contains teacher-marked essays on:
Romeo, Juliet, Fate, the Friar, love, conflict, religion, gender, death, Mercutio, and the nurse
these are a mixture of past paper questions used in mock exams as well as predicted questions for upcoming GCSE exams
Romeo:
Romeo Montague is one of the two main characters in Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ which is set in
times of favored patriarchal beliefs. The teenager is presented as a passionate but impulsive lover who has
a tendency to follow his heart more often than his head. Shakespeare writes Romeo as being guided by his
emotions (of which he experiences in extremes) to contrast him to the societal expectations of an ideal
man of that time.
Shakespeare also presents Romeo as being obsessive (as well as confused) in his ideas of love. The
metaphor “Juliet is the sun” shows how Romeo feels as though his love for Juliet is strong enough to banish
any feelings of affection he had ever had for Rosaline (which has previously been referenced to as being the
darkness/night) despite the fact that they have only just met. Comparing Juliet to ‘the sun’ shows how
obsessive of a character he is by suggesting that she is the centre of his universe. This raises uncertainty
within the audience as to how socially acceptable it is to feel thus strongly and openly for a woman as a
man of his age and standing in a patriarchal society compared to other of his time in addition to questions
as to how far Romeo is actually in love. This is then questioned again when Romeo continues the metaphor,
exclaiming “arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon”. Romeo’s use of sexualized language here shows his
attitude to love in the sense that he has confused love and lust as In literature the moon is typically
symbolic of virginity. Moreover, the use of the binary opposites of “sun” and “moon” coupled with the
imperative verb “kill” creates and image of misplaced violence in what would otherwise be a sweet
moment of a confession of love – again heightening the idea of Romeo being obsessive when it comes to
love.
Another way in which Shakespeare uses his characters of Romeo is to present typical gender stereotypes
using by Mercutio’s death to demonstrate that Romeo’s character is impulsive and violent, as he kills
Tybalt in a rage-fueled act of revenge. Metaphor ”Away to heaven, respective lenity, And fire-eye’d fury be
my conduct now!” shows how his emotions cause him to act on impulse and without control while the use
of the exclamation mark further emphasises his rage (which prompts him to react without a thought as to
how his actions could harm him or his new wife Juliet -whom he was trying desperately to protect not so
long ago in the play) ultimately leads to his downfall and the spiral of negative events that occur after this
point in the play. Adjective “fire-eye’d” carries connotations of hell and the devil thus suggesting that due
to the great strength of his anger Romeo has been possessed by his emotions and so is not acting of his
own accord (to a heavily religious Elizabethan audience this would have heightened the tragedy of Romeo’s
situation). The metaphor also shows Romeo’s immaturity as mere minutes prior to this Romeo had been
attempting to both keep/restore the peace and in doing so not harbor and anger towards Tybalt, guided by
his overwhelming love for Juliet – this passive approach to the violence is a direct contrast to his current
state of ”fury”. This act of extreme aggression coincides with the idea of the time that men were expected
to be able to fight and resolve conflict through violence rather than words. Despite this, it can be argued
that, in letting himself be guide by his emotions, Romeo simultaneously breaks this stereotype, holding
what society would have expected to been a more feminine quality (as women were often regarded as
overly emotional in comparison to men).
Shakespeare uses the theme of time (and lack thereof) to demonstrate that Romeo’s character is fickle,
as he swiftly changes the object of his affections from one girl to another (much to the confusion of his
associate, the friar). The use of the triple “we met, we woo’d, and made exchange of vow” shows just how
fast Romeo’s new relationship with Juliet is progressing as the list is short, being reflective of the time-
frame in which the pair have been aquatinted with each other. Moreover, the lack of pauses and/or
explanation from Romeo over his sudden change of heart is symbolic of how he has not stopped to
consider his actions or emotions towards Juliet as the list is a continuous stream of rapidly occurring events.
The dramatic contrast created between the verb “met” and statement “made exchange of vow” is
reflective of how quickly Romeo’s emotions can change as “met” connotes a relatively emotionless first
impression while an “exchange of vow” is a love-fueled promise. In doing this, Romeo is breaking the
societal expectation of courtly love which again shows both how fast the relationship is moving as well as
the immense speed at which Romeo can change his entire outlook over a situation (especially when
considering his actions towards Rosaline)
, Juliet:
Juliet plays a pivotal part in the play, serving as the tragic heroine who’s had to mature to great lengths at the tender age of
thirteen years. Her vast transition from a naive adolescent girl to an independent, confident young woman is a central
theme in the play. In the play Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the character Juliet goes through many changes and
tragedies within the short time-frame of the piece. Shakespeare conveys Juliet, in the beginning, as a young hearted, naïve
girl who would never consider disobeying her family – in other words, the ideal depiction of a woman of her time. However,
as the play continues Juliet evolves into a mature, compassionate woman, Juliet’s character undergoes significant changes
during the course of the play and she begins to look at life through a different perspective.
As Juliet progresses through her character arc, Shakespeare ravels more depth in her character, portraying her an an
intelligent woman capable of logical reasoning which in turn justify her rebellious acts . A prime example of this would be
her reaction to the news that Romeo had slain Tybalt. she is distressed and conflicted in her opinion of Romeo as is seen by
her repeated use of oxymorons such as ‘beautiful tyrant’. The adjective ‘beautiful’ describes his pleasing physical
appearance that initially enraptured her but this is juxtaposed by the noun ‘tyrant’, describing his ruthless, unfeeling
personality in regard to his actions towards her cousin. This stark contrast between his beauty and disdainful personality
shows how she questions whether she truly knows Romeo- this is not the first time she has questioned the progression of
their relationship. Soon enough however, she reasons that ‘that villain would have kill’d my husband’. The demonstrative
pronoun ‘that’ paired with the horrific noun ‘villain’ shows Juliet’s forceful separation from Tybalt and makes his seem as
evil as the audience would perceive him to be. Juliet being able to break the delusion of him being family to recognise his
truly undesirable qualities makes the audience view her as a highly loyal wife but an incredibly disloyal daughter, she has
broken the great chain of being by purposefully ignoring her father’s hatred of the Montagues and choosing one of them
over her own family – her love for her husband has surpassed her duty to her father.
Juliet is also portrayed as highly naïve in her ideas of love throughout the play, although, given that she is a young woman
of high class in a patriarchal society, this is to be expected as often marriage was about duty not emotion. The lovers'
second meeting (the famous balcony scene) begins with Juliet sighing out her new found emotions (which she perceives as
love), blissfully unaware that Romeo is listening. Throughout the duration of her short monologue Juliet continually repeats
the abstract noun “name” showing how, despite the fact that she claims to be in love with him, Romeo’s name is essentially
the extent of Juliet’s knowledge of him. It could equally be interpreted as Juliet being conflicted over her love for Romeo
and her loyalty to her family – this would appal an Elizabethan audience as, when evaluating the strength of the conflict
between the Capulets and Montagues, honour would be considered to be of greater importance than love (especially when
said love is being drawn into question in regards to whether or not it is possible for someone so young to fall in love so fast).
Moreover, the fact that Romeo can see and hear Juliet but she is not provided the same courtesy again shows Juliet's
naivety towards love and relationship - this is both because in doing so Juliet has broken the societal expectation of courtly
love by revealing her true feelings so earlier in their courtship (e.g. “sworn by my love” – she conveys the strength of her
emotions by making them the foundation of a heavy promise) as well as the fact that this means she is kept ignorant to
Romeo’s thoughts and feelings (symbolic of her lack of knowledge towards love in general). This also reflective of how, in a
patriarchal society, Juliet has no real power over the development of her relationship and the fact that she is kept on the
balcony while Romeo is free to run around in order to locate her is symbolic of how she is unable to go seek love for herself
(thus explaining why she is so inexperienced with it).
Shakespeare also explores the idea that Juliet’s inner conflict that arguably stems from the physical conflict in Verona
arises in such strengths due to her impulsive personality which mirrors that of Romeo (this could either be to suggest
that the two are soulmates of some form or that Juliet, due to her sheltered upbringing as a result of her gender and
young age, is greatly influenced by Romeo’s own behavior and thus adopts his characteristics in order to best attract
him). After learning of his name and relation to her “enemy”, Juliet’s attitude towards her attraction to Romeo is used to
display her inner difference of opinion as she passionately exclaims “O be some other name! what’s in a name?”. The use
of the imperative “be some other name!” shows Juliet's frustration towards how the conflict between the families has
prevented her from experiencing joy over her new-found love. The exclamation point conveys the severe strength of Juliet’s
mental battle of emotions, showing how she is unable to control her inner vexation and so looses her temper (and
decorum) as a result. This would communicate to an Elizabethan audience the extreme magnitude of her inner conflict as a
woman in this time of patriarchal superiority would have been expected to be quiet and not display such violent emotions,
in doing so Juliet is highlighting the extent of her grave annoyance. This, however, is immediately juxtaposed by the
following rhetorical question “what’s in a name?” which carries a defeated tone and completely contradicts here previous
command by insinuating that his last name is of no importance – thus presenting her conflicted feelings towards her loyalty
to her family and her love for Romeo as , despite her original struggle, she concludes that her family is of lesser importance
to her than a boy she met mere hours prior. Shakespeare arguably does this to either highlight how the current way in
which young women are raised doesn’t enable them to fully comprehend what it means to be an individual (they are torn
between meeting the needs to other parties in their life) or equally as to present the idea that true love is worth ignoring
social expectations and duty, thus presenting how he feels that love should be the determining factor of ones fate.
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