Sense of Tragedy and Foreboding in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

In William Shakespeare’s play/novel, Romeo and Juliet, the protagonist, Romeo, initially falls in love at first sight with a young lady, Juliet Capulet, who is a descendant from the family that the Montague’s (Romeo’s family) are in a feud with. The star crossed lovers are beginning to learn bits about each other and figure out how to make things work for them in a span of less than three days. Not long before he meets Juliet, Romeo is still upset over his love for Rosaline and the fact that she did not love him back. “Ay me, sad hours seem long.” “What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours?” “Not having that which having makes them short.” “In love?” “Out.” “Of love?” “Out of her favour where I am in love.” (A1,S1, line 154-160) Benvolio discusses Romeo’s sadness with him to figure out why he has been in such a glum mood.

The ideology that everything in the universe has a specific place and rank in order of their hierarchy importance created by God is known as the concept of The Great Chain of Being. The order of this concept consisted levels according to highest rank to the lowest accordingly: God, angels, humanity, animals, vegetation life, leading all the way down to crud. Within each category, more specific classification existed, placing these subcategories in a specific order. This concept was believed to be a way to keep the universe in order. As this was believed during Elizabethan times, William Shakespeare also believed in the Great Chain of Being, as many of his plays are prominently based on this concept. Some of his plays include characters that accept their place on the Chain, but others are not so complacent. By examining three different characters from Shakespeare’s tragedies, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and The Tragedy of King Lear, it is obvious to readers who is content with their place on the Chain and which characters have a difficult time accepting their place. Romeo and Juliet do not obey their parents’ orders, therefore suffer harsh consequences towards the end of the play. Macbeth is another Shakespearean character that violates the Chain, due to the committing of several murders, in order to gain the throne. In stark contrast, Cordelia, is content with her place on the Chain as she does not want anything greater in life, unlike her

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare presents characters in difficult situations in Romeo and Juliet through various language techniques and structure. Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers. Both Romeo and Juliet were from feuding families that would not approve of their marriage. In the play they are presented with many difficult circumstances. The play was set in the Elizabethan era; there was a significant change in religion, family and politics. Attitudes and key scenes highlight the theme of love in difficult circumstances and prepare the audience for Romeo and Juliet’s suicides at the end of the play. In this essay I will be exploring the ways Shakespeare presents characters in difficult situations.

Romeo and Juliet, one of many Shakespeare tragedy plays, reveals that Shakespeare thinks love brings sorrow and grief. The play tells a story about “two star-crossed lovers” named Romeo and Juliet, who live in two different households that hate each other. Many problems arise with Romeo and Juliet loving each other, but being enemies in nature. The story is told by many characters, including Romeo and Juliet. Through this, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony, repetition of epithets, and pathos to show how love brings sorrow and grief.

There are many different types of trees, each one just a little different to the next. Some are ugly, some are tall, some do not contain any leaves at all. The human personality also holds many branches that live, each dissimilar from the next, each with a separate function that it gives. When all of the leaves are viewed from afar, the combined image is spectacular, but when observed from up close, the flaws are gaping, and even gross. The human personality works the same, for at first glance people are flawless, but when examined deeper and more personally, it can be seen how these flaws define who a person really happens to be for the worst. One sickly imperfection can slowly kill a whole tree, just like one hideous trait can ruin a

The human condition is a topic that William Shakespeare used widely. Almost every work of his explores the depths of the human mind like no other. This term refers to the darkest parts of the human psyche; we are full of dark morals and flaws, no matter how enlightened one may seem. One of his most notable plays, Romeo and Juliet, includes star-crossed lovers, murder, grief, and hatred. Every character Shakespeare wrote in had a specific role in shaping and accelerating the story with their flaws and motivations.

In the play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, we learn of the many hardships and highs Romeo and Juliet go through over the course of the story. The play Romeo and Juliet is based off two star-crossed lovers who are separated from each other due to a feud between their two families. Their love is so strong that at the end of the story Romeo and Juliet both end up committing suicide because they can’t live without each other. Whether it is problems with love, or them complimenting each other on how they feel about the other person, Shakespeare uses many literary devices to make the reader dig deeper into the context to find the meaning behind the sentence. Some of the literary devices are; similes, metaphors, and personification.

Is there a way to measure love? If so, are there any symptoms? In the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet written by world-renowned playwright William Shakespeare, two love-stricken protagonists, Romeo and Juliet, are kin to the Montagues and Capulets respectively, which are two powerful households engaged in a feud. Romeo and Juliet become enamored of each other during the early stages of the play even though they are aware of their families’ ongoing dispute. Unbeknownst to their families, Romeo and Juliet are married by Friar Lawrence, Romeo’s trustworthy crony and role model. However, the Capulets have planned for Juliet’s marriage with a noble kinsman, County Paris, which assays Juliet’s dedication toward Romeo. After facing a venereal

William Shakespeare incorporates the misery of his characters to establish the absurdity of the feud between the Capulets and Montagues. By having Juliet Capulet utter the iconic line of, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo.” (II.ii.40), the playwright signifies the woe the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, experience, all due to the strife between their families. Rather than questioning the grudge between their parents, Shakespeare purposefully writes how Juliet inquires their own names, developing a motif of youth vs age, where Juliet blames their titles rather than the conflict between Montagues and Capulets. Even as an adolescent, the playwright describes Juliet as a mature character, oppose to characters with commonplace ways of thinking, such as the adults of the Capulet or Montague family. In addition to the lovers’ disunion, through the sadness of Romeo and Juliet, the audience can inevitably infer the cause that compels these two pitiful characters to diverge and hide their love: their families’ quarrel. Once again, all adversities relate back to the Capulet-Montague feud in order for Shakespeare to develop the theme that involves a conflict with an impractical reason. Moreover, through the multiple events of tragedies that occur throughout the play, the reader gains the capability to depict the melancholy emotions of the protagonists based off the writing of Shakespeare. However, the strife causes Romeo and Juliet to possess thoughts of insufferable agony bringing them closer to the verge of death. Speaking with a mouth of desolation, “Don’t take too long to speak. I long to die if your reply contains no remedy.”(IV.i.67-68). William Shakespeare conveys the misery of Romeo and Juliet by not only generating the despair of his characters through dialogue but by also providing the protagonists with thoughts of taking one’s own life. Depicting the agony of Juliet’s very heart, Shakespeare

When figurative language is used effectively it can be a powerful tool to increase depth and creativity. In William Shakespeare's masterpiece Romeo and Juliet, two young teens from feuding families fall in love despite the many obstacles. Foreshadowing is a literary device that Shakespeare uses a lot of in this play. The foreshadowing in this play reveals the overall meanings of the play, helps develop character and increases interest for the audience.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is the question we hear so many times as children. Yet, growing up does not necessarily mean becoming an adult. Rather, growing up is the change within one’s self that is illustrated by a heightened awareness, the ability to think reasonably, and the proficiency to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. In adolescence, we turn to the adults in our lives to aid us in understanding our choices as we become increasingly responsible for our own actions. During this time in our lives, adults with worldly experience direct us down the path of good judgment in order that we may learn how to make good decisions. They near essential to us, even though not everyone has this advantage. William Shakespeare’s famous and celebrated tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, depicts several instances in which the title characters, though still naïve, behave more responsibly and maturely than the misguided adult figures in their lives–those of the Houses of Capulet and Montague, especially Juliet’s parents, and the culpable Friar Laurence.

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence to unknowingly foreshadow their fate while being starstruck for one another. In act three Romeo becomes very dramatic about being banished from Verona, he says he would rather replace being “banished from the world, and world’s exile is death” (Shakespeare, III.3.20-21). He wants to end his life because being banished from Verona means that he basically is banished from the world. He’s away from Juliet and he thinks he has no purpose in the world. Shakespeare has Romeo be this dramatic because he is definitely in a completely different world with Juliet, to him not seeing Juliet is a big enough punishment that kills Romeo.

The overall tone and mood of “Romeo and Juliet” may seem optimistic as the audience denies that what was heard in the prologue is truthful. However, the actual tone and mood of the play is very pessimistic, as every character indicates death and darkness that will soon be bestowed upon the lovely Romeo and Juliet. Even the Friar expresses a warning as he states, “These violent delights have violent ends,” in Act 2, Scene 6. This sentence represents the entirety of “Romeo and Juliet” because it delineates that the explosive and passionate love that Romeo and Juliet have will inevitably end violently. The Friar’s words serve as a warning for not only Romeo and Juliet, but also the audience whom continue to deny such an ending for their adored characters. The prominent tone of the play being pessimistic and sardonic, violent and crude imagery is created with the many analogies and idioms presented throughout the play. Despite this gloomy tone however, the audience feels a large amount optimism as they root for Romeo and Juliet (who are also the only characters with a sense of

INTRODUCTION Romeo and Juliet utilises both the comic and tragic genre conventions to portray the general ideas of the human behaviour. The behaviours of the human experience are explored by interpreting the conscious awareness of one’s mortality and their attitudes when placed in certain conditions. By looking at the human experiences of fate and conflict through both genres, Shakespeare can present the complexity and universal idea of the human experience. Shakespeare’s idea of fate is the controversial proposal of whether we humans have individualistic volition or that we are simply nonentity beings that have our future destined by the thread of fate. An individualistic choice in this context is acknowledged as ‘free will’ rather than fate

Romeo and Juliet, a classic play by William Shakespeare, is known to many as a tragedy. But what makes this play tragic? Audiences favor this story because of the emotions evoked from a tale of love that sees two young souls torn apart. However, Romeo and Juliet when under my own definition of tragedy, does not resemble a tragic play. While the death of Mercutio and the deaths of Romeo and Juliet seem tragic, the story does not show one failing when trying to reach their full potential, instead the audience sees a forbidden love and death as a result, which does not demonstrate tragedy. Instead, Romeo and Juliet face flaws from within their families and society, forcing them to stay apart due to conflict. While both Romeo and Juliet try to reach the goal of being together and fail, the flaws of others cause the conflict, not the flaws of themselves. My definition surrounds the idea that the flaws of oneself leads to his or her demise, meaning that the play misses a key characteristic of the definition of tragedy. Both characters seem to die a “tragic death,” however, their death can only be considered sad or upsetting, especially to the audience. This play instead consists of somber scenes that show aspects of a tragedy, but not enough to place this play in a tragic category in the classic definition or in my own definition because the flaws of the main characters do not cause the fall of the characters as they try to reach their full potential. If a character who fell as a