NAME_____________________________
Cooper 8 English
Romeo and Juliet:
Section______
January 2014
Themes Found in the Play
Shakespeare develops a number of themes over the course of this play. Four of these
themes include:
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•
•
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Young men and the need to defend their sense of honor;
Conflict between the older and younger generations;
Love as an overwhelming force;
Recklessness as the cause of preventable tragedy.
As you begin to think about these themes, I would like you to:
a.
b.
c.
1.
Put into words your understanding of what the theme means;
Find a character’s words that speaks to the theme’s meaning.
Explain the connection between the quote and theme.
Young men and the need to defend their sense of honor.
a.
If a young man feels disrespected by another, then he will often feel the need to
defend his sense of honor by challenging the other person to a fight. A young man
may feel that if he fails to challenge the one who has insulted him, he will be seen
as a coward and weakling in the eyes of other people, especially other young men.
Rather than appear this way in the eyes of others, a young man will risk great
danger and even death to answer a challenge to his honor.
b.
Tybalt:
This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antic face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honor of my kin,
To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin. (1.1.100-104)
c.
Tybalt, upon recognizing that Romeo, a Montague, is at the Capulet house on the
night of their annual solemnity, believes that his family’s honor has been insulted.
Tybalt knows only proper response to protect his honor is to call for his sword and
kill Romeo on the spot. Tybalt says that doing so is not murder, but an act of justified
vengeance against his family’s enemy.
NAME_____________________________
Cooper 8 English
Section______
January 2014
So tonight, please write a four/five sentence explanation of the theme’s meaning:
1. _______ Conflict between the older and younger generations. (In your explanation,
consider what the younger generation wants--as a young person grows older, does he/she
want a greater voice in what happens-- does this person want to be heard? Is a young
person patient? And what does the older generation believe about itself-- and what does
this generation expect (and demand) from the younger generation?)
2. _______ Love as an overwhelming force. (Consider how love comes upon a person
suddenly in a surge of feeling. How is the person (typically a young person) swept up in the
wave of love? What will be the only thing that matters to someone who is in love? How will
love cause a person to behave? What will love cause a person to forget?)
3. _______ Recklessness as the cause of preventable tragedy. (Consider what the term
recklessness means. How does a person who is reckless behave? What does a reckless
person ignore? What causes a person to be reckless? Is a person who is reckless acting in a
way that is reasonable/thoughtful or emotional/impulsive? How is this dangerous--what
does a reckless person not see?)