Romeo And Juliet Analyzed English Literature Essay

At the party, Romeo locks eyes with a young woman named Juliet. They instantly fall in love, but they do not realize that their families are mortal enemies. When they realize each other’s identities, they are devastated, but they cannot help the way that they feel. Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s yard after the party and proclaims his love for her. She returns his sentiments and the two decide to marry. The next day, Romeo and Juliet are married by Friar Lawrence; an event witnessed by Juliet’s Nurse and Romeo’s loyal servant, Balthasar. They plan to meet in Juliet’s chambers that night.

Friar Lawrence informs Romeo that he has been banished from Verona and will be killed if he stays. The Friar suggests Romeo spend the night with Juliet, then leave for Mantua in the morning. He tells Romeo that he will attempt to settle the Capulet and Montague dispute so Romeo can later return to a united family. Romeo takes his advice, spending one night with Juliet before fleeing Verona.

Juliet’s mother, completely unaware of her daughter’s secret marriage to Romeo, informs Juliet that she will marry a man named Paris in a few days. Juliet, outraged, refuses to comply. Her parents tell her that she must marry Paris and the Nurse agrees with them. Juliet asks Friar Lawrence for advice, insisting she would rather die than marry Paris. Fr. Lawrence gives Juliet a potion which will make her appear dead and tells her to take it the night before the wedding. He promises to send word to Romeo – intending the two lovers be reunited in the Capulet vault.

Shakespeare immediately builds tension at the start, Juliet in telling Romeo that she loves him and doesn’t want him ago. Then Romeo strangely predicts his future, saying “I must be gone or stay and die” Romeo then continues the theme of death, by then saying “let me be ta’en, let me be put to death” he again repeats the theme of death, “come death, and welcome” when Juliet realises that Romeo is serious about staying, she pushes him to go. “it is, it is, hie hence, be gone, away!”

“More light and light – more dark and dark our woes” Romeo says, Shakespeare builds the tension by indicating, that as the day progresses their troubles will increase. Then suddenly Shakespeare builds up panic, the nurse enters “your lady mother is coming to your chamber. The day is broke; be wary, look about.” this obviously makes Romeo run around like a headless chicken gathering al his clothes, to put them on. Romeo runs out onto the balcony, and descends after catching one last passionate kiss off of Juliet. As Romeo reaches the bottom, Juliet says “O God , I have an ill divining soul! Methinks I see thee, now thou art below, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb; either my eye sight fails, or thou look’st pail” so Juliet intuition tells her something bad is going to happen, she is seeing Romeo as a dead man. And the next time they see each other Romeo is dead. Romeo replies “And trust me, love, in my eye so do you; dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, Adieu! Back then Elizabethans believed that every time someone sighed they lost a drop of blood, so someone could die from sadness.”

Lady Capulet enters, and again Shakespeare builds the tension, this is due to the fact that it is unusual that lady Capulet to call on her daughter, therefore she must have exciting news to tell. “What unaccustom’d cause procures her hither?”

From then on Juliet has a sort of transformation, from a well behaved sort of girl into a parent defying girl, which to the Elizabethans was shocking, every girl should be well behaved and should listen to her parents.

Juliet then starts playing with her words. “indeed I never shall be satisfied with Romeo till i behold him – dead – is my poor so for a kinsman vex’d. Madam, if you could find out but a man to bear a poison, I would temper it, that Romeo should upon receipt thereof soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart adhors to hear him nam’d, and cannot come to him, to wreak the love I bore my cousin Tybalt upon his body that hath slaughter’d him!” At the beginning of the sentence Juliet says, “I never shall be satisfied with Romeo till I behold him dead”, at least that’s what lady Capulet hears. What the crowd hears is “satisfied with Romeo till I behold him – dead – is my heart so for a kinsman vex’d” so Juliet is saying that her heart is dead until she see’s ‘her kinsman’ or her husband. Not her cousin Tybalt again. Then she says to her mother, that if she found a man to bear a poison that she would temper it, in Elizabethan times that meant one of two things, to administer the poison or to dilute it, obviously in this case she wants to dilute the poison so that it is harmless. And upon receipt soon sleep in quiet. She continues playing with words by then saying “O, how my heart ahors to hear him man’d, and cannot come to him.”

Her heart aches to hear Romeo’s name, and yet she cannot go to him.

Lady Capulet obviously believes that Juliet is sad about Tybalt, and tells her the reason for her visit. And that is to marry the county Paris. This is where juliet’s ‘transformation’ becomes clear.

“Now, by Saint Peter’s Church and Peter too, he shall not make me there a joyful bride”. As I have said Juliet’s refusal would have been shocking to an Elizabethan audience. Marriage in the Elizabethan times was more like a business; it was to increase wealth and status rather than love. Lord Capulet enters, and Juliet and the Lord both have a fight.

Lady Capulet says “I would the fool were married to her grave!” Lady Capulet would rather see Juliet dead than act so foolishly to turn down such a good marriage offer.

“How how, how how.” Lord Capulet Starts stuttering because he’s so angry “‘Proud’ – and ‘I thank you’ – and ‘I thank you not’ – and yet ‘not proud’? Mistress Minion, you.” You start to tell how angry Lord Capulet is getting; he starts mimicking Juliet and starts calling her names. He then goes on to threaten her “Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow-face!” Lord Capulet is really aggressive now, even Lady Capulet is surprised at how aggressive he is and try’s to calm him down. “Fie, Fie! What are you mad?”

Shakespeare still building up tension, Juliet says “Good father, I beseech you on my knees” He Then Replies “my fingers itch” he wants to hit her “and that we have a curse in having her.” Lord Capulet again calls her names. Building up the tension.

“God’s bread! It makes me mad: Days, night, hour, tide, time, work, play, alone, in the company, still my car hath been to have her match’d; and having now provided a gentleman noble parentage, of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train’d” Lord Capulet keeps on getting more and more aggressive. Lord Capulet leaves and Juliet speaks “is there no pity sitting in the clouds that sees into the bottom of my grief? O, sweet my mother cast me not away! Delay this marriage for a month, a week; or, if you do not, make the bridal bed in that dim monument where Tybalt lies.” She realises she is on her own because Romeo is banished to Mantua, and her Parents have threatened to disown her!

The nurse then comes in when Juliet asks her what to do “Romeo is banished; and all the world to nothing that he dares ne’er come back to challenge you; or, if he do, it needs to be by stealth. Then, since the case so stands as now it doth, I think it best you married with the County. O, he’s a lovely gentleman.” She should marry the count; Romeo’s as good as dead. Juliet is sickened by the nurse’s hypocrisy. Juliet pretends to agree with her “speak’st thou from thy heart?”

“Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much. G in; and tell my lady I am gone, having displeas’d my father, to Lawrence; cell to make confession, and to be absolved” she is pretending she is going to confess to friar Lawrence, when truly she is going to ask for his advice. When Juliet is alone she says “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend! Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn, or to dispraise my lord with the same tongue which she hath prais’d him with above compare so many thousand times? Go counsellor; thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain. I’ll to the friar to know his remedy; if all else fail, myself have power to die.” Juliet is saying that is all else fails she will kill herself. Shakespeare leaves the scene on a cliff hanger, full of tension.