Romeo And Juliet Critical Essay Example For Students

Romeo And Juliet Critical Essay Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love play written by William Shakespeare. Although it is about love, it is also much about hatred. In this play there are many different types of love, from infatuation to real love. At the beginning of the play Romeo says, With cupids arrow, she hath Pians wit. Here is speaking about Rosaline and from his words we know he is exaggerating. When he speaks about her it sounds very insincere, artificial and not at all original. This is an example of infatuation in the play. However when he meets Juliet, it is love at first sight. He says, Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! This shows how amazed and passionate he is about her. You find him struggling for words for words, , when he is talking about/to Juliet., which shows his love is real, original, new and not something he supposes is love. Love for the family is important too in this play. When Lord Capulet asks, Is she not proud? Doth she not give us thanks, you know he wants the best for his daughter and is very concerned about her. Love for friends is another type of love which plays a big part in this play, as well as love for family honour and name; which leads to the hate between the two feuding families to which the lovers belong. This hate is indirect and impersonal, just a hate to anyone to belongs to the opposing family. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, this shows that this feud is ancient and ongoing. However the hate that Tybalt has for Romeo is personal. I will be looking more at how Shakespeare explores the themes of love and hate through the words of his characters, Romeo and Juliet. In Act 1, Scene 1 we see Romeo talking about love, or what he thinks is love for the first time. This time he is talking about his love for Rosaline. This is an example of unrequited love. Be ruld by me, forget to think of her is what Benvolio advises Romeo to do about Rosaline because he is never going to get her. When Romeo talks about Rosaline he uses oxymoron. An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in union such as deafening silence and bittersweet. Example of oxymorons Romeo uses to describe Rosaline are, feather of lead, cold fire, sick health, and bright smoke. Here he is trying to show how much he loves her and how beautiful she is but ends up sounding conventional, fake and insincere. It only makes him sound like he is over exaggerating. In act 1, scene 5, from line 43 onwards, we see Romeo talking about his love for Juliet. From lines 43-52 he uses celestial imagery to describe how beautiful she is. Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear here he means she is too beautiful to just die and be buried in the earth and yet too beautiful to be used. He says she is as a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear-. This imagery gives the impression that she stands out beautifully, like a shiny pearl against dark skin. This tells us how strongly he feels about her, he is obviously stunned by her. He sounds genuine when he speaks about her, and uses natural imagery to express what he really feels. From line 92-109, Romeo and Juliet talk to each other for the first time. Romeo describes Juliet as a shrine meaning she is holy. If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this. He is afraid that if he touches her he might spoil her as she is so precious and fair. As Juliet replies, one can tell she is intell igent, witty and bright, but nevertheless returns Romeos love. A quotation to show this is when Romeo says he is ready to kiss her to smooth that rough touch, she replies, A palm to palm is a holy palmers kiss. Meaning all he has to do is touch her and it will be blessed. Shakespeare puts their conversation into the form of a sonnet. This is the first conversation they have together so the fact that they do a sonnet together emphasises how perfect they are for each other. It is like a language symbolising their unity. In Act 2, Scene 2 Romeo and Juliet meet again very early on Monday morning/late Sunday night on Juliets balcony. They swear their love for each other again and make plans to get married the next day. Juliet is the sun is how Romeo describes Juliet when he is outside under her balcony. It shows that he thinks very highly of her and cannot live without her as we would not be able to live without the sun. He uses lots of imagery to describe her in this scene such as the sun, moon, stars, clouds, angels and birds. All of these words are either heavenly or to do with nature. This fits into the way he was describing her in the last scene. He described her as a shrine which is holy and is now referring to her as heaven angel, things that are also holy. He talks about love repeatedly when referring to her. Juliet is romantic and passionate in this scene. She adores him and thinks he is perfect. Chinua Achebe's novel of life EssayDeath is repeatedly mentioned during the play and the older characters know they are born to die whilst the younger characters in the play have their lives cut short by early death. Throughout the play there are 5 deaths, however they are all deaths of young people (Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo and Juliet.). Words and phrases such as untimely death, deathbed and deaths darting eye are used. Shakespeare also personifies death by saying death is my son in law, death is my heir, my daughter he hath wedded (act 4 sc.5) to signify the catastrophic deaths in the play. Life seems to conflict with ever-present death. In the play public affairs and private lives are also another contrast. The actions shifts from outdoor fighting to indoor romance, from public squares to private rooms. This portrays other conflict such as the conflict between Juliet and her father and his wanting of Juliet to wed Paris. Romeo and Juliet talk of love but other events force them to marry in secret because of feuds in public. When Romeo is exiled from Verona for the murder of Tybalt, Juliet and Friar Lawrence devise a plan so that Juliet will not have to marry Paris. She will take a potion that will make it look like she is dead but however only lasts for 48 hours. This way her family will believe her to be deceased, but infact hours after she will awake to go and be reunited with her new husband, Romeo. As we know this does not go as accorded. The letter that friar Lawrence sent to Romeo to inform him of what is going on never reaches him, so when it is broadcast publicly that Juliet has died, Romeo rushes back to Verona. He makes a choice that he does not want to be alive if Juliet is not alive and so buys a poison to take. When he reaches Juliets deathbed he swallows the poison and almost simultaneously Juliet awakes from her deep slumber. I believe this is the most tragic part of the play as there is now no way Romeo can be saved and he dies. Juliet is in the same mentality as Romeo as in she wishes to be dead if Romeo is dead and so stabs her self in the stomach. Both lovers are lifeless side by side. This is the dramatic finale to the play that has been built up with language throughout. It is now finally that the ending that had been pre planned is unveiled. The final words of the play are A glooming peace this morning with it brings, The sun for sorrow will not show its head. Go hence to have more talk of these sad things; Some shall be pardoned, and some punished: For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and Romeo. This sums up what Shakespeare wanted a tragic love story, but with hope for a brighter future? In conclusion I think that Shakespeare explores conflict in five main sections ; love and hate, fate and free will, death and life, public and private and light and dark. Although the play is filled with hatred due to conflicts it is also heavily packed with language of love. I believe that Shakespeare had a well thought ending to this play as it does suggest hope and a less bleak future, The loss of a daughter and the loss of a son resolved the conflict shared by the families for centuries. So in two deaths comes a new beginning for others.