Themes, Motifs & Symbols in Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – popularly considered by many to be the quintessential love story of all time – is a play that we are all familiar with in one way or another. Whether it be through the plethora of portrayals, adaptations and performances that exist or through your own reading of the play, chances are you have been acquainted with this tale of “tragic love” at some point in your life. Through this universal familiarity an odd occurrence can be noted, one of almost canonical reverence for the themes commonly believed to be central to the plot. The most widely believed theme of Romeo and Juliet is that of the ideal love unable to exist under the harsh social and political strains of this world. Out of this idea emerge two

Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, tells the tale of two young lovers whose lives end in great tragedy. What makes their story so tragic is that despite their love for one another, their families are mortal enemies. Conflict is a central ingredient in Romeo and Juliet's sad fate. Although their love for each other is strong, it cannot overcome the deluge of conflict that surrounds them. Ultimately they are defeated by the conflicts of person vs person, person vs self, and person vs society.

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.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet discusses the many challenges the ‘star crossed lovers’ face. It is their own deceptive actions that ultimately lead them to their untimely end. However Romeo and Juliet are forced to be deceptive due to their fate and misfortune, the ongoing feud in Verona, and the misleading guidance they receive from others; which also contribute to their deaths. Romeo and Juliet focuses on the theme of love and hate, this theme is interweaved throughout the play.

Shakespeare's famous play of the two star crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet arouses many debates in the literary world; among them belongs the question of who Shakespeare portrays as the culprit responsible for the couples death: foolish young love, societal norms and customs or simply fate?The plot of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare unfolds in Verona, where the protagonists, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, each belong to powerful feuding Verona families. Juliet, who is only 14 years of age, has been promised by her father to a man named Paris without her consent, as was common for women at the time. In Verona, expectations and societal norms for men and women diverge. Men are portrayed as sexual, violent, strong characters who fight for honor while women are portrayed as inferior, weaker and represent possessions and conquests of men. Although, Juliet does not conform to these expectations and defies them throughout the play by her actions and behavior until she meets a tragic and untimely death with her lover Romeo. William Shakespeare uses Juliet, an unconventional protagonist compared to the society’s gender roles, and her tragic downfall to criticize the patriarchal society he lived in during the Elizabethan era.

William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet is a traumatic love story between young adults Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet come from different families who have been feuding for years, the Capulets and the Montagues. Abandoning the indifferences between their families they go against it all, fall in love, and marry in secret. Little do they know their love story will result in a tragic ending, death. William Shakespeare writes this play set in Verona, Italy and to him this place is thought of as a timeless fantasy land. Even though Shakespeare sets the play in Verona the characters do not act the way people from there acted and their beliefs and customs were not the same. The way the families act and treat others in based more on

The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about the dilemma of choosing love over loyalty for your family. In the story Romeo and Juliet come from separate families who hate each other, but still find love in each other. They get married without telling their families and eventually the two families get into a fight which ends in Romeo getting banished from the city where Juliet lives. They have a plan for him to get back into to the city to prevent Juliet from being forced to marry another man, but it fails and ends with the suicide death of both Juliet and Romeo. Shakespeare's major theme in the text is that Love plays a major role in our lives and can heavily affect our decisions.

Romeo and Juliet, though termed as tragedy, love is the dominating and most vital theme of this play, the whole play is intertwined on the romantic love between Romeo and Juliet at their first sight, though the love can be considered infatuation love. In this play, the lovers deny the family and the entire world and proceed with their marriage "Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, I” “And I'll no longer be a Capulet" Romeo abandons his close friends, Mercutio and Benvolio and even risks his life and returns to Verona for the sake of his lady love even after being sent in exile. Love becomes a force for every incident narrated in the play. The lovers take impulsive decisions; by this, they go against the norms of this world. Juliet has no words to explain her immense love "But my true love is grown to such excess / I cannot sum up some of half my wealth"

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 ‘timeless classic’ Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the author brilliantly utilizes several literary devices to convey the motif that true love cannot be stopped. He does this by using many opposing ideas such as love vs. pain, day vs. night and

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy that involves young lovers, their “untimely death,” and a feud between their two families. The Capulets and the Montagues war against each other. The feud continues to escalate and provides the background for the story of these “two star-crossed lovers.” This literary masterpiece is still relevant today since it involves parental ambition, family fighting, and young love.

In the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo’s Motif of being on a ship guided by the stars is throughout the play to symbolically accent the moment and push the play forward as he heads for his ultimate death. The first time that Romeo mentions his motif is in Act I scene iv, right before Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio go to the Capulet party. This motif is introduced when Romeo says, “I fear too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date... By some vile forfeit of untimely death.

In Romeo and Juliet, the author applies the motif of star crossed lovers to present the fact that Romeo decides his life ends if he leaves the kingdom, away from Juliet. Romeo uses his feelings to try and stay in the Kingdom of Verona, showing that desire takes over, making his love for Juliet stronger. The motif of star crosses lovers is omnipresent throughout the novel. For instance, the night of the party, where Romeo knew Juliet was his love when he first laid eyes on her. The motif further shows itself in the novel where Romeo refuses to leave Verona due to Juliet: “Tis torture and not mercy.

¨Romantic love is one of the most addictive substances on Earth.¨ (Helen Fisher on The Brain in Love). The play opens with a fight breaking out in the streets between the Capulets and Montagues and then a party at the Capulet house. At the party a heartbroken Romeo sees Juliet and immediately falls in love. In less than one week, Romeo and Juliet fall in love and are wed, then Tybalt dies and Romeo is banished. Soon after Juliet fakes her death and by the end of the play both of the young lovers end their own lives. Shakespeare's famous star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, cannot be held responsible for their choices because they are young, in love, and the feud is the real cause of their deaths.

Imagine you are a teenager and you are in love with a boy you just met. And in three days you fell in love,got married,and died for each other. That's exactly what happened in ,The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare. There were a lot of patterns and contrasts in the language of Romeo and Juliet. The motif of Stars in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is developed by imagery to explain how people's fate lies in the stars.