Romeo and Juliet Body Paragraph Example
Prompt: Who or what is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Explain using specific evidence
from the text.
Thesis: Friar Lawrence is largely responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. His age and
experience, his position in the community, and his education are all factors which should have allowed
him to save Romeo and Juliet, rather than leading them to their deaths as he did.
Body Paragraph #2: Friar Lawrence held an important, respected position in the Verona community
which could have been used to help Romeo and Juliet live together in an openly acknowledged
marriage. Instead, he continually kept their relationship a secret, leading to their early deaths. When
Romeo visits Friar Lawrence the morning after he meets Juliet for the first time, we learn that he and
Friar Lawrence have had a close relationship for many years. Only a man who has known Romeo for a
long time would tease Romeo in the following manner: “Therefore thy earliness doth me assure/ Thou
art up-roused by some distemperature;/ Or if not so, then here I hit it right,/ Our Romeo hath not been
in bed to-night“ (2.3.40-44). It seems highly unlikely that Romeo’s parents would be unaware of their
son’s friendship with the Friar. As the Friar favored by their son, it seems likely that Friar Lawrence
would also have a relationship of some sort with Lord and Lady Montague. Couldn’t he have spoken to
them about Romeo’s interest in Juliet? We have even stronger evidence that Friar Lawrence was wellknown and respected within the Capulet household. Juliet has permission to go, on her own, to Friar
Lawrence for religious services. “Nurse—Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?/ Juliet—I have./
Nurse—Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell;/There stays a husband to make you a wife” ( 2.5.6871). Juliet’s parents must have personally known and trusted Friar Lawrence—if not, they would never
have allowed their daughter to visit him without supervision. Friar Lawrence could have gone to the
Capulets to discuss Juliet’s love for Romeo, and perhaps negotiate a marriage contract, but he didn’t and
Romeo and Juliet lost their lives.
Romeo and Juliet Essay Example
Prompt: Compare the different types of love portrayed in Romeo and Juliet. What are the
characteristics of true love? What do you think Shakespeare is saying about the idea of courtly love?
Essay:
If you were to ask any person on the street about Romeo and Juliet, they would most likely tell
you that it is about love. Above all, Romeo and Juliet is seen as the ultimate story of love. When our
society thinks of lovers, Romeo and Juliet are almost always placed at the top of the list. Shakespeare
himself directs the audience to view Romeo and Juliet as the ultimate lovers by contrasting their
unbreakable, reciprocal relationship with other love relationships in the play.
The first relationship the audience is introduced to is that of Romeo’s unrequited love for the
fair maiden Rosaline. In the first few scenes, Romeo mopes away the hours, wandering the orchards
outside of Verona, moaning that “love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs” (1.1.197) and mourning
because the fair Rosaline, the most beautiful of all women, “has forsworn to love and in that vow do I
[Romeo] live dead” (1.1.231-232). Shakespeare’s audience would have immediately recognized
Romeo’s feelings as those of courtly love. Romeo pines away for an unattainable beauty who will never
return his feelings.
All of Romeo’s courtly sighing is suddenly pushed aside, however, as soon as Juliet enters the
room at the Capulet banquet in Act 1, Scene 5. Finally, here is a true beauty, one who, though she
“teaches the torches to burn bright” (1.5.51), still returns Romeo’s affections with equal ardor. The
power of her emotions is repeatedly made clear by such statements as: “If he be married, My grave is
like to be my wedding bed” (1.5.148-149) and “all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay and follow thee my Lord
throughout the world” (2.2.154-155). Towards the end of the balcony scene (2.2.90-111), Shakespeare
has Juliet herself explain that, though it may not be proper for a young woman, her emotions are so
strong that she must be completely honest with her love instead of playing the courtly love game that
Romeo was attempting with Rosaline.
Yet, even as Romeo and Juliet confess their love for each other and act on it by secretly
marrying, another type of love is shown in Paris’ “proper” courtship of Juliet. He does what
Shakespeare’s audience would have expected a man in his position to do: negotiate with her father for
her hand in marriage. While his affection for Juliet appears to be as strong as Romeo’s (as shown by
Paris’ willingness to die protecting Juliet’s grave in Act 5, Scene 3), his lack of personal communication
with Juliet herself prevents him from the successful wooing he seeks.
Just as Paris’ end proves that he does love Juliet despite what happens in their non-relationship,
so Shakespeare uses Romeo and Juliet’s willingness to die rather than be apart to prove the strength of
their ultimate love. After all, what could be more romantic?
Weak Theme/ Motif Statements
Note: These statements are obvious and uninteresting. Try to avoid this kind of simplicity by explaining
how, why, or so what.
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Blood is a recurring motif in the play because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are violent
Fortune can be good or bad
A loyal person should not betray; a betrayer isn’t loyal
This play is really dark because there is so much evil in it
Decent Theme/ Motif Statements
Note: These statements are meant to provide you with inspiration. They are not perfect, but they aren’t
bad either. You SHOULD NOT just copy them as your own. Rephrase and revamp the ideas into your
own statements
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The consequences of your actions aren’t always what you would expect
Loyalty can either free or eternally blind people
You fear what you don’t understand
Choices and Consequences: What goes around, comes around
Greed only takes people downhill
Fear only appears if you let it come to you
You have to live with the consequences of your actions—there is no going back
Fear drives people to do things they wouldn’t normally want to do
Being too loyal can keep you from thinking clearly about the decisions you are making
If you betray all your friends, you will have no one left to follow you
Betrayal: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
Greed for power can make you powerful enemies
Fear can force a person to take unnecessary actions
Shakespeare uses sleep as an image of innocence in the play—those who are innocent can sleep
and those who are not, cannot.
The vast majority of the blood in the play is seen or discussed outside of the battlefield,
physically representing the guilt that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are wading through as their
violent actions continue.
Though the supernatural elements in the play have little real power to influence actions in the
play, the supernatural does have the power to persuade or convince a character to take a
specific path or make a specific choice—leading them eventually to doing something they
wouldn’t have done otherwise.