lightness and darkness is used

“For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light.”

Another contrast in the play is Fate and free will. Example at the start of the play in the prologue we hear that

“A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;”

This refers to the fate of Romeo and Juliet. Also in Act 1 Scene 4 when Romeo fears that fate has unhappy consequences in store for him if he goes to the Capulet masked ball party. He says

“I fear, too early: for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars”

but he uses his own free will to got to the party. Both Romeo and Juliet try to control their destiny. In Act 3 Scene 5 Juliet fears about her future with Romeo as they depart.

Juliet says “Methinks I see thee, now thou art below, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb:”

This is Juliets premotionof her death. Romeo and Juliet are never able to break free of fate. Act 5 Scene 1 when Romeo hears the news from Balthasar that Juliet is dead

Romeo says “Is it even so? then I defy you, stars!”

Public life and private life is shown throughout the play. The reason for this was William Shakespeare wanted to keep his audience interested in the play and it also underlines basic contrast between love and hate. public scenes happen mainly when there are fights between the Capulets and the Montagues. The first scene in the play is public when the fight starts between the two households. The prince is introduced in this scene and he warns the Capulets and the Montagues that there will be serious punishment given out if the two household quarrel and disturb the people of Verona.

The prince says “If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

Another public scene is Act 1 Scene 5 the Capulets party. This scene is mainly put for the audience for them to see the beautiful costumes and to form a backdrop to Romeo and Juliet first meeting.

Act 3 Scene 1 also shows how publicly fights have become. In this scene Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight. Then Romeo gets revenge and kills Tybalt. When the prince finds out about this he banishes Romeo.

“Therefore use none: let Romeo hence in haste, Else, when he's found, that hour is his last.”

The prince doesn’t sentence Romeo to death but banishes because Tybalt had killed Mercutio who was the prince’s cousin and Romeo was just getting revenge.

Private scenes are mainly between Romeo and Juliet because no one else knows they love each other apart from Friar Lawrence and the nurse. Example in Act 1 Scene 2 where Romeo and Juliet make love for each other near Juliets Balcony. An even more private scene is Act 3 Scene 5 in Juliets bedroom.

Romeo says “Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death; I am content, so thou wilt have it so.”

Romeo doesn’t care if he is discovered. This scene is in contrast with Act 3 Scene 1 because it doesn’t show hate but it shows love. Act 5 Scene 3 is both public and Private. The beginning scene is private because Romeo is alsone with Juliet in the tomb. After their suicides their story is brought out in public and it becomes a public knowledge.

Romeo and Juliet is a play about contrast. I have explored many contrast which are Love and Hate, Lightness and Darkness and private and public. I have shown how Shakespeare uses language to help his audience imagine feelings and emotions. Shakespeare knew what his audience wanted. He wanted them to enjoy his plays and wanted to show how contrast can destroy a society and also wanted to make them think.