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Irony In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Since Romeo and Juliet made its way on the syllabus of tenth grade literature, milking Shakespeare’s language became inevitable. Controversially, modern translations of the play masked its originally humorous elements with diction that allows for only a mild, adolescent analysis of Romeo’s suicide. However, by defining and adhering to Shakespeare’s archaic diction, one can argue that Romeo’s preceding soliloquy was less of a tragic lament for Juliet and more so a comedic reluctance to Death’s pursuit. The tone of the passage, before Romeo drinks the poison, is desolate; only himself, his dead lover, and Death hear his last words. For this reason, the obvious interpretation is that his death is an absolute tragedy; yet, instead of ending with …show more content…

A contemporary understanding of this passage would assert that Romeo killed himself because of his reckless emotions -- his fatal flaw. Ironically, Romeo is absolutely aware of this weakness and disguises his insecurity by delivering this speech and declaring his suicide as noble acts of love. There’s a connection between his impetuous demeanor and reference to “a lightning before death,” because lightning, like his actions, is quick to destroy, or he is referring to the cliche of seeing the light before death (99). Of course, both are acceptable assertions, but Shakespeare is presumably referring to its archaic definition of its Middle English origin lighten: to enlighten spiritually. That being said, when Romeo asks the rhetorical question “Oh, how may I call this a lightning,” the reader can speculate that Romeo’s biggest fear is Death illuminating his flaws -- an exploitative instead of redemptive light. Nonetheless, he chooses to die anyway and the “yoke of inauspicious stars” explains why (120). Somewhat similar to the use of “lightning”, the word “yoke” entails two meanings: something burdensome or something that represents a bond between two parties (120). Here, the reader can further insinuate that Romeo knows his love for Juliet is a burden, yet the reason he can’t

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