Romeo and Juliet
At the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, The prologue states that Juliet and Romeo both
die. Shakespeare wants the audiences to be aware of what is happening within the play.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragic/romantic love story between two lovers. Although if you
look at the story with more in depth within the play there are numerous themes to be
discovered.
Within the first few scenes Romeo speaks about love, “shouldn’t without eyes see
pathways to his will?” He first falls in love with Rosaline. However people may think
that this love is rather artificial because Romeo is infatuated by Rosaline, he is very
formal and uses oxymoron’s “why then brawling love! Oh loving hate! Oh anything of
nothing first creates!” “O brawling love! Were shall we dine”. Through out the poem
about Rosaline, Romeo uses exclamation and question marks which points out confusion
about his love for Rosaline and further more points out his infatuation to her. This type of
love is called courtly love. Courtly love was very familiar in Elizabethan period, so
Shakespeare’s audience must have picked up this type of love quite quickly.
Shakespeare introduces a new type of love (boardy love). Shakespeare introduces the
physical and less spiritual side of love. The boardy love genre is very comical due to
Mercutio’s personality towards the genre. Shakespeare presents the physical side of love
as a spiritual on Romeo’s and Juliet’s wedding night using images of nature and light.
However, other characters such as Mercutio and the nurse refer to love in a crude way.
By mentioning bourdy love in this way, Shakespeare explores the idea of sex without
love.
Mercutio sees women as a toll rather than a soul relationship “quivering thigh, scarlet
lip”. Mercutio uses puns and innuendos which adds a comical feel to the play. Using his
humorous personality to the lighten the tone of seriousness for instance the fight between
Romeo and Tibet. He speaks his mind on different types of love. He is called a “saucy
merchant” (by Juliet’s nurse act 2 scene 4). Mercutio also quotes “the bourdy hand of dial
is hour upon the prick of noon”.
Although, despite his humor, he fails to understand how Romeo actually feels and string
feelings causes devastating effects later on.
During act 3 scene 1 a dramatic turning point in the play happens after the secretive
marriage Romeo and Juliet had, a theatrical fight scene occurs. There gives the reader a
sense of dramatic irony. After the marriage with Juliet