Romeo and Juliet; love, haste and contrasts.

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Romeo and Juliet; love, haste and contrasts.

In this assignment, I will be looking at the play of Romeo and Juliet. I will analyse how Shakespeare has used language in the play for symbolic effect. I will observe on how Shakespeare has presented love and the way in which Romeo and Juliet talk to each other, I shall decide whether their love was real and talk about their parents contrasting views and opinions. I will also comment on the plays relevance today and see how Shakespeare has used dramatic devices and structures to enhance the conversation between the young lovers. Throughout the play there is a constant theme of love and fate, I shall analyse this theme and show how it affects Romeo and Juliet.

An important scene is the Capulet’s ball where Romeo and Juliet first meet. This shows their love-at-first-sight and can be interpreted into many different ways.        In Act 1 scene 5, Baz Luhrmann’s modern film version presents Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other through a tropical fish tank. This is a very effective way of showing how they met, Romeo and Juliet didn’t understand the quarrelling between their families but they were caught up in it, the first thing they truly understood was that there was something they wanted that was the other side of the tank, each other. Something tantalising because of the fish tank, yet the tank made it unattainable. You can walk round a fish tank and they met each other soon enough, but it turned out that in the end it was unattainable, in a way that was far more disastrous and that they were too innocent to see. This is a transported, unreal scene where anything is possible. A moment when nothing, in fact can happen, but which promises so much, everything, so there is hope. The tank subtly brings their virtual selves closer through magnification, while it separates their real selves completely. They are so close, yet cannot touch, and so near to being able to love each other freely, yet so far away. In the play, this scene sets the atmosphere up as being magical and, perhaps in the end, impossible.

        At Capulet's ball, we can contrast pure and innocent love with the violence and hatred of Tybalt. Capulet, as a gracious host, praises Romeo 'virtuous and well-governed youth' and asks Tybalt to 'endure' him. This is a well-intentioned act by Capulet but it arouses the anger of Tybalt 'convert to bitterest gall'. Tybalt later issues a challenge to Romeo and it results in the death of Mercutio, Tybalt and the banishment of Romeo, which darkens the plays atmosphere.                      Romeo’s use of language changes from his earlier speeches, before he was agonising over Rosaline using oxymoron’s to portray how tormented and confused he felt. He was only thinking of himself and claiming how ‘lovesick’ he was:

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‘A madness most discreet,                                                                               A choking gall and a preserving sweet.’

By saying ‘a madness most discreet’, Romeo turns a well-known phrase ‘love is a madness’ into an oxymoron, it reflects his infuriation over his current situation with love.                                                                                     Romeo’s over-use of oxymoron’s sound unreal, if he were really in love with Rosaline he would be happy instead of ...

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