Close Reading Themes In Romeo And Juliet

From the moment we first hear about Romeo, it is in the context of his suffering at the hands of love. Romeo’s father, Montague, perplexed by his son’s behavior states that, “Many a morning hath he there been seen, / With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, / Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs” (1.1.124-26). While this may be the first time we encounter Romeo’s melancholy humour, it certainly isn’t the last. In fact, one of the primary sources of our infatuation with Romeo rests in our sympathy for him. From the very start this poor boy is plagued by affections for girls that fate, it seems, will not let him be with. At first, it’s Rosaline, a girl who has “sworn that she will still live chaste” (1.1.210), a vow that sets Romeo reeling and complaining because “from love’s weak childish bow she lives unharmed” (1.1.204). His depression over Rosaline is enough to draw the attention of his father, Montague, who has observed that Romeo shuts himself up in his room all day in order to wallow in the darkness. These are the actions of someone who is undeniably quite

One of the most evident and understandable themes in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is love. Shakespeare illustrates love in many different ways. The purpose of this essay will firstly discuss the difference between love and anti-romantic love. Secondly, it will portray an example of romantic and anti-romantic love through the use of certain characters. Thirdly, it will explain what is meant by the term binary opposition, and lastly, it will portray examples of a binary opposition taken from the play.

Love, in 'Romeo and Juliet' has its own importance in the theme of inner struggle between the two protagonists, Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is torn between staying loyal to her family and therefore obeying her parents to marry Paris or staying married to an enemy, Romeo, “My husband lives, that Tybalt has slain; / And Tybalt's dad, that would have slain my husband: / All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?” (3:2). On the other hand, Romeo has his struggles too. He juggles between the idea of banishment from Verona and not being able to see his beloved Juliet again and that of death, “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say 'death'.” (3:3). The secret marriage between Romeo and Juliet is also one of the outcomes due to love. It is because of love that Juliet risked her parents' disapproval to not marry Paris and Romeo risked the danger of being killed by Capulet's kinsmen to go to see her. Yet again, this shows the inner struggle of Romeo and Juliet.

The play Romeo and Juliet has been considered to be the most touching love story of all time, but when you look closer and past all the initial “fantasies”, you see the truth. Romeo and Juliet believed that they were in love because of the mere idea of it, however based on their actions and the short amount of time that the stages of their “love” progressed in, it soon became clear that what they were actually feeling was infatuation.

In life, one of the most baffling motifs that presents itself is the feeling of love. Whether you take it when you have it or be scared and back away is up to you. However, when you decide to take it and embrace it freely, this is when is when people finally decide to open up and be their true self. In the play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, the author portrays a contrasting theme between how life and death relates with how dramatic their love can be.

There are a lot of very tragic scenes such as the duel with Tybalt, Juliet faking her death and the end. In the duel with Tybalt scene, Tybalt is fighting Mercurtio and once they start to fight Mercutio gets stabbed by Tybalt and he dies. “No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ’tis enough, … Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.” In this quote, Mercutio has just gotten stabbed and is dying. He is explaining how deep his wound is. This is an example of hatred and tragedy in Romeo and

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Romeo and Juliet, one of William’s Shakespeare most famous classic works, is a heart-wrenching tale which is composed of passionate love and anger. It is a timeless piece of literature that has lasted to this century. The beautiful story is set in the remote town of Verona. This play recounts a tale of two star-crossed lovers, forbidden to pursue their inescapable love due to the long history of a violent family feud. Passion is strongly represented in Romeo and Juliet’s undying romance. As the story continues, passionate and uncontrolled anger is clearly expressed, fuelled by the noxious hatred of the family’s feud, intensifying as the plot progresses.

In the play `Romeo and Juliet` the writer William Shakespeare uses the theme of love as a main feature to push the story along. Presented are a plethora of variations of love including family love, true love and courtly love. This essay aims to analyse these three types of love chosen.

Love is like fire, beautiful from a distance or even up close, but get too close or feed the flame enough and it will consume everything in its wake. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the two protagonists learn about this all too late. They start as lovers at first sight, but when the passion of love and the fury of hate prove too much for them to bear. Instead of the beautiful sunny life they thought they would acquire, they end up in a dark decrepit crypt, on their deathbed. Through their toils, they help us understand love and hate through light and dark; And how passion from these emotions can influence our decisions.

The word love can mean many things. Love can be an object, emotion, and a life. However, love could lead to a loss of power, prosperity, and status. In the literary work “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, the readers are introduced to a tragic love story. In this play, readers are also shown the different perspectives of love and the many downfalls it could lead to. The central theme of this work is the recklessness of love. The theme is significant because it is shown throughout the whole story and it’s a strong force that takes place of all the other emotions and values. In this play, Shakespeare uses characters to present different aspects of love. In addition, Nurse, Mercutio, and Romeo completely show what actual love is and what it is like to lose it due to their experiences.

Most readers of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ask themselves a common question. Is it a true love story or a tale of desperate, infatuated “lovers”? I have come to the consensus that The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet truly is a love story. I had my disputes and question at first, but after thorough thought, I have come to a conclusion.

Romeo and Juliet is a book where there are alot of possible themes that you can interpret. The main theme i think of is to not rush things. He has a lot of examples in the book that would further support this being the main theme. There are examples of them rushing into things. They also have a part where someone in the book basically say not to rush into things.

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander of love’s complications in an exchange with Hermia (Shakespeare I.i.136). Although the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream certainly deals with the difficulty of romance, it is not considered a true love story like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, as he unfolds the story, intentionally distances the audience from the emotions of the characters so he can caricature the anguish and burdens endured by the lovers. Through his masterful use of figurative language, Shakespeare examines the theme of the capricious and irrational nature of love.

Recognizing patterns can make reading easier by helping me comprehend what it is that I am reading. “Memory. Symbol. Pattern. These are the three items that, more than any other, separate the professional reader from the rest of the crowd.” (Foster xxvii). When I recognize the patterns that the author used when writing, I am able to better understand the structure of the chapter, the plot of the story, the point of view of all the characters and the language used. A time when my appreciation for a literary work was enhanced by my understanding of a symbol or pattern was when I was reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter whenever a character of a higher class spoke. It was easier to understand and keep track of who is who when I understand if what I was reading had a meter or not. It made it easier to decipher whether the prince was talking or a servant was. Also, recognizing the pattern of Romeo and Juliet finishing each other's sentences in iambic pentameter made reading that great play a bit easier for me to understand.