Romeo and Juliet Essay
Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare which is set in Verona, Italy in 1395. Since then, there have been many adapted plays and movies like the famous Baz Luhrmann movie in 1996. This essay will show how Shakespeare entertains his audience through his use of character, language and drama. Romeo has to face the fact that he has married a Capulet and Tybalt is hunting Romeo down to fight because Romeo snuck into the party.
The purpose of the humour at the beginning of the scene is to entertain the audience. ‘When he enters the tavern and says, “God send me no need of thee!” and by the operation of the second cup draws him on his drawer when indeed there is no need.’ It can be argued that Mercutio is making fun of Tybalt by saying he is fake manly like getting drunk and going into a fight. Mercutio is there to put some humour into to the scene too so it does not get too gloomy.
Tybalt wants revenge on Romeo because he showed up at the Capulets’ party. Tybalt wanted to throw Romeo out but Lord Capulet stopped him and let him stay. Then Lady Capulet got angry at Lord Capulet for yelling at Tybalt. So he wants to earn his honour back by killing Romeo. ‘Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me; therefore, turn and draw.’ Romeo does not want to fight Tybalt because he is Tybalt’s Kingsman because he married Juliet. Tybalt does not know that so he wants to fight. Romeo becomes enraged when Mercutio dies and wants revenge on Tybalt. They fight and Romeo kills Tybalt. Romeo becomes very sad and when he becomes very sad his anger comes out so he kills Tybalt.
When Benvolio tells Romeo that Mercutio is dead, Romeo says, ” This day’s black fate on more days doth depend. This but begins the woe others must end.” This means that Romeo fears that the evil outcomes of the violence of Mercutio’s death lies in the future. This foreshadows the end of the play when Romeo and Juliet die. When Tybalt wants to fight Romeo who declined, Mercutio fights in Romeos’ place. Romeo tries to stop him by pushing away, Tybalt comes in and stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm. When Mercutio finally realizes he is dying, he says, “Ask for me tomorrow and you should find me a grave man.” The word ‘grave’ creates the pun. It could mean that Romeo will find him to be a serious man tomorrow or that he will find that he is dead and in a grave tomorrow.
The scene ends with the Nurse telling Juliet that Romeo is banished from Verona and that he will never come back. If he does, he will have to sneak back undercover. The Nurse tries to persuade Juliet to go and marry Paris and that he is a lovely gentleman. Or Romeo if he is as good as Paris. Romeo does not live in Verona anymore and Juliet will not get to enjoy him. When the Nurse leaves, Juliet talks about the Nurse behind her back because she does not agree with what she said. Juliet and the Nurse have a good relationship because the Nurse acts as her mother from when she was a baby. The Nurse acts in a motherly way with Juliet.
In Act 3 Scene 5 Juliet tries to convince Romeo that the birdcalls they hear are from the nightingale, a night bird rather than from the lark, a morning bird. Romeo has to leave before morning comes or be put to death. Juliet says the light is from a meteor rather than the sun. This explains that Juliet wants Romeo to stay but Romeo says he needs to be gone before dawn or he is dead. Juliet does not treat her mother as a mother. She was never there for her. It was always the Nurse since she was a baby. She treats the Nurse more like a mother than her actual mother. Dramatic irony is shown when Lady Capulet comes into Juliet’s room finding her crying at the balcony. Lady Capulet thinks Juliet is still crying about Tybalt’s death when in reality she is crying about Romeo leaving. This is dramatic irony because Lady Capulet thinks Juliet is crying about Tybalt instead of something else. The audience know who Juliet is crying about but a character in the play does not.
An example of Romeo’s use of Metaphors is in this quote which compares night and day to happiness and sorrow, ‘Some say the lark makes sweet division; this doth not so, for she divideth us.’ This means that the lark does not make a couple come together but divides them. Juliet symbolises light because she can be out in the day in Verona but Romeo cannot because he can die. Romeo is the dark so the dark foreshadows their death because Romeo goes to see Juliet at the wrong time when she is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ death so he goes to buy poison to suicide right beside her. Juliet wakes up at the same time as when Romeo suicides so she takes the sword off of Romeo and kills herself too. Basically Romeo is the one to blame the death of both of them.
This essay looked at how action, character and language was shown in two scenes in the play Romeo and Juliet to entertain an audience. Now we know that Tybalt wanted to kill Romeo because he made Tybalt look bad in front of everyone and to get his honour back he wanted to kill Romeo. I did not like the play as I am not a fan of plays and the genre of Romance. The message of the play is that if you love someone very much, you do not mind killing yourself when they are dead to be with them for the rest of eternity.