Themes of Romeo & Juliet
Fate
From the beginning, we know that the story ofRomeo and Juliet will end in tragedy. We also know that their tragic ends will not result from their own personal defects but from fate, which has marked them for sorrow. Emphasizing fate's control over their destinies, the Prologue tells us these "star-cross'd lovers'" relationship is deathmark'd."
In Act I, Scene ii, as Lord Capulet's servant is searching for someone who can read the guest list to him, Benvolio and Romeo enter. Completely by chance, Capulet's servant meets Romeo and Benvolio, wondering if they know how to read. This accidental meeting emphasizes the importance of fate in the play. Romeo claims it is his "fortune" to read — indeed, "fortune" or chance has led Capulet's servant to him — and this scene prepares us for the tragic inevitability of the play.
The lovers will be punished not because of flaws within their personalities but because fate is against them. Ironically, the servant invites Romeo to the Capulet's house, as long as he is not a Montague, to "crush a cup of wine." Only fate could manufacture this unlikely meeting with Capulet's illiterate servant, as only fate will allow Romeo to trespass into the Capulet's domain and meet Juliet.
Love
Love is another important thematic element in the play, which presents various types of love: the sensual, physical love advocated by the Nurse; the Proper or contractual love represented by Paris; and the passionate, romantic love of Romeo and Juliet. How do these various types of love relate to one another? Is physical attraction a necessary component of romantic love? Because words are slippery, Juliet worries that Romeo's protestation of love are merely lies. How can we know if love is true?
Value and Doubleness
Another important theme is the idea of value and doubleness. Just as language is ambiguous, so are value judgments. As the Friar reminds us, "virtue itself turns vice being misapplied, /And vice sometime's by action dignified" (II.iii.17-18). Within a flower, for example lies both poison and medicine. Similarly, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are tragic but also bring new life to Verona. The Friar's own role in the play contains this ambiguity. Although he tries to help the lovers, his actions lead to their suffering. Shakespeare's message is that nothing is purely good or evil; everything contains elements of both. Ambiguity rules.
Meaning of Gender
A final theme to be considered is the meaning of gender. In particular, the play offers a variety of versions of masculinity. One example is Mercutio, the showy male bird, who enjoys quarreling, fencing and joking. Mercutio has definite ideas about what masculinity should look like. He criticizes Tybalt for being too interested in his clothes and for speaking with a fake accent. Similarly, he suggests that Romeo's love-melancholy is effeminate, while his more sociable self is properly masculine. Therefore, his happiest when Romeo rejoins his witty, crazy group of male friends: "Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou art, by art as well as by nature" (II.iv.89-90).
Romeo's masculinity is constantly questioned. Following Mercutio's death, for example, Romeo fears that his love of Juliet has effeminized him: "Thy beauty hath made me effeminate/And in my temper soften'd valour's steel" (III.i.116-117) so that his reputation as a man is "stain'd" (III.i.1113). In addition, the Friar accuses Romeo of being an "[u]nseemly woman in a seeming man" and says that his tears are "womanish" (III.iii.109-111).
What is the proper role for a man? The play seems to suggest that violence is not the way. Mediating between Mercutio's violent temper and Romeo's passivity, the Prince is possibly the best model of masculine behavior in the play: impartial and fair, he also opposes civil violence.
From the beginning, we know that the story ofRomeo and Juliet will end in tragedy. We also know that their tragic ends will not result from their own personal defects but from fate, which has marked them for sorrow. Emphasizing fate's control over their destinies, the Prologue tells us these "star-cross'd lovers'" relationship is deathmark'd."
In Act I, Scene ii, as Lord Capulet's servant is searching for someone who can read the guest list to him, Benvolio and Romeo enter. Completely by chance, Capulet's servant meets Romeo and Benvolio, wondering if they know how to read. This accidental meeting emphasizes the importance of fate in the play. Romeo claims it is his "fortune" to read — indeed, "fortune" or chance has led Capulet's servant to him — and this scene prepares us for the tragic inevitability of the play.
The lovers will be punished not because of flaws within their personalities but because fate is against them. Ironically, the servant invites Romeo to the Capulet's house, as long as he is not a Montague, to "crush a cup of wine." Only fate could manufacture this unlikely meeting with Capulet's illiterate servant, as only fate will allow Romeo to trespass into the Capulet's domain and meet Juliet.
Love
Love is another important thematic element in the play, which presents various types of love: the sensual, physical love advocated by the Nurse; the Proper or contractual love represented by Paris; and the passionate, romantic love of Romeo and Juliet. How do these various types of love relate to one another? Is physical attraction a necessary component of romantic love? Because words are slippery, Juliet worries that Romeo's protestation of love are merely lies. How can we know if love is true?
Value and Doubleness
Another important theme is the idea of value and doubleness. Just as language is ambiguous, so are value judgments. As the Friar reminds us, "virtue itself turns vice being misapplied, /And vice sometime's by action dignified" (II.iii.17-18). Within a flower, for example lies both poison and medicine. Similarly, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are tragic but also bring new life to Verona. The Friar's own role in the play contains this ambiguity. Although he tries to help the lovers, his actions lead to their suffering. Shakespeare's message is that nothing is purely good or evil; everything contains elements of both. Ambiguity rules.
Meaning of Gender
A final theme to be considered is the meaning of gender. In particular, the play offers a variety of versions of masculinity. One example is Mercutio, the showy male bird, who enjoys quarreling, fencing and joking. Mercutio has definite ideas about what masculinity should look like. He criticizes Tybalt for being too interested in his clothes and for speaking with a fake accent. Similarly, he suggests that Romeo's love-melancholy is effeminate, while his more sociable self is properly masculine. Therefore, his happiest when Romeo rejoins his witty, crazy group of male friends: "Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou art, by art as well as by nature" (II.iv.89-90).
Romeo's masculinity is constantly questioned. Following Mercutio's death, for example, Romeo fears that his love of Juliet has effeminized him: "Thy beauty hath made me effeminate/And in my temper soften'd valour's steel" (III.i.116-117) so that his reputation as a man is "stain'd" (III.i.1113). In addition, the Friar accuses Romeo of being an "[u]nseemly woman in a seeming man" and says that his tears are "womanish" (III.iii.109-111).
What is the proper role for a man? The play seems to suggest that violence is not the way. Mediating between Mercutio's violent temper and Romeo's passivity, the Prince is possibly the best model of masculine behavior in the play: impartial and fair, he also opposes civil violence.
Symbols and Motifs
Light and Darkness
One of the most often repeated image patterns in the play involves the interplay of light and darkness. The integration of the language indicates an important motif overall. Romeo comparesJuliet to light throughout the play. Upon first sight of her, Romeo exclaims that she teaches "the torches to burn bright" (I.v.43). She is also "the sun" who can "kill the envious moon" (II.ii.3), and later in this scene, Shakespeare says that her eyes are like "[t]wo of the fairest stars in all the heaven" (II.ii.15). But hers is a light that shows best against the darkness; she "hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" (I.v.44-45).
Romeo is also compared with a light that illuminates the darkness; if Juliet dies, she wants Romeo cut "in little stars/And he will make the face of heaven so fine/That all the world will be in love with night/? And pay no worship to the garish sun" (III.ii.22-25). This quote reminds us that their light shines most brightly in the dark — that it is a muted glow associated primarily with stars, torches, and the dawn, rather than with sunlight, which is almost obscenely bright.
Like their love, darkness is associated with mystery, emotion, and imagination. In fact, the day works against them. At the end of their honeymoon night, Romeo says, "More light and light: more dark and dark our woes" (III.v.36); they must part before the light arrived so that he is not caught and killed.
Nighttime
The combination of light and dark makes an interesting motif in Romeo and Juliet. But for our young lovers, the nighttime itself is an important motif as well. The evening hours holds all of the significant moments for Romeo and Juliet. They meet; they pledge their love; they elope; they commit suicide.
Nighttime represents a time when a person can let go of their inhibitions. The same hold true for our title characters. They have a boldness at night that doesn't always show up in the day; this is especially true for Romeo. The night provides privacy and place away from the public's prying eyes, where Romeo and Juliet's love can blossom.
Poison
Poison, both sleep inducing and lethal, is the instrument of Romeo and Juliet's deaths. (Technically Juliet stabbed herself, but that never would have happened if not for the sleeping potion.) While poison has a literal purpose in the play, it's also a symbol. The poison symbolizes the Capulet and Montague feud. Not only is the feud deadly in itself, — recall Mercutio's death — it's also the catalyst for Romeo and Juliet's double suicide
The Tragedy
From the very beginning of the play the audience is made aware of the doomed nature of Romeo and Juliet's love. The chorus refers to them as 'A pair of star-crossed lovers'. (The Prologue, line 6) It is their destiny to die young. Fortune has decided that they die as a means of stopping the feud between their families. Throughout the play Shakespeare continually reminds us that this match cannot succeed. He does this by, use of warnings or premonitions.
Look up these references:
Romeo: Act I, sc iv, lines 106-13.
Romeo: Act I, sc.v, line 117.
Juliet: Act I, sc.v,, lines 134, 137-40.
Juliet: Act II, sc.ii, lines 117-20.
Romeo: Act III, sc. iii, lines 11-34.
Juliet: Act IV, sc.iii, lines 55-8
Romeo: Act V, sci, lines 6-9.
Romeo: Act V, sc. i, line 24.
Friar Laurence: Act V, sc.iii, lines 153-4.
1. What is happening in the play when each of these quotes occurs?
2. As a member of the audience, what effect might these continual hints of trouble have on you?
3. If you know right from the beginning that they are going to die, what is it about the play that might keep you interested?
The Role of Fate
Fate has decided to destroy Romeo and Juliet, which we know from the Prologue. This raises two key questions:
" Why should they die?
" How is Fate able to do it against everyone's wishes?
The Friar makes his first appearance in Act II, sc.iii. He is gathering herbs and talking about how each can be used for good or evil. (lines 15-24) He also mentions that when an evil is predominant the whole plant is destroyed. (lines 25-6) This is an important insight into Veronese society An evil, the feud, is in danger of destroying everything. It hurts all it touches.
1. What evidence is there of the feud in Act 1?
(a) Make a list of all the people involved.
(b) How old are they?
(c) What sort of jobs do they, normally perform? From this information you should be able to draw some conclusions about the pervasive nature of the quarrel.
2. What actions have been taken to stop the feud? (Prince Escalus, Act Ill, sc.i, lines 187-9)
3. How effective is this action? In answering this you should compare: Capulet: Act I, sc.ii, lines 1-3 with Tybalt: Act I, sc.i, lines 67-8 and Mercutio: Act III, sc.i, lines 39-40. What chance, judging from these lines from the young people, does the feud have of being settled?
It appears that the only way of removing the hate - to stop the families feuding - is to unite them in love. Friar Laurence sees this possibility when he says to Romeo that he'll marry them:
"For this alliance may, so happy prove
To turn your households' rancor to pure love."
(Act II, sc.iii, lines 87-88)
There are a number of main elements that hinder this resolution of the conflict.
The Generation Gap
The first is the generation gap between Romeo and Juliet and the adults in the play The lack of communication and betrayal of trust leave the young lovers so isolated that they are forced to make decisions about life far beyond the experience of their years.
1. How do we know that Romeo does not seem able to talk to his parents? (See Act I, sc.i, lines 129-53)
2. Juliet appears to be an obedient daughter (Act I, sc.iii, lines 97-9) to her parents and has a very close relationship with the Nurse who raised her. The first sign of conflict comes when she refuses to marry, Paris in Act Ill.
(a) How does her father react?
(b) How does her mother react?
(c) When Juliet asks for help from the Nurse, how does the Nurse let her down?
(d) What is Juliet's reaction to this?
Even Friar Laurence is not really understanding and does not appreciate the depth of Romeo's love for Juliet. Nor is he adult-like when he runs away leaving Juliet alone in the tomb. All the adults fail when needed.
The Speed of Events
The second element is the speed of events. In the original story, the one that Shakespeare used as his source, Romeo and Juliet were older. The action also took place over a number of months. In this play Shakespeare makes them younger in order to stress their innocence and inexperience. Young people are also very powerless and we are made aware of this, especially in the case of the approaching marriage to Paris.
1. Over how many days is the play set?
2. Set out the sequence of events on a time line.
The dramatic importance of this speed is to increase the tension in the audience. A feeling of breathlessness takes over and the audience, as well as the characters, are caught up in the inescapable rush of events. Time crowds around Romeo and Juliet, allowing no chance for thought or attempts at making up, or even revealing their marriage to their parents.
Coincidences
The third element which stands in the way of a happy outcome is the uncanny run of coincidences against them. Both Romeo and Juliet are their parents' only children; Romeo reads an invitation that he should not have; and the two fall in love before they realise that they are enemies.
1. There are many more coincidences. Make a list of all the times in the play when events would have turned out differently given better luck.
The effect of these coincidences 'stacking up' against them is that we feel nervous and sympathetic for the young lovers - it seems as if they never really had a chance. Their 'Immoderate' Love The fourth element that seals their doom is the nature of their love for each other. We cannot imagine Romeo and Juliet married, with children, leading ordinary lives. This is the story of young love, first love. Romeo and Juliet love passionately, blindly and all-consumingly as perhaps only young people can. Even from Romeo's first sighting of Juliet he senses something otherworldly about her. Find the line: Act I, sc.v, line 46.
Their 'Immoderate' Love
The fourth element that seals their doom is the nature of their love for each other. We cannot imagine Romeo and Juliet married, with children, leading ordinary lives. This is the story of young love, first love. Romeo and Juliet love passionately, blindly and all-consumingly as perhaps only young people can. Even from Romeo's first sighting of Juliet he senses something otherworldly about her. Find the line: Act I, sc.v, line 46.
Juliet is alarmed at the speed with which their love has overtaken them and senses danger (Act II, sc.ii, lines 117-20), but, because Romeo has overheard her love for him, they dispense with courting games (see Juliet's speech: Act II, sc.ii, lines 85-106) and turn immediately to marriage. Now they almost wish time away. Romeo goes straight to the Friar who is alarmed at this sudden change in Romeo and warns him: 'Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.' (Act II, sc.iii, line 90)
1. There are other lines where the Friar warns them against their haste. Locate the advice in these lines: Act II, sc.vi, lines 9-15.
(a) What do you think the Friar means when he says 'love moderately'?
(b) What does this indicate about the nature of Romeo and Juliet's love?
2. After the death of Mercutio and Tybalt, the news of Romeo's banishment causes the lovers to react similarly.
(a) What is their reaction? (Juliet: Act Ill, sc.ii, lines 118-37; Romeo: Act Ill, sc.iii, lines 12-23)
(b) What does this reaction indicate about the nature of their love? Their willingness to be apart?
3. As the play draws to its conclusion it appears that death is the only solution.
(a) How does Romeo think of death? (Act III, sc.v, lines 17-25; Act V, sc.i, line 85)
(b) How are Juliet's reactions similar? (Act III, sc.v, line, 241. Act IV, sc.i, line 66; Act V, sc.iii, lines 161-6, 169)
Only with death can the unlucky stars that have been keeping them apart be defeated (see Romeo: Act V, sc.iii, lines 110-12) and so they both rush, joyfully, towards it. The audience knows that in death they will have happiness.
Romeo's dream (Act V, sc.i, lines 1-9) foretells doom but also of kisses that make him emperor. The audience knows that all the other premonitions come true - why not this one? From Romeo's first sighting of Juliet to their suicides, death and thoughts of death have marked their love, but it does not frighten them. Had they not sought death so readily, not loved so desperately, could the tragedy have been avoided?
Justice
Capulet gives a hint as to why the tragedy has to take place when he says, 'Poor sacrifices of our enmity' (Act V, sc. iii, line 303) and the Prologue clearly states:
". . . the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, naught could
remove . . ."
1. In Your own words, after looking at the above two, quotes and these others, Act II, sc.iii, line 90 and Act V, sc.iii, lines 285-94, say why you think Romeo and Juliet had to die?
2. Is justice served on those who are responsible for the deaths? Consider the Prince's last two speeches: Act V, sc.iii, lines 285-94 and Act V, sc.iii, lines 30-9. In the first of these two he says: 'All are punish'd.'
3. Consider this situation: A man is driving a car, he is drunk and has an accident in which his children are killed. In one sense he is already punished but he must also be punished by the law.
(a) How are the Capulets, the Montagues and the Prince punished?
(b) Why has each deserved punishment?