Study Act 2 scenes two and three. Show how this section of "Romeo and Juliet" serves Shakespeare's aims in the development of the play.

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Study Act 2 scenes two and three.   Show how this section of “Romeo and Juliet” serves Shakespeare’s aims in the development of the play.

Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition. Love is juxtaposed with hate to lead the play into a powerful emotional drama, rich in passion, violence and death; Proving the truth in ‘My only love sprang from my only hate’ between the rivals the Capulets and the Montagues. The beauty of the plays language and the use of Shakespeare’s imagery, oxymorons and antitheses enliven the plot, as we perceive the undying love between the two protagonists which quickly develops into a catastrophe.

 

For the plot to develop quickly and the calamity unfold Shakespeare has to get Romeo and Juliet to meet and fall in love. Our two scenes mark the point where the drama accelerates from the gradual introduction of the characters at the beginning, onwards to the dramatic intensity of the play’s later storyline. During one short act, Shakespeare has to push the pace onwards, as he only has two hours. (‘The two hours’ traffic of our stage’) Therefore in this one act , Romeo and Juliet have to fall in love, declare their love for one another, and marry, so that the scene is set for the plays later tragic dénouements, this is to heighten the emotion for the audience. This also gives the audience a willing suspension of disbelief as the relationship is not like real life; seeing that it’s all come about within one meeting.

The tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet” and its “misadventured piteous overthrows” has moved audiences time and again.  It is rightly famous for its poignant poetry that intensifies and celebrates the youthful love. The play amuses and shocks – despite the fact that we know full well from the beginning that “their death-marked” love is fated!

Imagery reinforces two of the central concerns of Romeo and Juliet: the role of fate in evolving the lover’s calamity and the two family’s feuds. The influence of fate can be argued and can be developed through the use of star Imagery “the fairest stars” in which stars serve as a metaphor for destiny, love, and also used to describe Romeo’s maturation as he tries to attempt his own destiny. The running image of the moon symbolises ‘Dian’, who is the goddess of the moon and the protector of virgins. The moon is always eclipsed by the sun; Shakespeare is telling us that Juliet is the centre of Romeo’s universe. With the use of metaphors ‘two such apposed kings encamp them still, in man as well as herbs, grace and rude will’ Shakespeare creates imagery which conjures vivid mental pictures in the mind.

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One of the play’s most consistent visual motifs is the contrast between light and dark, often in terms of night/day imagery. This contrast is not given a particular metaphoric meaning—light is not always good, and dark is not always evil. On the contrary, light and dark are generally used to provide a sensory contrast and to hint at opposed alternatives. One of the more important instances of this motif is Romeo’s lengthy meditation on the sun and the moon during the balcony scene, in which Juliet, metaphorically described as the sun, and is seen as banishing the “envious moon” ...

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