“I she a Capulet?
O dear account! My life is my foe's debt.”
The dramatic language Romeo uses signifies that Juliet, after their meeting, is a high priority in his life, we can link this to Act 2 Sc 2, where Romeo develops his idea, and think of Juliet's status as greater than human, we can see this (from lines 26-32) where throughout this extract, Romeo labels Juliet with terms like 'winged messenger'; 'saint; 'mortal' and a 'bright angel' all these terms are godly, and religious which may link to the idea of religious godly words (Act 1 Sc 5), or it may seem that Romeo's love to Juliet is so strong that he may seem to be 'worshipping' her! All these quotes can actually foreshadow what will happen later in the play, as we can link this to Act 5 Sc 3, when Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead, he does not take a second chance to think and kills him self straight away (lines 111-112).
From the first scene both of the lovers meet, we discover that both of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet share the same inner-feelings without actually being with each other, when Juliet asks the Nurse if Romeo was married , she automatically relates to her death,
“Go ask his name. If he married,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.”
This quote can show that Romeo and Juliet act in similar ways – they have the same 'mind set'. The image of Juliet marrying death is terrifying, Shakespeare uses the image of death throughout the play, the constant repetition of this almost guarantees the audience that Romeo and Juliet's love is going to be put at a halt and will end sooner or later, notice that the way Shakespeare concludes his plays like this builds tension and thus, makes an audience more alert – this is exactly what Elizabethan audience were after.
Before this scene starts Shakespeare decides to shown the inpatient attraction Romeo has towards Juliet, Shakespeare tries to portray this image of Romeo and Juliet almost being inseparable, Romeo does not take time to think about other people, even his friends: neither does Juliet – instead she gazes out of her windows wishing that Romeo would trod upon them. This emphasis is shown when Romeo remorselessly isolates himself from his friends who were in desperate search for him. Why does he do all this? Just to see or hear Juliet before the next day. Shakespeare dedicates a scene in the 'middle' to emphasise Romeo's love to Juliet. This is shown by the way he, at last minute turns back to 'Juliet's way', the language at the beginning of the scene is also very dramatic,”Can I go forward when my heart is here? Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.” The way he refers to the place of their meeting as to where his heart belongs shows his sincere feeling, which cannot be denied, no matter what the consequences where.
Act 2 Sc 2 is one of the most important scenes in the play in terms of love and how Romeo and Juliet share it, this scene is vital - it is the scene where Romeo and Juliet declare true love and decide upon their marriage, hence it is a 'follow up' from Act 1 Sc 5, from the idea of religious words relating to the church may hint to their marriage. In this scene we can notice a strong emphasis to the 'light theme' used by Shakespeare, and we can see that right from the start of the scene,“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?”
We can notice a pattern involving light objects to describe Juliet, In Act 1 Sc 5, Romeo described her, “She teaches the torches to burn bright.” From this, we can see that she is now given a higher light 'quality', as light through the window is more than just a mere light from a torch.
From Act 2 Sc 2, we notice Romeo is searching for his love, Juliet. Once Juliet appears in the balcony scene, Romeo describes Juliet, but he does not know that she is there and the same thing happens with Juliet when she describes Romeo. This is called dramatic-irony, Shakespeare uses dramatic-irony in order to emphasise both of the lovers' love for each other in a true, honest way. To prove this, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony noticeably and purposefully, on line 36 dramatic irony helps to emphasise how desperate Juliet is to be with Romeo,“And I'll no longer be a Capulet.”Shakespeare shows this desperation by making Juliet give up her family's name. It is requited love, as they both share the same inner feelings towards each other, furthermore, denial of your family's name was a very rare, but a big sin, with even that, she will still do it – because of her desperation and love to be with Romeo.
Shakespeare uses stage-craft from this point to show how their relationship is gradually increasing, getting more confidential and private, this will be noticeable to an Elizabethan audience to emphasise a potential marriage.
Juliet's care is emphasised in Act 2 Sc 2, when Romeo repetitiously answers figuratively and does not give a straight forward answer, we can see Juliet trying to avoid this and instead, is being practical, her maturity tells her that Romeo is vulnerable to being murdered at any-time, Shakespeare tries to portray Juliet as a mature adult, by her prioritising skill and real love is not shown by romance, but by actions and there is a place and a time for everything. She tries to get Romeo's attention to the danger he may be facing standing in an open place like this by using fast beat, monosyllabic words,“If they see thee, they will murder thee.” Audience notice that the use of monosyllabic words is almost always associated with situations that may affect their love by physical separation, like death, this idea was emphasised with Tybalt's aggressive threat to Romeo describes above. Juliet's 'caring' idea is further shown by her constant questioning to Romeo, reminding him of the potential danger he may be in. Contrary to this, Juliet would even be pleased if Romeo left her house just to be safe, this shows care – a part of real requited love.
Even with all her sincere love towards Romeo, Juliet is mature enough to admit that their relationship is too rushed:
“It is too rash, too sudden, too unadvised, Too like the lightning.”
Juliet herself personifies their relationship to the lightning – which is sudden, dangerous, cannot be stopped and does not know foe from friend – it is almost like she is referring her and Romeo's fate, which is devastating because they have not even decided to get married at this point in this play. Notice that Juliet is talks about death – throughout the key scenes, this is a sign of how ill-fated she is – notice how Shakespeare has the main characters being the ones that are ill-fated, the fact that they do not have hope for themselves portrays an unsuccessful character that is prone to fail at any time to a stupid mistake, and this was exactly what has happened with Romeo and Juliet.
Even with this, both of them still have hope, and no matter how serious Juliet becomes, she will always emphasise her love to him in a simple, yet meaningful way(lines 133-5):
“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee
The more I have, for both are infinite.”
Shakespeare makes Juliet use this simple poetic language to show to the audience that love can be emphasised by the simplest words but can still mean a lot. She compares their love to the sea which is deep and infinite.
We can demonstrate that the love between Romeo and Juliet is increasing when Romeo says,“So thrive my soul,”
by this we see how Romeo tries to show that his love with Juliet is successful and he is actually fortunate about it – hence, even after the constant foreshadowing and reference of death, he does not have any remorse for being with Juliet. The word 'soul' emphasises its true and inner feeling – this is why there is a constant repetition of the word 'soul', this is done to show that everything Romeo does is true and legible.
During the key moments between Romeo and Juliet, where they share their love (Act 1 Sc 5) in sonnet form, when they talk on the balcony (Act 2 Sc 2) or even when they are a married couple (Act 3 Sc 5) – they are always interrupted by Juliet's nurse or an important member of the Capulet family. This further explains the idea of their loss in fate; even if Romeo did not murder Tybalt, the relationship between Romeo and Juliet would not have been 'appropriate' anyway - they had at some point admit to their marriage. This of which would have still caused as much damage or disruption. Notice how Shakespeare purposely puts in more 'disruptions' in Act 2 Sc 2 where they specifically talk about their marriage or them being together – this almost gives the idea to an audience that 'it is not going to work out!' type of expression. The fact that Romeo and Juliet cannot even get some consistency in their relationship: or even privacy in this case is almost a label of failure taped on to them. And the irony in this is that most of the interruptions are caused by Juliet's lousy and chatty nurse, who is supposedly a good person – or at least a person who 'supports' them by transferring messages around.
Notice when Romeo and Juliet do decide to get married, one of the first thing that both Romeo and Juliet talk about are birds on lines 183, “I would I were thy bird,” Shakespeare uses this symbol to emphasise their freedom, and at the same time it can emphasise Juliet's beauty. By the end of the scene, before Romeo descends, Juliet uses an oxymoron:
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,”
the use of this oxymoron tries to show Juliet's happiness, she is much less serious now as opposed to the beginning of the scene. 'Parting is such sweet sorrow,' is irony, she is now happy to be marrying Romeo, 'sweet', yet, at the same time she is not happy that he is going to leave, 'sorrow'.
After this scene, the audience have to sit through a full act - full of conflict and tragedy before they are able to see Romeo and Juliet together again at the same time. This is considering that they met in Act 2 Sc 6 where in this scene they got married. The 'structural pause' Shakespeare skilfully creates emphasises tension of what might be happening, notice how Shakespeare omits any conversation involving romance after Act 2 Sc 6; instead, the hardship that Romeo has to go through from Act 3 Sc1-5 matures him as a lover. Also this pause is effective in terms of the audience's entertainment, audience during the Elizabethan era would like to question what is going to happen to the love that is between Romeo and Juliet: and how this pause makes the the probability of them meeting again less as the play develops. This raises questions like, “Will they ever meet again.” or, “Is this the end of their love.” For an Elizabethan audience to ask questions such as this is very rare, this is due to the fact that audience at this time only received their entertainment by a limited source – which was the theatre, and this emphasises Shakespeare's exceptional ability at creating a changing and tensioning mood. This is emphasised by the way Shakespeare almost makes it impossible for their meeting when Romeo's claim to stay is declined and thus, being banished and told to leave Verona. Their ecstatically surprising meeting is in Act 3 Sc 5. Notice how Shakespeare split the play in to two halves – the first half introduces the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, their love and commitment and the second half of the play is where the 'disruption' starts and everything deters between the couple from this point on.
Act 3 Sc 5 is one of the most crucial key scene in this essay, the language used in this scene evidently proves that everything that Romeo and Juliet had been planning from their first meeting was all, but a rushed, unthoughtful plan. Remembering, that this is the last scene where the audience witness the last meeting of Romeo and Juliet together alive.
There is a dramatic change in the way Romeo and Juliet use language in Act 2 Sc 2 to the way they use it in Act 3 Sc 5. In fact, from the start of the scene, the audience can see the irony in Romeo and Juliet's characters. Juliet, the practical, 'straightforward' person is now using poetry in nearly all of her speeches to express her feelings, which would have reflected Romeo's character in Act 2 Sc 2, but on-the-other-hand Romeo is now the practical person and all of his speeches are straight to the point – in my opinion, this is because of Mercutio's death in Act 3 Sc 1, Romeo is now more vigilant and enraged and we can see this because he does not have time to fool around, everything he does is now moderated as opposed to Act 2 Sc 2 where he merely took notice of Juliet's warnings. Notice, how this is emphasised by stage-craft – Romeo is now in a place where he is less vulnerable to attack, Shakespeare tries to build this sense of security between Romeo and Juliet by setting this scene in Juliet's room. They are now married. Even with all this development, because of the complexity of Romeo and Juliet's problem, audience are never assured of total harmony or a settlement. The fact that it is set in Juliet's bedroom creates tension – Juliet's understand how much grief she can cause herself if at any time Romeo's presence is caught or heard by any other member of the Capulet family. This reflects the 'sacrificing' qualities in both Romeo and Juliet. As in Act 2 Sc 2 we are shown Romeo standing outside waiting for Juliet to come back as she was constantly called for by the nurse: this time, Juliet's sacrifice is emphasised by the way she lets Romeo stay in her room – this idea is forwarded by the use of language.
Juliet starts by 'pleading' Romeo to stay, obviously lying that it is still night and he should not descend:
“Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day:
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,”
notice, Juliet compares morning and night to the colours of the birds – the 'nightingale' and 'lark', with the nightingale being black, a symbol of night; and the lark being yellow which is a symbol of the sun. Hence, the mentioning of birds starts from Act 2 Sc 2 – once they decide to get married, it is a symbol of their freedom.
From lines 6-11, Romeo is now much more vigilant, and he is very practical. He even mentions death in on line 11 using very simple language, with the use of syntax in 'opposites' form,“I must be gone and live, or stay and die.”
He repeats the mentioning of death on lines 17-25, notice he can just descend very easily without her permission, but as repeated throughout Act 1 Sc 5 and Act 2 Sc 2, she is like a 'godly' character for Romeo, he 'cannot' leave if she doesn't want him to, the use of opposite phrases is very effective as it clarifies and concludes what could happen and the involvement of death will persuade Juliet to let him leave. And furthermore, on line 24 he carries forward the idea of death and personifies it in-order to make Juliet 'feel bad' about herself,“Come, death and welcome! Juliet wills it to so.”
Romeo doesn't really mean it, but this simple, yet effective language is used to persuade Juliet in order let him leave, and hence she does in the next part: “It is, it is, hie hence, be gone, away!”
Notice how Juliet instantly agrees to what Romeo is saying, and throughout the key scenes (excluding Act 2 Sc 2 ,where she uses her maturity) he is portrayed as her role-model, she copies what he does and agrees to what he says.
We can also see the irony in this scene by the way that light is now seen as a sign of danger to Romeo and Juliet's love from the start of Act 3 Sc 5, on line 9,“Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day.”
we now see light as danger, and the meaning of 'night's candles are burnt out' is that it is now morning. We can see this idea further through the scene (line 35),“O now be gone, more light and light it grows.”
This forwards the idea of light turning into danger, the more light the higher the probability of Romeo being lynched (murdered) because he did not leave Verona. This is shown in Romeo's pun on the next line, “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!” On line 41 when Romeo exits Juliet shows what Romeo means to her, “Then, window, let the day in, and let life out.”
This language emphasises the exact same feelings Romeo has towards Juliet. Romeo sees Juliet as his life, as talked previously during the essay, by using words such as 'soul'. Juliet uses simple language that means a lot, just like in Act 2 Sc 2 where she described their love to the sea.
From lines 43 we can see Juliet giving the qualities of Romeo all in one part, Shakespeare makes her express her feelings about Romeo for the last time, which further emphasises that they will not see each other. Shakespeare also does this in many of his plays such as The Tempest, where Prospero the main character gives Ariel his qualities, this is done, just like in Romeo and Juliet to emphasise how a main character thinks towards another main character; this is to done to show genuine feelings and thoughts because it is written in the first person.“Art thou gone so, love, lord, ay husband, friend?” Hence, all these terms refer to everything that Romeo has 'merged' his character to during the key scenes, we see Romeo as a lover throughout Act 1 Sc 5 and Act 2 Sc 2, as a husband from Act 2 Sc 6 and on (it also shows the strong commitment), as a 'Lord' emphasise how Juliet sees Romeo as a role-model to her, this also shows the sacrifice as he is a 'Lord' to her which shows that religion is somewhat involved in this and religion played a big aspect during that time and people would sacrifice their lives just in belief to their Lord (God).
Notice the repetition of religious word throughout all the key scenes - this brings the sense of safety that god is always with them.
Further evidence shows the irony of this scene, in comparison with previous key scenes. Towards the end of the scene Romeo and Juliet feel like they will not meet again, this shows how ill-fated they are. This is the complete opposite in comparison with Act Sc 2, where they expressed definite hope of marriage with sheer confidence (line 168) , “What a'clock of tomorrow,” whilst in Act 3 Sc 5 Juliet has lost all hope (line 51), “O think'st thou we shall ever meet again?”
Notice that on most scenes Juliet is always the miserable one, this might have to do with the cultural aspect of the play, being set in the 16th century - women were thought of lowly; being the ones that always grieved with misfortune. This sadness is shown by Juliet's 'always' suspicious character, she is merely satisfied by others' opinions, even Romeo's, which is deceitful as she described him as her 'Lord' earlier in the scene. Even with this, because of her love to Romeo she even admits this to him on line 54, “O God, I have an ill-divining soul,” (notice how 'O' was used by Romeo in Act 1 Sc 1 to show his misfortune – this is further evidence to prove the sadness of character). Juliet continues to show her despair and hopelessness in their last meeting, she even 'thinks' that the last they meet will be in a tomb, “Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, As of one dead in the bottom.” The way Juliet describes Romeo is terrifying, she sees Romeo dead already, the mentioning of the tomb foreshadows what Is seen by the audience in Act 5 Sc 3. Shakespeare like to use foreshadowing throughout the play to create deliberate tension, and in order to make the audience interested and engaged to the play – or else they would not find out what led this to happen.
Furthermore, Shakespeare makes Juliet say this for a purpose – to act as a 'stimulant' for an audience in the Elizabethan era, Juliet's saying this will give an indication for the audience to concentrate more closely from this point on in the play – because this is a sign to where the tragedy starts.
On line 54 we are shown even more evidence by Shakespeare the irony of this scene, because there is a mentioning of 'God', which was talked about in Act 1 Sc 5 and Act 2 Sc 2 as the sign of their bonding and commitment; whilst in the scene the use of 'God' and religious terms are showing their isolation/separation.”O God, I have an ill-divining soul.”
Later in this scene we can see the love between Romeo and Juliet emphasised when we see Juliet confronting her parents in a mature way, even her mother could not keep up with Juliet's intelligence, thinking she was weeping over her cousin Tybalt, when she was actually talking about Romeo
“(aside) Villain and he be many miles asunder.
(to LADY CAPULET) God pardon him! I do, with all my heart,
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.”
This emphasises this scene's irony, and how a big twist Shakespeare makes it. We see how Juliet is fighting for her rights in a male-dominated world, and how she would not simply obey her parents' orders when she is married ,this further explains the true love between Romeo and Juliet and how trustworthy they are to each other. Shakespeare tries to show that Romeo and Juliet's love isn't simply for pleasure, but is a true love in which the lover's learn from each other.
This section of my essay will concentrate on the cultural aspect that Shakespeare has input into Romeo and Juliet, including setting and moral issues which may contribute to Romeo and Juliet's love.
Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy. Shakespeare set his play in Verona, because Verona was known to be a city (or place) of love, but not eternal love, which is what Romeo and Juliet hoped for. The cultural aspect of the play also plays an important role towards their love, during Act 1 Sc 5 and Act 2 Sc 2, we see Romeo and Juliet share their love inside Verona, all the romance and love end once Romeo is banished from Verona (In Act 3 Sc5), both Romeo and Juliet are now practical. At the end of the play, Romeo and Juliet die in Verona (Juliet's tomb), loving each-other.
A vital cultural aspect that affected (or thought to have) the fate and love between Romeo and Juliet is honour and as the audience in Act 3 Sc 1 witnessed the death of Mercutio and the way he curses both of the feuding families would astonish the audience, and this would have a double impact if it was shown to audience during the Elizabethan period, because it was a dying man's curse. Notice how the tragedy is shown from this point on – this is emphasised by the way that both Romeo and Juliet do not get what they want and the audience will notice how the quote in the prologue, 'star cross'd lovers' is emphasised from this point on in the play This is even shown by the way the messenger that Friar Lawrence has sent fails to deliver it to Romeo in time. When Romeo retaliates to Tybalt's insults and him obviously killing his best friend, it is because he actually does it because he loves Juliet (the irony) because if Romeo was to be insulted it would be the 'same' as an insult to all his friends and friends, thus he had to retaliate – or he would be seen as a coward. In my opinion, Tybalt 'dominates' Romeo and Juliet's love from the scene they meet, Romeo could not just simply refuse Tybalt's offer to fight, especially as he was insulting him, and even Mercutio's death was a mere addition to this, it has just aggravated Romeo even more as he has a real reason to fight Tybalt now (avenge for his friend). Thus, this was bound to happen sooner or later (remembering their fate has already been decided in the prologue, there was no way out of it, anyway).
This is the turning point of the play – and affects their fates in a considerable amount. We must appreciate that this play is written in the 16th century, Shakespeare uses linguistic devices such as sonnets for an impact for an audience – and only for an audience in that time. Today's audience will merely concentrate on devices such as sonnets, as in the most part they will not understand it anyway, if they were to do something they would be spending most of their time trying to comprehending what the actors are actually trying to say! But on the other hand people in the Elizabethan era might think of Shakespeare as a blatant genius for communicating their love in sensitive, pure language that is 'easily' understandable and is organised in a clear and efficient way.
Religion was also and important factor when Shakespeare tried to show the love between Romeo and Juliet, during Act 1 Sc 5, the conversation between Romeo and Juliet consisted mainly of terms to do with the Church and God, this is hinting from the start that in order to maintain a love relationship between the couple, the first thing they have to play is to become married. Hence, their love was strictly based on Christianity, that even when they both kissed each other in the sonnet, there was a constant repetition of the word 'sin' in order to emphasise that what they are doing is wrong.“Give me my sin again.”
Another cultural aspect involved, is the use of astronomy to emphasise their love. During Act 2 Sc 2, we can see Romeo demonstrate his love towards Juliet when he decided to 'swear' by the moon:“Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow.” This quote emphasises how important Juliet is to Romeo, swearing by the moon was 'the proof' to emphasise how he truly loved her. This helps to proof 'the light theme' shown throughout the meeting of Romeo and Juliet through the key-scenes. The moon is the night's life, which stop darkness. This idea of astrology can be linked to the prologue where Romeo and Juliet's faith has already been decided, in the quote, “star-cross'd lovers.” Romeo and Juliet's faith is controlled by the stars, and 'cross'd' emphasises that the stars are against them. To emphasise this idea, Shakespeare makes Romeo blame the stars himself for his and Juliet's loss of fate before he kills himself in Act 5 Sc 3 (lines 111-112):
“And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.”
Another cultural aspect that has influenced the love between Romeo and Juliet is how relationships outside marriage were strongly prohibited, remembering the play was written during the 16th Century, this idea may seem 'weird' in the west today and this was why Romeo and Juliet could not risk getting caught without marriage, their martial status was threatened either way, during Act 3 Sc 5 Lady Capulet wants Juliet to marry Paris (children were expected to follow their parents' commands). Obviously being put in this situation was very hard for Juliet, she loves Romeo and at the same time, she has to abide to the law, which states that she must only marry one man. All these issues in the end have threatened Romeo and Juliet's love and this can be linked to why, in the end she drank the potion that Friar Lawrence has provided her with, regardless of the consequences.
To conclude my essay, throughout the key scenes of Romeo and Juliet's meeting, Shakespeare coherently tries to portray how true,pure and yet dangerous Romeo and Juliet's love really is. And as the play progresses, Shakespeare makes it easy for the audience to see the dramatic change of character that Romeo and Juliet has shown. Romeo is transformed from a traumatised teenager at the start of the play to a passionate, mature and an eager adult. This change is also portrayed in Juliet's character where she has become more independent. The audience were shown that Romeo and Juliet knew what they were doing and the potential trouble and result this may cause. Even with that they decided to continue their relationship – and by the language the audience are shown how willing they are to sacrifice their own lives for each other if something was to go wrong. And the real moral aspect of this story was that true,genuine love was not obsessive, based on appearance or self sought – true, genuine love can only be truly emphasised or portrayed by a person by their actions, and only actions – something that words cannot describe.