Romeo and Juliet Tragedy Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Tragedy Essay Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy play by Willam Shakespeare. The play is about two young adults who are in love. They are both victims of a bitter feud between their well-respected families. I have looked up Romeo in the dictionary to give me an insight as to what the play was about and as soon as I read the meaning of Romeo I knew it was a love play: A hero- hence a man who is an ardent lover The play is set in the city of Verona. Romeo and Juliet (the main characters of the play) are part of the Montague family (Romeo) and part of the capulets family (Juliet). The play begins with a street fight between the servants of both families. The price brings the fight to an abrupt end. Juliet is meant to be getting married to Count Paris, chosen by her father. However Romeo and Juliet, who meet at a ball, soon fall in love and get married in secret. Juliet fakes her own death with a drug friar Lawrence issued her and is found in bed dead on her wedding day in which she is too marry Count Paris. She is buried in a tomb, which is where Romeo finds her. Romeo has not yet received a note saying that Juliet is not dead and kills him with poison. Juliet wakes up after the drug has worn off and Romeo dead and she kill herself (for real) with Romeos dagger. The two grieving families end the feud between them at the end of the play. Only do they end the feud when death is struck upon them. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because Romeos and Juliets love was singled to end in death and is the only thing that ends the feud between the families: The fearful passage of their death-marked love I understand that dramatic tension is when someone is creating a scene being big and powerful, having something struck upon you suddenly. This relates to the play because the play is powerful and it captures the audiences attention. It has a lot of cliffhangers for example; where Romeo kills Tybalt in act 3 scenes 1 we think what will happen next? Will Romeo die? What will Juliet do if her love is brutally murdered by her own family? All of these create dramatic tension. By the use of characters, events, lanuage the essay aims to explain my views on Romeo and Juliet and to tell and explain to people the play of Romeo and Juliet so that they understand what is happening and what it is all about. It will also increase my knowledge of the play so I can understand it and put myself in their shoes hopefully capturing what they must have felt and been like. From reading the prologue I understand that both of the capulets and Montagues is as equal as one another, they both have the same amount of wealth and respect: Two households both alike in dignity I know that Romeo and Juliet are madly in love and are destined for one another: A pair of star crossed lovers takes their lives A pair of star-crossed lovers could mean that Romeo and Juliets love is doomed by the influence of the stars and that they are madly in love. However the stars are crossed and this shows us that there is a shadow in the way and that something will go wrong. Also from the prologue the audience is told of the ending of the play, they are told that the lovers are fated, they are star-crossed, their love will end in death, and that the lovers death, and the lovers death is the only thing that will end the long feud between the families. But their childrens end, nought could remove In act 3 scenes 1, Mercutio, who is Romeos best fiend, picks a fight with tybalt who wants to fight Romeo. Instead Romeo trys to prevent the fight between Mercutio and tybalt. Romeo then kills tybalt and flees the scene of the murder. Before Romeo appears on the scene he has come from his secret wedding to Juliet. Friar Lawrence has married them, so only the friar, Romeo and Juliet know about the marriage and the Montagues and capulets are bonded. They are bonded through the two lovers marriage, unknown to lady Capulet she is now Romeos mother in law. I think that this scene has more dramatic tension because in this scene we are really on edge as to what will happen to Romeo now that he has murdered tybalt. Also we are anxious to know what will happen to Mercutio now that he has been wounded and we wonder whether he will live or die. Mercutio is brave in this scene and when he is injured by tybalt he puts a brave face on and pretends his injuries are not serious and people believe him because he is known as the fool, however after a while Romeo realises he is lying and that he is dieing. This also causes tension because when Mercutio is first injured we (the audience) believe that he is not really hurt, so we wonder what will happen? Will he be ok? Will his injuries cause his death? The action in this scene is crucial because it keeps us on edge and makes sure that we continue watching the play to see what happens, the action builds up the tension for the final scene when both Romeo and Juliet take their own lives. The action shows that whatever happens Romeo is still a good guy because although he has killed tybalt he has done it in good faith for Mercutio. The characters involved in act 3 scene 1 are Benvolio, Mercutio, tybalt, Romeo, Petrucio, a citizen, the prince and lady Capulet, lady Montague. My thoughts/ impressions of the families from this scene are: The capulets are an evil family who only care about them selves. However there is some caring members of the family (Juliet), as she does not hold any grudges against the opposite familys think the family is uncaring because when tybalt kills Mercutio although he did not mean it he does not show any signs of sorrow for what he has done. I think that the Montagues are a caring family because as soon as Romeo enters he talks about love, this shows he has loving feelings for someone, also Romeos best friend Benvolio is a peacemaker and does not like fighting: Out of her favour where iam in love Romeo does not want to fight, he does not want to harm anyone or cause trouble or fight with a member of the family and he only kills tybalt because he has murdered his best friend, and this shows that Romeo values friendship: I thought all for the best Mercutio pretends or trys to tell everyone that he is not in pain and this makes us wonder whether he is lying or whether he is telling the truth. However Romeo sees through him and we realise how much Mercutio and Romeo are hurting and we wonder what will happen next. Romeo is hesitant to get involved because he is Tybalts cousin, because he is a member of the family. This shows that he cares not just about himself and his reputation but that he cares about his family as well. At the end of the scene lady Montague feels that Romeo must not live and hat he deserves to die a tybalt has. I think that this has come about because Romeo has killed tybalt therefore he is a murder, and in time when the first play was wrote, death was a penalty for murder. I also think that the capulets do not want to accept that a member of their family was in the wrong. The characters change in act 3 scene 1 because Benvolio turns into a troublemaker; Romeo shows the audience his bad side and turns really angry and upset resulting in the murder of tybalt. In act 3 scenes 1 lady Capulet takes up the violence of the fed and demands that Romeos punishment is death. She does not change throughout the play and remains a hard, unfeeling, unsympathic woman who pushes her daughter away and is party responsible for her death. In act 3 the prince is personal because Mercutio is a kings man has been killed, the prince fulfils his words from act 1. Instead of killing Romeo the prince banishes him from the country as a result of causing death of tybalt: Else, when hes found, that hour is his last The play ends in tragedy. The death of two lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo arrives at the tomb where Juliet has been buried, meets Paris and kills him. Believing Juliet is dead, Romeo takes the potion and dies. Juliet awakens, sees that Romeo is dead and commits suicide. As a result of this the capulets and Montagues promise never to feud again: Poor scarifies of our enmity I have learnt hat dramatic tension is as I thought it to be; it is something that is big, powerful but also keeps the viewers on edge because we wonder constantly what will happen next. In this play there are lot of themes. The themes involved are: Disorder this is a theme because there is fighting, anger, passion and false love (between Juliet and Paris) disorder means: A lack of order or confusion There is light and darkness because there is death, violence, sadness and secrets. Lightness is represented by the love between Romeo and Juliet. Darkness id represented because Romeo is sad and depressed and the sadness at the end of the play of the lovers death. Light is represented by love, life and hope. Darkness means: Gloomy, dismal, sullen, threating, obscure, mysterious, evil, in secret Light means: A way of looking at or considering a matter; aspect There is also love and passion because Romeo is in love with Juliet and passion because lady Capulet is only in her marriage because it makes her wealthy and noticeable. Romeo also shows passion regarding his feeling for Mercutio when he kills tybalt in revenge. Love means: Deep affection and warm feeling for one another Passion means: Strong desire or lust Overall I think that the play is very dramatic. The other themes as well are lies, deceit, truth, love and hate.