The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

Does love really conquer all or is it destiny who determines the lover’s fate? Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare, Play, is a story about two “star-crossed lovers” (Shakespeare Prologue.6) whose love is fatal because of their opposing families and misfortunate events lead the couple to their death. In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare uses the motif of destiny to suggest that destiny is inevitable because everyone has their own fate for a reason which cannot be altered no matter the great lengths taken.

When Juliet finds out that Tybalt has been killed and Romeo is in exile, for killing Tybalt, Juliet feels both passionate about Romeo and disappointed in both Romeo and herself, which reveal her inner struggle. In Act 3, Juliet’s Nurse comes back with this news that Tybalt is dead and that Romeo is such an awful person for killing him. Juliet fights back at the Nurse, and herself, for speaking bad about Romeo. She claims, ““Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband? Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name, When I, thy three hours' wife, have mangled it? But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? That villain cousin would have killed my husband.” (3.2.99-101). This shows that Juliet is passionate about Romeo, because first of all, she says that she was wrong to say bad things about her husband.

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 is a story that involves many untimely deaths. Out of all the deaths Romeo and Juliet were the most important deaths out of the whole play. But who is left to blame for their deaths? Tybalt, Paris, and Mercutio; there is someone to blame for each of those deaths. Yet nobody is one hundred percent sure who is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s suicide. Well, the answer to who led them might surprise you, as the people who were closest to them led them to their suicide. Two families who have a raging feud. A feud so strong they pushed their children to the brink of death.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet ends in tragedy, because of some of Romeo and Juliet’s faults. Romeo and Juliet obviously rush into things. They do not listen to the advice of Friar Lawrence and end up paying the ultimate price. They also ignore the obvious factors that prohibit Romeo and Juliet from ever being happy together. Romeo and Juliet are also very immature and are groomed for social disaster. Romeo and Juliet are also not in love, but in lust. The combination of impatience, immaturity, and ignoring other’s advice leads to the tragedy of these two “star-crossed lovers.”

True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice. This is the dominant theme in Shakespeare 's The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, a play is about two rival noble families from Verona, the Capulets and Montagues. Indeed, the two families have such an ongoing hatred for each other that they are constantly feuding violently without end. Having had enough, Prince Escalus, the Prince of Verona, one day decrees the penalty of death to be upon the person who disrupts the peace again. It is against this vicious backdrop that Shakespeare by contrast, accentuates love in Romeo and Juliet. Three different types of love are depicted: the infatuation of Romeo, the son and heir of Montague, with a woman named Rosaline; the arranged love between Juliet, the daughter of Capulet, and Paris, a kinsman of Prince Escalus, whom Juliet’s parents have chosen to be her suitor; and ultimately, the true love between Romeo and Juliet, whose families are each other’s worst and greatest enemies.

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.

As Atticus once said, “It seems to me that love could be labeled poison, and we’d drink it anyway”. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, they love each other so much that they are willing to go great distances for each other, even if that distance is death. Lord and Lady Capulet are uneducated about the feud and have no proper explanation on why it is occuring, yet have no inch of forgiveness in their bodies to stop it. Juliet’s parents are very distant with her and if they might have showed they care, that could have prevented her death. If they perhaps asked Juliet instead of forcing her to marry Paris, she wouldn’t have been upset for the reason she has already gave her vows to Romeo. Juliet’s parents accuse her of grieving over Tybalt,

If Romeo and Juliet’s families did not hate each other, there would be no suicide, and there would be no reason the two could not be married after meeting and being infatuated. The reason this is so important is because without this factor the play would most likely not be a tragedy, just a romance. If Romeo and Juliet had been married for a while, then true love could have been real between the two. Since the two did not know each other well, and were irrational teenagers, love was not the motivation here, the attraction the two had for each other was the

“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.

Romeo and Juliet written by playwright, William Shakespeare, is widely renowned for being the greatest love story of all. However, after reading, it is hard for anyone to understand how the tragic story of two ‘…star-crossed lovers…’ – Chorus (1.1.6) who take their lives, can be seen as ‘beautiful’ or ‘inspiring’. This also leads to other questions being raised such as, who is most to blame for the untimely death of Romeo and Juliet? Now, many will argue that those who had the most contact with the lovers, in the time leading up to the affliction are to be held responsible i.e. Friar Laurence or their families. Others may just simply believe that they brought it upon themselves. The purpose of this essay is to explore and analyse the role

‘’For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo’’ – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are star crossed lovers and their lives are cut short by death. Are family wishes hazardous, or is it deadly to have flaws? Is the victim at fault here? In the play, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare provides several of actions and influences that caused Juliet’s tragedy. The death of Juliet can be blamed on multiple factors. It is clear that she is partially to blame because of her personality flaw but also external forces such as family expectations played a role in her death.

As a freshman at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, I took the writing class WTNG 102 Section 31, taught by Professor Ramey. All undergraduate students must receive at least a 70 as a final grade in the class prior to being enrolled in Critical Writing, WTNG 200 or 220. Entering college, I was most worried about taking Expository Writing because writing has never been one of my strengths. I have always struggled with writing transitions, and have made endless grammatical mistakes, including comma splices and tense changes. I hoped that Expository Writing would help me with these writing mistakes. Another thing that I hoped that WTNG 102 would do for my writing is that it would… Over the semester, I wrote a total of four papers with three different learning objectives and specific understandings. The first paper, “The Real Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” shows my understanding of rhetorical knowledge. The second paper, “What is a Discourse Community?” shows my understanding of discourse community knowledge. The third paper, “Genre Analysis” shows my understanding of genre knowledge. Through these three papers, I have achieved the learning outcomes in rhetorical knowledge, discourse community knowledge, and genre knowledge.

What if The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, wasn't a tragedy. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare's classic plays and a timeless piece. As popular as it is for it's ending, we can't help but wonder if suicide was the answer to stop the family feud. I believe that this play wouldn't have been a tragedy if it wasn't for two lords, Tybalt, and Friar Luarence.