Romeo and Juliet V

Romeo and Juliet Dead

When most people think about the cause of Romeo and Juliet's deaths they look to the feud between their houses. They think that because the feud kept the "star-crossed lovers" from being together Montague and Capulet are to blame for them both committing suicide. While this opinion is valid, I see no one else to blame for their deaths than Romeo and Juliet themselves. No one else should be held responsible for their passing and no one else should feel they alone were to blame.

Although they could not be married immediately in the public eye due to the feud between their parents, they acted on their own during those last few fateful scenes. No one told Romeo to kill himself with poison and no one forced Juliet to drive that dagger into her chest. Romeo was an erratic person in general, but seeing the girl he was married to dead in a tomb, laying next to a man he had killed with his own sword, pushed him over the edge. That is in no way anyone else's fault but his own, they couldn't have controlled his emotions or actions even if they had been there to try. 

Beyond Romeo's impulsive actions, Juliet acted foolishly when she decided to kill herself after waking up to see Romeo dead. She was already irrational when she took the sleeping potion but it appears those 42 hours of sleep did nothing to calm her or help her think straight. This quote from Juliet right after she woke up shows how unsound her mind was at the time, "O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop / to help me after" (V. iii. 163-164)? Almost the moment she saw Romeo dead she thought about ending her own life, she barely mourned his loss before looking for a way to kill herself; and then when she heard someone coming she immediately stabbed herself without a second thought. 

She really didn't need to do this, she was just 14 and Romeo was only her first love, there was so much life in front of her that it was unnecessary to end it at that moment. In fact, Friar Lawrence even gave Juliet an out, the opportunity to continue her life somewhere else, although she would probably have to be a nun. It's true that was not an ideal situation but it would certainly be better than killing yourself at such a young age. 

You can see that both Romeo and Juliet killed themselves by their own free will in this video of the scene:

Beyond the fact that they each chose to commit suicide, it was their own faults that they were in that situation to begin with. Every choice they made, be it together or individually, pushed them closer to this act of double suicide. Romeo crashing the Capulet party with his friends, them secretly getting married, them plotting to be together on their wedding night, Romeo killing Tybalt, Juliet taking the sleeping potion, Romeo purchasing the poison, all of these events were choices made by the lovers and none of them were very smart. 

It's not like there weren't instances where people warned them that the path they were on was not a good one, either. Friar Lawrence, Nurse and Balthasar all tried to drive them onto a better path, but there was no stopping their quest for love. Friar warned Romeo before he married him to Juliet, saying "These violent delights have violent ends / And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, / Which, as they kiss, consume" (II. vi. 9-11). His meaning here was that their love was too quick and sudden so that it would also have a sudden end in which they would both be finished. He was, of course, right in the end.

Friar Lawrence Marrying Romeo and Juliet

 Nurse also tried to warn Juliet of a similar thing during one of their conversations, "I am the drudge, and toil in your delight: / But you shall bear the burden soon at night" (II. v. 74-75). This, especially with context, can be looked at as nurse just jokingly calling their marriage a burden because that is how many look at marriage but I believe that she honestly thinks that this action will be a burden to Juliet and she is subtly warning her of how she feels. 

The third and last person who knew about Romeo and Juliet was Balthasar, Romeo's manservant. He did not warn Romeo about the marriage but he did try to stop his irrational behavior after Romeo found out that Juliet was "dead." He tried to make Romeo aware of the crazy way he was acting in hopes that he would take a step back and rethink his plan. Unfortunately, Romeo was desperate and simply threatened to kill him if he got in his way while he went through with his plan to commit suicide. 

In the end no number of warnings, be it by a Friar or one of the people closest to them, could stop the couple from destroying themselves. It was clear that their plan for love was an irrational one, they heard it over and over from the Friar, every time they went to him for advice. Yet they never took a moment to contemplate their next move, it was always on impulse that they acted.  After every action they were a step farther away from the lives they used to leave and one step closer to their own deaths. It's true nothing went right in their story but it was always because of their own decisions or something that wasn't under anyone's control, like Friar John being quarantined.

Over all, as much as people felt responsible for Romeo and Juliet's deaths and no matter how many times they blamed each other for it the only people who had any direct influence in the two suicides were Romeo and Juliet. They slowly dug their own graves throughout the time that they knew each other, to the point that only the tinniest thing could push them over the edge. For Romeo that was hearing that the woman he had given up so much for was gone. For Juliet it was seeing the man she had faked dead for lying there, lifeless.
The events of this story never helped Romeo and Juliet be together and their deaths was just the icing on the cake for the reader. It's hard to think about the story ending any other way, mainly because it is outlined in the Prologue, but also because they never did anything that gave you a sense that they would survive. Romeo and Juliet were dead the moment they met, and everything after that just gave them more of a reason to kill themselves.


Works Cited:

Domblewski, Carol. "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.

Romeo and Juliet Act IV

Paris and Juliet's Meeting at Friar Lawrence's Cell

Romeo and Juliet  is full of scenario's where the audience knows something the character does not, this literary device is called Dramatic Irony. When Capulet tries to marry off Juliet to Paris, when Romeo decides to kill himself because Juliet is dead, when Romeo is sulking after the party and his friends think he is still hung up over Rosaline, all of these are examples of Dramatic Irony and there are even more examples which can be found here. Sometimes only one character does not know the truth about what is going on, while other times all but a few are oblivious to plans being made behind their backs, but no matter how many characters know the audience is completely aware of the truth at any given moment during the play.

Act four has many good examples of Dramatic Irony. In this Act Paris and Juliet talk, Juliet's family gets ready for the wedding, Juliet takes the sleeping potion, and her family mourns their loss, each part of that includes some degree of Dramatic Irony. One of my favorite examples is how Paris not only thinks Juliet is mourning the loss of Tybalt but also has no idea that Juliet is married to the exiled Romeo. This is and example of Dramatic Irony where mainly Paris is the one who is out of the loop because the only other people involved in the scene are Friar Lawrence and Juliet who are both aware of the secrets.
This quote from Paris shows all of the things that he does not know about Juliet's current condition: "Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death, / And therefore have I little talked of love; / For Venus smiles not in a house of tears" (IV. i. 6-8.) The first piece of irony here is that Juliet is weeping for Tybalt's death, which we know is not the whole story, mainly she is sad because Romeo has been exiled the day after their marriage. The second, more subtle piece of this Dramatic Irony is that he talks about Venus not being present in a house of mourning which is true, but it is more that Romeo and Juliet's love is not being blessed by Venus than Paris and Juliet's.
The exchange between Juliet and Paris happens shortly after Paris is saying this to Friar Lawrence and their conversation includes more Dramatic Irony mainly based around the fact that Paris knows nothing about a relationship between Juliet and Romeo. Because he is unaware of this Paris ends up making a big fool out of himself by allowing Juliet to continue mocking him and his oblivious attitude towards their current situation. This conversation moves the plot forward because you are able to see that Juliet has no interest in marrying Paris and right after that she receives the sleeping potion from Friar Lawrence.

It's not only Paris who makes himself look silly in this act though, most of the Capulet family ends up joining him when they find Juliet "dead" in her bed the next morning. Some people may not feel that their mourning makes them look silly in the same respect that Paris did when Juliet was subtly insulting him but I feel that because of the Dramatic Irony they both end up looking foolish. The Nurse and Lady Capulet do their fair share of shouting, as all martyrs should when they see the young dead, and Capulet suddenly is extremely fond of his daughter though just the day before he was screaming at and insulting her. These acts are just as foolish because of their melodrama mixed with hypocrisy.

To see how they acted watch this video:

The biggest part of this scene that is Dramatic Irony would be how they all describe Juliet as she lays "dead" and how they talk about a funeral because the audience knows she is not truly dead at all, as does Friar Lawrence who is counseling the Capulets during the scene. One good example of the degree of Dramatic Irony is this quote from Capulet, "Her blood is settled, and her joints are stiff; / Life and these lips have long been separated. / Death lies on her like and untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower of all the field" (IV. v. 26-30.) To anyone who did not know the back story behind the quote it would seem like a stricken father talking sweetly of his dead daughter, but the audience who has been following the story knows that Juliet is nowhere near dead at the time of this quote. The fact that Capulet is talking about Juliet as being dead, even though she does appear to be, is the Dramatic Irony of this quote. One of the best examples of what this type of Irony is would be when he talks about life being gone from her lips because the audience knows that she is still alive but Capulet hasn't the faintest idea. It really adds suspense to the play because Friar Lawrence has to continue the charade and assist the Capulet families in mourning the death of their daughter who isn't truly dead.

Dramatic Irony is a key component in Act IV of Romeo and Juliet. The play is full of secrets and plots only a few of the characters know about. From Romeo and Juliet's marriage to Juliet's faked death nothing is as it seems and someone is always out of the loop. Dramatic Irony often aids in creating suspense or moving the plot forward which makes it helpful overall. Not only is it prominent in Act IV but this literary device can be found throughout the entire play assisting in audience understanding and enjoyment.

Works Cited:

Domblewski, Carol. "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.

Romeo and Juliet Act III

Final Warning for All Involved with the Montague and Capulet Feud

Written By: Prince Escalus

This ridiculous fighting between the Capulet and Montague families has gone on for far too long. Many have been injured, some even killed, and it has torn Verona in half. I am writing today, as your leader, to give the last word in this ordeal.

A fight broke out yesterday between Tybalt of the Capulet's, Romeo of the Montague's and Mercutio, Romeo's good friend. After the fact both Tybalt and Mercutio were found dead while Romeo was nowhere to be found. The soft spoken Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, attests that first Tybalt slew Mercutio and then Romeo stabbed Tybalt for revenge, leaving the bloody scene surely to hide from whatever punishment I came up with for him.

This battle between the fiery Tybalt and illusive Romeo has been long brewing but now that the day has come and passed many from both families are left stricken. Tybalt and Lady Capulet were very close, while Mercutio was adored by many on both sides and neither loss will be easily forgotten. Of course neither death would have come about if the two families were not so hateful of each other.

And with that I have a serious decree: The feud MUST stop. At my leaving the scene of Tybalt's death I told Montague and Capulet to "Bear hence this body and attend our will" (III.i.192.) I have now made my decision: There will no longer be any leniency; if any Capulet is found fighting a Montague, or any Montague is found fighting a Capulet they shall both be sentenced to a quick and simple death. All parties shall be punished, there will be no trial or investigation as to the spark of the fight and the final word will come from yours truly as to any extra punishment to those involved to a lesser extent.

This decision has not been made irrationally, much thought has gone into the formal punishment anyone caught fighting will receive. It is only due to the recent turn of events that I must quickly put this plan into action. The abomination that is is duo of deaths has opened my eyes to the severity of the hatred between these families.

I assure you, good citizens, this is the best form of action if we ever want to see this feud ended. Many lives have been lost, property damaged, blood spilled, for the sake of this grudge match. There is no longer good reason for this violence nor is there justification for Mercutio's death, he was simply trying to be a friend to Romeo.

 Nothing need be done to avenge my kinsman's death, but take heed, citizens of Verona, for this battle ought be the last that happens inside these walls. We are reaching a new era, one of peace and fidelity, one where people are happy and feuds do not come out of nothing. Please, let this be the way of our city, disregard everything that has happened in the past and turn over a new leaf. Forgive those that have hurt you and ask them for forgiveness against your sins, but please understand the urgency with which I push this upon you all. Watch the video posted below of the fight between Romeo and Tybalt and think about if you really want your children to see these things happening in the streets.

Yesterday two are dead, but tomorrow it could be more; it is wrong to teach our children to hate, but if they watch us hate they will follow in our footsteps. Cast away any and all grudges you have against your fellow Veronans, join me with a new attitude, one that forgives and forgets, one that only takes insults at face value, and one that just wants everyone to be happy.

Works Cited:

Domblewski, Carol. "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.

Romeo and Juliet Act II

Romeo and Juliet in the Orchard

Figurative language has been a key component of literature since long before the days of Shakespeare, so it is no surprise that his plays are riddled with it. Examples of imagery, personification, simile, metaphor, symbolism and more are certainly plentiful in Romeo and Juliet. Some of the most iconic words of the play are, in fact, a metaphor, "But soft! What light through yonder widow breaks? / It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!" (II.ii.2-3) This quote from Romeo compares both a window to "the East" and Juliet to the sun, meaning that Juliet walking out onto her balcony is the same as the sun rising up into the sky in the morning.
Romeo seems to be saying that Juliet is the only ray of morning light that ends the long darkness of night. Figurative language such as this helps the readers to visualize what is physically happening if they are not watching the play be performed. When Romeo says that Juliet is "like the sun" the reader can imagine that she is glowing, or is radiant in Romeo's mind. This aids reader enjoyment because they are able to connect a visual to the information they are taking in on paper in a way that makes the story feel more real.

The Two Lovers Worried About Being Found

Another prominent form of figurative language in the play is personification, which is used most often when the characters are talking about love. Romeo uses two forms of personification with this reply to one of Juliet's questions in the balcony scene, "With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; / For stony limits cannot hold love out, / And what love can do, that dares love attempt"                                                                                                     (II.ii.66-68.)
In the first line of this quote Romeo describes Love as if it was an object that could have human features. This is the most common form of personification, when an idea or inanimate thing is described doing something human. For example you could come across something such as "the wind slapped me in the face" meaning the wind blew strongly on them, not that it physically reached out and slapped them with an arm because it has no arms. This is the most common and most widely known form of personification.
But the other use is also there within the quote, this second use is when an author talks about an idea, or something intangible, as if it is an object or person. In the case of the quote above, the last three references to Love use this other form of personification. Romeo talks about walls being unable to keep love out as if it was a person that was trying to get through the walls. But as a reader you know that the Love itself is not the one doing the acting, but Romeo is and he is, therefore,  indirectly talking about himself whenever he talks about Love.

Personification is a good way to add understanding to the play because it helps to show what emotions make characters do different tasks and how objects or ideas affect the characters in the play. In most cases it helps to add detail in a more interesting manner than if the author just came right out and told you the detail. A good example of this is in some simple personification from Friar Lawrence, "The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night" (II.iii.1,). Now this essentially means that the night was a gloomy one and the new morning, which is just beginning, is calm and happy. Sure this isn't an easy way to say that but it is much more poetic and interesting than if Shakespeare had decided to say: "This morning is calmer and nicer than the gloomy night we just had." Wouldn't you much rather read the first line than the second? This is when personification comes in handy; sure the morning doesn't have eyes, and they certainly aren't gray, but this way of describing it is more enjoyable and it still makes sense.

There are many different kinds of figurative language, I have only talked about a couple. They do all sorts of things from comparing objects that would never be alike to providing a visual so well described it appears before your eyes, and they're everywhere within literature. The types I talked about also aren't the only ones in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Take some time to watch the video below and see how many forms of figurative language you can find within the excerpt of the balcony scene. There are definitely a few more in there, so take some time and see what other ones you recognize. Feel free to refer to the website from the first paragraph, it has a list of some different kinds of figurative language with definitions. 

Works Cited:

Domblewski, Carol. "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1

In Act 1, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet  Romeo informs his cousin, Benvolio, of his immense love for a girl, we later learn is named Rosaline, who does not, and cannot love him back. Of course Romeo seems so depressed that you can't help but pity him; poor, unloved, teenage boy, everyone can relate. But is his love for this woman sincere? One can't help but wonder if Romeo is simply lusting for Rosaline now that she has dedicated herself to being chaste and become, undeniably, "off the market." 

When Romeo First Sees Juliet

In my opinion Romeo was never truly in love with Rosaline, he simply adored her beauty and was able to convince himself it was some alternative form of love. This is most evident in the way he throws away his melancholy attitude the moment he sees Juliet, in Scene 5 of the first Act (Romeo and Juliet). But you can see slighter forms of it within his conversations with his friends, especially when he first mentions her to Benvolio. Romeo makes it obvious right away that he is mesmerized by her beauty, "O, she is rich in beauty; only poor / That, when she dies, with beauty dies her store" (I.i.206-207.) This is, of course, not unusual. The first thing that usually draws a couple together is attraction, but in Romeo's case it appears that the allure is the only thing he is declaring love for. 

His obsession with her beauty is made obvious when, as they continue to talk about Rosaline, all Romeo can speak of is how she is wasting her beauty by swearing to be chaste. "Benvolio. Then she hath sworn that she will still live chaste? / Romeo. She hath, and in that sparing make huge waste; / For beauty, starved with her severity, / Cuts beauty off from all posterity" (I.i.208-211.)  It's as if he only knows of her beauty and nothing of her mind, it's hard to tell if he has even spoken to her face to face. Even most arranged marriages include a stint in courting, whether or not they get a say in the union, couples are given time to familiarize themselves with the other before declaring love. If all Romeo likes about Rosaline is her beauty it is most definitely not love that he is feeling. For more on what "love" is you can follow this link to an article about the subject.

Works Cited: 
Domblewski, Carol. "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.

Death, or Rather, Shakespeare's Love of It

As with any form of literature, plays are written for a purpose. The author often chooses this form of writing specifically for the way it conveys that purpose to the audience. People call this purpose "intent," and it usually includes teaching a lesson or portraying a certain view on a subject. In some cases the playwright's only intent may be to sell tickets, their goal: to create a play people would pay to see; it may be a comedy, or possibly a tragedy, but the objective for writing that specific play is simply to create the most revenue. With this in mind we turn to the topic of Shakespeare.

Portrait of Shakespeare 1622

William Shakespeare wrote plays at a time when playhouses were considered unholy by some and the public came in the greatest numbers to watch tragedies. It is also key to know that the masses were illiterate at this time, so what they saw they understood only in the simplest form. Knowing that people enjoyed watching tragedies aids in the understanding of why so many of Shakespeare's plays included at least one death, but at times it seems he just can't get enough mourning. Even some of his comedies included mourning such as Measure for Measure and Twelfth Night, in both someone dies before the play begins. As should be expected, Shakespearean tragedies include numerous deaths using numerous methods; while doing research I found a website which lists many of the deaths categorized by type which you can follow here. Some of the deaths listed include main characters such as Romeo and Juliet, Desmonda, Julius Cesar, and Hamlet, but not all of the people Shakespeare killed were main characters, or even directly related to the plot.

The biggest question that has arisen from researching the deaths in Shakespearean plays is: What makes him want to write about death? My best theory is that his son's passing at an early age triggered its start. Shakespeare was only 18 when he married Anne Hathaway, not the modern actress, and "Together they raised two daughters: Susanna, ... and Judith (whose twin brother died in boyhood)" (William Shakespeare.) Not only was he young when Anne had the children, but he was only in his early 20's when the boy passed. By that time he had begun acting and writing, mainly poetry in to begin with, so it isn't unlikely that some of his grief found its way into his literature.

Whether Shakespeare looked at death as a way to sell tickets or to publicly mourn his son's passing, it is undeniable that death aided in the popularity of his plays. Without it we would never have learned the lesson that love conquers all with Romeo and Juliet, or experience the tale of Cleopatra and Antony. And I for one am glad that Shakespeare was willing to write about a subject many shy away from, not only in literature but in life as well.

Works Cited

"William Shakespeare." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.

Bibliography

"English Online." Theatre in the Age of Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.

Mabillard, Amanda. "Violence in Shakespeare: Suicide, Murder, and Combat in Shakespeare's Plays." Violence in Shakespeare: Suicide, Murder, and Combat in Shakespeare's Plays. Shakespeare Online, 19 Aug. 2008. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.

If the topic of Shakespeare interests you and you'd like to learn more this video would be a good place to start, also you can continue to check into this blog as I will be continuously posting about Romeo and Juliet as we read.