How does Shakespeare hihlight the tragic waste of young life in Act 5 Scene 3?

Authors Avatar

How does Shakespeare Highlight the Tragic

Waste of Young Life in Act 5, Scene 3?

The play “Romeo and Juliet” was written in the 1590’s by William Shakespeare. He based his ideas and play from folk stories made popular in Italy and France and also from Arthur Brooks’ poem, “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet” which was written in 1562, way before Shakespeare’s version was produced.

“Romeo and Juliet” was one of Shakespeare’s earlier tragedies, so it could have possibly been an experiment before he wrote “Macbeth” for example.

It is a piteous play which examines the devastating effects of prejudice. The two powerful families, the Montagues and the Capulets, have been feuding with each other for years. The reason for this however is unknown. In the prologue it is said,

“From ancient grudge break to new mutiny.”

This shows the dispute has been going on for years. It is a big shock to the couple, Romeo and Juliet, when they first meet as they are supposed to be prejudiced against each other. Just because Juliet is a Capulet, Romeo believed he should hate her.

“Romeo and Juliet” also displays a lot of violence. The fact that the two families can not even tolerate each other leads to a lot of violence. The fighting and violence in this play is usually the consequence of the power and strength of young love. For example the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt happened because Romeo did not want to fight a Capulet due to his love for Juliet. This led to the fight between Romeo and Tybalt. The shows that the influence of love can be very powerful.

Shakespeare’s intention in writing “Romeo and Juliet” was to entertain whilst also trying to show that;

Love is stronger than hate,

True love is powerful,

Violence leads to more violence,

Parents have responsibility to set a good example to their children,

Love triumphs over hate,

Young people have minds of their owns and shouldn’t be controlled,

Young people shouldn’t enter into serious relationships too soon,

And importantly that young life is important.

In Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of this classic love story he highlights these points brilliantly. I think that he shows the dramatic fight between Mercutio and Tybalt and the change to the fight between Romeo and Tybalt and includes many flashbacks to highlight the point that violence leads to more violence.

“Romeo and Juliet” is also a story showing that it takes the death of five young people to finally put aside two families’ differences.

There are six deaths in Romeo and Juliet and five of these are young people. Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Paris and Tybalt all die in the play plus Lady Montague which is due to her son being banished. All these deaths are as a result of true love.

In Act 5, Scene 3, Romeo and Paris fight over Juliet as they both love her. Paris is killed after this fight. Tybalt and Mercutio are killed as a consequence of Romeo’s love for Juliet, and Romeo and Juliet die for the love of each other.

Join now!

The prologue of “Romeo and Juliet” states,

“A pair of starcrossed lovers take their life; whose misadventure piteous overthrows. Doth with their death bury their parent’s strife.”

This prepares the audience for the deaths of the protagonists and also tells them the final outcome. The prologue is to prepare the audience for play and also to create effect.

The deaths of the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet, are left till the final act of the play to give maximum impact and effect. If the deaths of these two happened in the middle of the play, the climax would not ...

This is a preview of the whole essay