essay romeo and juliet introduction

Romeo And Juliet Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on romeo and juliet.

Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love tragedy written by William Shakespeare. This is a story of love and fate. Furthermore, the basis of this tragic love story is the Old Italian tale translated into English in the sixteenth century. The story is about two young star-crossed lovers whose death results in reconcile between their feuding families. Moreover, Romeo and Juliet is among the most frequently performed plays by Shakespeare .

Lessons of Love from Romeo and Juliet

First of all, Romeo and Juliet teach us that love is blind. Romeo and Juliet belonged to two influential families. Furthermore, these two families were engaged in a big feud among themselves. However, against all odds, Romeo and Juliet find each other and fall in love. Most noteworthy, they are blind to the fact that they are from rival families. They strive to be together in spite of the threat of hate between their families.

Another important lesson is that love brings out the best in us. Most noteworthy, Romeo and Juliet were very different characters by the end of the story than in the beginning. Romeo was suffering from depression before he met Juliet. Furthermore, Juliet was an innocent timid girl. Juliet was forced into marriage against her will by her parents. After falling in love, the personalities of these characters changed in positive ways. Romeo becomes a deeply passionate lover and Juliet becomes a confident woman.

Life without love is certainly not worth living. Later in the story, Romeo learns that his beloved Juliet is dead. At this moment Romeo felt a heart-shattering moment. Romeo then gets extremely sad and drinks poison. However, Juliet was alive and wakes up to see Romeo dead. Juliet then immediately decides to kill herself due to this massive heartbreak. Hence, both lovers believed that life without love is not worth living.

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Legacy of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. Furthermore, the play was very popular even in Shakespeare’s lifetime. Scholar Gary Taylor believes it as the sixth most popular of Shakespeare’s plays. Moreover, Sir William Davenant of the Duke’s Company staged Romeo and Juliet in 1662. The earliest production of Romeo and Juliet was in North America on 23 March 1730.

There were professional performances of Romeo and Juliet in the mid-19th century. In 19th century America, probably the most elaborate productions of Romeo and Juliet took place. The first professional performance of the play in Japan seems to be George Crichton Miln’s company’s production in 1890. In the 20th century, Romeo and Juliet became the second most popular play behind Hamlet.

There have been at least 24 operas based on Romeo and Juliet. The best-known ballet version of this play is Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Most noteworthy, Romeo and Juliet have a huge impact on literature. Romeo and Juliet made romance as a worthy topic for tragedy. Before Romeo and Juliet, romantic tragedy was certainly unthinkable.

Romeo and Juliet are probably the most popular romantic fictional characters. They have been an inspiration for lovers around the world for centuries. Most noteworthy, the story depicts the struggle of the couple against a patriarchal society. People will always consider Romeo and Juliet as archetypal young lovers.

Q1 State any one lesson of love from Romeo and Juliet?

A1 One lesson of love from Romeo and Juliet is that love brings out the best in us.

Q2 What makes Romeo and Juliet unique in literature?

A2 Romeo and Juliet made romance as a worthy topic for tragedy. This is what makes it unique.

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Romeo and Juliet: Introduction

Romeo and juliet: plot summary, romeo and juliet: detailed summary & analysis, romeo and juliet: themes, romeo and juliet: quotes, romeo and juliet: characters, romeo and juliet: symbols, romeo and juliet: literary devices, romeo and juliet: quizzes, romeo and juliet: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Romeo and Juliet

Other books related to romeo and juliet.

Full Title: Romeo and Juliet
When Written: Likely 1591-1595
Where Written: London, England
When Published: “Bad quarto” (incomplete manuscript) printed in 1597; Second, more complete quarto printed in 1599; First folio, with clarifications and corrections, printed in 1623
Literary Period: Renaissance
Genre: Tragic play
Setting: Verona, Italy
Climax: Mistakenly believing that Juliet is dead, Romeo kills himself on her funeral bier by drinking poison. Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and fatally stabs herself with his dagger.
Antagonist: Capulet, Lady Capulet, Montague, Lady Montague, Tybalt

Extra Credit for Romeo and Juliet

Tourist Trap. Casa di Giulietta, a 12-century villa in Verona, is located just off the Via Capello (the possible origin of the anglicized surname “Capulet”) and has become a major tourist attraction over the years because of its distinctive balcony. The house, purchased by the city of Verona in 1905 from private holdings, has been transformed into a kind of museum dedicated to the history of Romeo and Juliet , where tourists can view set pieces from some of the major film adaptations of the play and even leave letters to their loved ones. Never mind that “the balcony scene,” one of the most famous scenes in English literature, may never have existed—the word “balcony” never appears in the play, and balconies were not an architectural feature of Shakespeare’s England—tourists flock from all over to glimpse Juliet’s famous veranda.

Love Language. While much of Shakespeare’s later work is written in a combination of verse and prose (used mostly to offer distinction between social classes, with nobility speaking in verse and commoners speaking in prose), Romeo and Juliet is notable for its heady blend of poetic forms. The play’s prologue is written in the form of a sonnet, while most of the dialogue adheres strictly to the rhythm of iambic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet alter their cadences when speaking to each another, using more casual, naturalistic speech. When they talk about other potential lovers, such as Rosaline and Paris, their speech is much more formal (to reflect the emotional falsity of those dalliances.) Friar Laurence speaks largely in sermons and aphorisms, while the nurse speaks in blank verse.

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Romeo and Juliet: The Tragedy of Forbidden Love

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Published: Mar 6, 2024

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Introduction, the power of love, the role of fate, the tragic flaw, the role of society.

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A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Although it was first performed in the 1590s, the first documented performance of Romeo and Juliet is from 1662. The diarist Samuel Pepys was in the audience, and recorded that he ‘saw “Romeo and Juliet,” the first time it was ever acted; but it is a play of itself the worst that ever I heard in my life, and the worst acted that ever I saw these people do.’

Despite Pepys’ dislike, the play is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved and most famous, and the story of Romeo and Juliet is well known. However, the play has become so embedded in the popular psyche that Shakespeare’s considerably more complex play has been reduced to a few key aspects: ‘star-cross’d lovers’, a teenage love story, and the suicide of the two protagonists.

In the summary and analysis that follow, we realise that Romeo and Juliet is much more than a tragic love story.

Romeo and Juliet : brief summary

After the Prologue has set the scene – we have two feuding households, Montagues and Capulets, in the city-state of Verona; and young Romeo is a Montague while Juliet, with whom Romeo is destined to fall in love, is from the Capulet family, sworn enemies of the Montagues – the play proper begins with servants of the two feuding households taunting each other in the street.

When Benvolio, a member of house Montague, arrives and clashes with Tybalt of house Capulet, a scuffle breaks out, and it is only when Capulet himself and his wife, Lady Capulet, appear that the fighting stops. Old Montague and his wife then show up, and the Prince of Verona, Escalus, arrives and chastises the people for fighting. Everyone leaves except Old Montague, his wife, and Benvolio, Montague’s nephew. Benvolio tells them that Romeo has locked himself away, but he doesn’t know why.

Romeo appears and Benvolio asks his cousin what is wrong, and Romeo starts speaking in paradoxes, a sure sign that he’s in love. He claims he loves Rosaline, but will not return any man’s love. A servant appears with a note, and Romeo and Benvolio learn that the Capulets are holding a masked ball.

Benvolio tells Romeo he should attend, even though he is a Montague, as he will find more beautiful women than Rosaline to fall in love with. Meanwhile, Lady Capulet asks her daughter Juliet whether she has given any thought to marriage, and tells Juliet that a man named Paris would make an excellent husband for her.

Romeo attends the Capulets’ masked ball, with his friend Mercutio. Mercutio tells Romeo about a fairy named Queen Mab who enters young men’s minds as they dream, and makes them dream of love and romance. At the masked ball, Romeo spies Juliet and instantly falls in love with her; she also falls for him.

They kiss, but then Tybalt, Juliet’s kinsman, spots Romeo and recognising him as a Montague, plans to confront him. Old Capulet tells him not to do so, and Tybalt reluctantly agrees. When Juliet enquires after who Romeo is, she is distraught to learn that he is a Montague and thus a member of the family that is her family’s sworn enemies.

Romeo breaks into the gardens of Juliet’s parents’ house and speaks to her at her bedroom window. The two of them pledge their love for each other, and arrange to be secretly married the following night. Romeo goes to see a churchman, Friar Laurence, who agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet.

After the wedding, the feud between the two families becomes violent again: Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt in retaliation. The Prince banishes Romeo from Verona for his crime.

Juliet is told by her father that she will marry Paris, so Juliet goes to seek Friar Laurence’s help in getting out of it. He tells her to take a sleeping potion which will make her appear to be dead for two nights; she will be laid to rest in the family vault, and Romeo (who will be informed of the plan) can secretly come to her there.

However, although that part of the plan goes fine, the message to Romeo doesn’t arrive; instead, he hears that Juliet has actually died. He secretly visits her at the family vault, but his grieving is interrupted by the arrival of Paris, who is there to lay flowers. The two of them fight, and Romeo kills him.

Convinced that Juliet is really dead, Romeo drinks poison in order to join Juliet in death. Juliet wakes from her slumber induced by the sleeping draught to find Romeo dead at her side. She stabs herself.

The play ends with Friar Laurence telling the story to the two feuding families. The Prince tells them to put their rivalry behind them and live in peace.

Romeo and Juliet : analysis

How should we analyse Romeo and Juliet , one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frequently studied, performed, and adapted plays? Is Romeo and Juliet the great love story that it’s often interpreted as, and what does it say about the play – if it is a celebration of young love – that it ends with the deaths of both romantic leads?

It’s worth bearing in mind that Romeo and Juliet do not kill themselves specifically because they are forbidden to be together, but rather because a chain of events (of which their families’ ongoing feud with each other is but one) and a message that never arrives lead to a misunderstanding which results in their suicides.

Romeo and Juliet is often read as both a tragedy and a great celebration of romantic love, but it clearly throws out some difficult questions about the nature of love, questions which are rendered even more pressing when we consider the headlong nature of the play’s action and the fact that Romeo and Juliet meet, marry, and die all within the space of a few days.

Below, we offer some notes towards an analysis of this classic Shakespeare play and explore some of the play’s most salient themes.

It’s worth starting with a consideration of just what Shakespeare did with his source material. Interestingly, two families known as the Montagues and Capulets appear to have actually existed in medieval Italy: the first reference to ‘Montagues and Capulets’ is, curiously, in the poetry of Dante (1265-1321), not Shakespeare.

In Dante’s early fourteenth-century epic poem, the Divine Comedy , he makes reference to two warring Italian families: ‘Come and see, you who are negligent, / Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi / One lot already grieving, the other in fear’ ( Purgatorio , canto VI). Precisely why the families are in a feud with one another is never revealed in Shakespeare’s play, so we are encouraged to take this at face value.

The play’s most famous line references the feud between the two families, which means Romeo and Juliet cannot be together. And the line, when we stop and consider it, is more than a little baffling. The line is spoken by Juliet: ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ Of course, ‘wherefore’ doesn’t mean ‘where’ – it means ‘why’.

But that doesn’t exactly clear up the whys and the wherefores. The question still doesn’t appear to make any sense: Romeo’s problem isn’t his first name, but his family name, Montague. Surely, since she fancies him, Juliet is quite pleased with ‘Romeo’ as he is – it’s his family that are the problem. Solutions have been proposed to this conundrum , but none is completely satisfying.

There are a number of notable things Shakespeare did with his source material. The Italian story ‘Mariotto and Gianozza’, printed in 1476, contained many of the plot elements of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet . Shakespeare’s source for the play’s story was Arthur Brooke’s The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), an English verse translation of this Italian tale.

The moral of Brooke’s tale is that young love ends in disaster for their elders, and is best reined in; Shakespeare changed that. In Romeo and Juliet , the headlong passion and excitement of young love is celebrated, even though confusion leads to the deaths of the young lovers. But through their deaths, and the example their love set for their parents, the two families vow to be reconciled to each other.

Shakespeare also makes Juliet a thirteen-year-old girl in his play, which is odd for a number of reasons. We know that Romeo and Juliet is about young love – the ‘pair of star-cross’d lovers’, who belong to rival families in Verona – but what is odd about Shakespeare’s play is how young he makes Juliet.

In Brooke’s verse rendition of the story, Juliet is sixteen. But when Shakespeare dramatised the story, he made Juliet several years younger, with Romeo’s age unspecified. As Lady Capulet reveals, Juliet is ‘not [yet] fourteen’, and this point is made to us several times, as if Shakespeare wishes to draw attention to it and make sure we don’t forget it.

This makes sense in so far as Juliet represents young love, but what makes it unsettling – particularly for modern audiences – is the fact that this makes Juliet a girl of thirteen when she enjoys her night of wedded bliss with Romeo. As John Sutherland puts it in his (and Cedric Watts’) engaging Oxford World’s Classics: Henry V, War Criminal?: and Other Shakespeare Puzzles , ‘In a contemporary court of law [Romeo] would receive a longer sentence for what he does to Juliet than for what he does to Tybalt.’

There appears to be no satisfactory answer to this question, but one possible explanation lies in one of the play’s recurring themes: bawdiness and sexual familiarity. Perhaps surprisingly given the youthfulness of its tragic heroine, Romeo and Juliet is shot through with bawdy jokes, double entendres, and allusions to sex, made by a number of the characters.

These references to physical love serve to make Juliet’s innocence, and subsequent passionate romance with Romeo, even more noticeable: the journey both Romeo and Juliet undertake is one from innocence (Romeo pointlessly and naively pursuing Rosaline; Juliet unversed in the ways of love) to experience.

In the last analysis, Romeo and Juliet is a classic depiction of forbidden love, but it is also far more sexually aware, more ‘adult’, than many people realise.

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4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”

Modern reading of the play’s opening dialogue among the brawlers fails to parse the ribaldry. Sex scares the bejeepers out of us. Why? Confer “R&J.”

It’s all that damn padre’s fault!

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Romeo and Juliet

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What is Romeo and Juliet about?

Romeo and Juliet is about a young hero and heroine whose families, the Montagues and the Capulets, respectively, are ferocious enemies. Romeo and Juliet ’s passionate star-crossed love leads to their demise, which ultimately serves to pacify the relationship between their families.

What is Romeo and Juliet based on?

Shakespeare’s principal source for the plot of Romeo and Juliet was The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet , a long narrative poem written in 1562 by the English poet Arthur Brooke , who had based his poem on a French translation of a tale by the Italian writer Matteo Bandello .

Where is Romeo and Juliet set?

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona , Italy.

How is Romeo and Juliet still relevant today?

The characters of Romeo and Juliet have been continuously depicted in literature, music, dance, and theatre. The premise of the young hero and heroine whose families are enemies is so appealing that Romeo and Juliet have become, in the modern popular imagination, the representative type of star-crossed lovers.

Some of the most distinct film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet are Franco Zeffirelli ’s 1968 version of the same name, which notably cast actors similar in age to the play’s young protagonists; Baz Luhrmann ’s visually vibrant 1996 Romeo + Juliet ; and the 2013 zombie romantic comedy Warm Bodies . Learn more.

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Romeo and Juliet , play by William Shakespeare , written about 1594–96 and first published in an unauthorized quarto in 1597. An authorized quarto appeared in 1599, substantially longer and more reliable. A third quarto, based on the second, was used by the editors of the First Folio of 1623. The characters of Romeo and Juliet have been depicted in literature , music, dance, and theatre. The appeal of the young hero and heroine—whose families, the Montagues and the Capulets, respectively, are implacable enemies—is such that they have become, in the popular imagination, the representative type of star-crossed lovers.

Shakespeare’s principal source for the plot was The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562), a long narrative poem by the English poet Arthur Brooke , who had based his poem on a French translation of a tale by the Italian Matteo Bandello .

View an excerpt of David Garrick's 18th-century adaptation of William Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” where the lovers speak to each other before they die

Shakespeare sets the scene in Verona , Italy . Juliet and Romeo meet and fall instantly in love at a masked ball of the Capulets, and they profess their love when Romeo, unwilling to leave, climbs the wall into the orchard garden of her family’s house and finds her alone at her window. Because their well-to-do families are enemies, the two are married secretly by Friar Laurence . When Tybalt, a Capulet, seeks out Romeo in revenge for the insult of Romeo’s having dared to shower his attentions on Juliet, an ensuing scuffle ends in the death of Romeo’s dearest friend, Mercutio . Impelled by a code of honour among men, Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished to Mantua by the Prince of Verona, who has been insistent that the family feuding cease . When Juliet’s father, unaware that Juliet is already secretly married, arranges a marriage with the eminently eligible Count Paris, the young bride seeks out Friar Laurence for assistance in her desperate situation. He gives her a potion that will make her appear to be dead and proposes that she take it and that Romeo rescue her. She complies. Romeo, however, unaware of the friar’s scheme because a letter has failed to reach him, returns to Verona on hearing of Juliet’s apparent death. He encounters a grieving Paris at Juliet’s tomb, reluctantly kills him when Paris attempts to prevent Romeo from entering the tomb, and finds Juliet in the burial vault. There he gives her a last kiss and kills himself with poison. Juliet awakens, sees the dead Romeo, and kills herself. The families learn what has happened and end their feud.

For a discussion of this play within the context of Shakespeare’s entire corpus, see William Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s plays and poems .

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Romeo and Juliet

by William Shakespeare

Sample Essay Outlines

The following paper topics are based on the entire play. Following each topic is a thesis and sample outline. Use these as a starting point for your paper.

Topic #1 Impetuosity is a tragic flaw that affects character and action. This flaw within a character will ultimately cause the death of the protagonist. Write an essay in which hasty decisions or actions result in the final tragedy of the play.

Outline I. Thesis Statement: Impetuosity is a tragic flaw present in the characters of Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet, and Friar Laurence . II. Impetuosity of Romeo A. Love 1. Instant love for Juliet 2. Decision to marry 3. Preference to death rather than be parted from Juliet B. Relationship with others 1. Reaction after he is banished 2. Kills Tybalt 3. Kills Paris 4. Purchase of poison from the apothecary

III. Impetuosity of Juliet A. Love 1. Instant love for Romeo 2. Decision to marry 3. Her death B. Relationship to others 1. Reactions after learning that she is to marry Paris 2. Her attitude toward her parents

IV. Impetuosity of Lord Capulet A. Decision to give consent for Juliet to marry Paris B. Reaction when Juliet refuses to marry Paris C. Decision to move the date up one day

V. Impetuosity of Friar Laurence A. Willingness to marry Romeo and Juliet B. Sending Friar John with the letter to Romeo instead of Balthasar C. Leaving Juliet in the tomb after she awoke

VI. Conclusion: Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet, and Friar Laurence all acted hastily at some point in the play which contributed to the final destruction of Romeo and Juliet.

Topic #2 Because the entire play represents only five days in the lives of Romeo and Juliet, the time line is an important element. Write an essay explaining the happenings on each of these days and explain how these influenced the outcome of the play.

Outline I. Thesis Statement: Important situations occur in each of these five days of the protagonists’ lives that influence the outcome of the play .

II. Day One—Sunday A. The quarrel among the Capulet and Montague servants 1. Tybalt fights Benvolio 2. Prince issues warning B. Romeo’s romantic nature 1. His infatuation for Rosaline 2. His love for Juliet is established C. Paris asks to marry Juliet D. Lord Capulet’s ball 1. Romeo and Juliet meet 2. Tybalt’s anger is ignited against Romeo

III. Day Two—Monday A. Romeo incorporates Friar Laurence’s help B. The Nurse meets with Romeo to get the wedding plans C. Romeo and Juliet are married D. The fights on the streets of Verona 1. Tybalt kills Mercutio 2. Romeo kills Tybalt E. Romeo is banished F. Friar Laurence devises a plan for Romeo and Juliet G. Paris is granted permission to marry Juliet

IV. Day Three—Tuesday A. Juliet refuses to marry Paris B. Friar Laurence devises another plan for Juliet 1. Juliet drinks the sleeping potion 2. Friar Laurence sends a message to Romeo

V. Day Four—Wednesday A. Juliet is found “dead” B. Juliet is buried in the Capulet monument

VI. Day Five—Thursday A. Romeo learns of Juliet’s death B. Romeo buys poison C. Romeo kills Paris and himself D. Friar Laurence learns that his message to Romeo was not delivered E. Juliet kills herself

VII. Conclusion: The plot of Romeo and Juliet is developed in the course of five days in the lives of the protagonists.

Topic #3 The structure of a play is important to the development and ultimate resolution of the conflict. Write an essay in which the five stages of a tragedy are examined showing a relationship to the story and its development.

Outline I. Thesis Statement: A tragedy can be organized by the dramatist into five components of dramatic structure which enable the play to progress smoothly and logically to a conclusion .

II. Introduction or exposition A. Tone is established. 1. Feud between the families 2. Love of Romeo and Rosaline 3. Love of Romeo and Juliet B. Setting is evoked. 1. Streets of Verona 2. Capulet household C. Characters are introduced.

III. Complication or rising action A. Love between the children of the two feuding families B. Marriage of Romeo and Juliet C. Tybalt’s challenge to Romeo

IV. Climax or Turning Point A. The murders 1. Mercutio 2. Tybalt B. Romeo’s banishment C. Lord Capulet’s decree that Juliet is to marry Paris

V. Falling Action A. Juliet’s internal conflict 1. Conflict with her parents 2. Conflict with the nurse 3. Conflict concerning the compulsory marriage to Paris 4. Fears concerning the potion B. Friar Laurence’s plan for Romeo and Juliet

VI. Conclusion or catastrophe A. Friar Laurence’s message does not reach Romeo B. Deaths 1. Paris 2. Romeo 3. Juliet C. Feud ends with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet

VII. Conclusion: The introduction, the complication, the climax, the falling action, and the conclusion are components of dramatic structure which enable the play to progress smoothly and logically to a conclusion.

Topic #4 Fate and coincidence are used extensively in Romeo and Juliet. Both these elements helped to bring about the tragedy or destruction of the protagonists. Write an essay in which you give examples of how each element is used.

Outline I. Thesis Statement: The elements of fate—chance, circumstance, and coincidence—are used in Romeo and Juliet to advance the plot and bring about the ultimate deaths of the protagonists .

II. Examples of chance and circumstance A. Romeo and Juliet are children of parents who hate one another B. The servant given the list of names for Lord Capulet’s ball cannot read C. Benvolio is able to talk Romeo into attending the ball to look at Rosaline D. Lord Capulet allows Romeo to remain at the ball E. Romeo meets and falls in love with Juliet F. The lovers are separated because of an accidental fight G. The Prince decrees that Romeo is to be banished instead of put to death

III. Examples of coincidence A. Romeo is asked to read the invitation list for the illiterate servant B. Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice at the ball C. Lord Capulet moves the wedding day from Thursday to Wednesday D. Balthasar happens to see Juliet’s funeral and tells Romeo of her death E. Friar John is quarantined and Friar Laurence’s message never reaches Romeo F. Friar Laurence arrives too late at Juliet’s tomb. IV. Conclusion: The elements of fate work hand in hand with each other to bring about the inevitable deaths of the protagonists.

Topic #5 Comic relief is used by Shakespeare to delight his audiences. It is often used after an intense scene to relieve the tension brought about by the extremely emotional dialogue or actions in the play. Write an essay describing the situations when comic relief or humor was used by different characters in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet .

Outline I. Thesis Sentence: The use of comic relief or humor is used predominately by three of Shakespeare’s characters to relieve some of the moments of tension in Romeo and Juliet .

II. Nurse A. Her compulsion to talk B. Her use of malapropisms C. Her teasing of Juliet

III. Mercutio A. His Queen Mab speech B. The exchange between Benvolio and Mercutio in Act II, Scene 1 C. His use of puns and figurative language

IV. Lord Capulet A. His remarks toward the young ladies at his ball B. His behavior at the ball C. His preparations for the wedding

V. Conclusion: Humor is used as a comic relief by the nurse, Mercutio, and Lord Capulet in order to relieve the tension brought about by more intense scenes or situations.

Cite this page as follows:

"Romeo and Juliet - Sample Essay Outlines." MAXnotes to Romeo and Juliet, edited by Dr. M. Fogiel, Research and Education Association, Inc., 2000, 29 Aug. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/romeo-and-juliet/critical-essays#critical-essays-sample-essay-outlines>

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An Introduction to This Text: Romeo and Juliet

By Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine Editors of the Folger Shakespeare Library Editions

Romeo and Juliet was printed in a variety of forms between its earliest appearance in 1597 and its inclusion in the first collection of Shakespeare’s plays, the First Folio of 1623.

In 1597 appeared An Excellent conceited Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet , a quarto or pocket-size book that offers a version of the play markedly different from subsequent printings and from the play that most readers know. This version is only about two-thirds the length of later versions. It anticipates the language of these later versions quite closely (except for some apparent cuts) until near the end of Act 2 . Then it offers a wedding scene that is radically different from the one in later texts. For the last three acts, the language of the First Quarto varies widely from that of later texts. While the plot is essentially the same, there sometimes is no sign at all of speeches found in later versions; and sometimes speeches appear in much abbreviated forms, which seem to most readers quite awkward in comparison to the fuller versions printed in 1599 and thereafter. This First Quarto has therefore been dubbed a “bad quarto.”

Explore the “bad quarto” of Romeo and Juliet (1597) in the Folger’s Digital Collections .

In 1599 the Second Quarto, often called the “good quarto,” was published. It was entitled The Most Excellent and lamentable Tragedie, of Romeo and Iuliet. Newly corrected, augmented, and amended. For the most part, this Second Quarto seems to have been printed from a manuscript containing the fuller version of the play that most readers know. Yet there are also undeniable signs that the printer of the Second Quarto consulted the First Quarto.

Explore the “good quarto” of Romeo and Juliet (1599) in the Folger’s Digital Collections .

From the 1599 Second Quarto of Romeo and Juliet. From the Folger Shakespeare Library collection.

For a short stretch ( 1.2.55 – 1.3.37 ), the Second Quarto seems to be no more than a reprint of the First Quarto. In 1609 a Third Quarto was reprinted from the Second.

Explore the Third Quarto of Romeo and Juliet (1609) in the Folger’s Digital Collections .

A Fourth Quarto, undated, was reprinted from the Third. This Fourth Quarto has been dated by Carter Hailey as having been printed in 1623. Its printer appears to have consulted the First Quarto for some corrections and word choices.

The First Folio version appeared in 1623. It reprinted the Third Quarto, but its printer’s copy must have been annotated by someone, because the Folio departs from the Third Quarto in ways that seem beyond the capacities of mere typesetters.

Recent editors have been virtually unanimous in their selection of the Second Quarto as the basis for their editions. In the latter half of the twentieth century it was widely assumed that (except for occasional consultation of the First Quarto) the Second Quarto was printed from Shakespeare’s own manuscript. In contrast, the First Quarto has been said to reproduce an abridged version put together from memory by actors who had roles in the play as it was performed outside London. Some editors have become so convinced of the truth of such stories about the First Quarto as to depend on it as a record of what was acted. Nevertheless, as today’s scholars reexamine the narratives about the origins of the printed texts, we discover that these narratives are based either on questionable evidence or sometimes on none at all, and we become more skeptical about ever identifying how the play assumed the forms in which it came to be printed.

The present edition is based on a fresh examination of the early printed texts rather than upon any modern edition. 1 It offers readers the text as it was printed in the Second Quarto (except for the passage reprinted in the Second Quarto from the First; there this edition follows the First Quarto). But the present edition offers an edition of the Second Quarto because it prints such editorial changes and such readings from other early printed versions as are, in the editors’ judgment, needed to repair errors and deficiencies in the Second Quarto. Except for occasional readings and except for the single reprinted passage, this edition ignores the First Quarto because the First Quarto is, for the most part, so widely different from the Second.

For the convenience of the reader, we have modernized the punctuation and the spelling of the Second Quarto. Sometimes we go so far as to modernize certain old forms of words; for example, when a means “he,” we change it to he ; we change mo to more , and ye to you . It is not our practice in editing any of the plays to modernize words that sound distinctly different from modern forms. For example, when the early printed texts read sith or apricocks or porpentine , we have not modernized to since, apricots, porcupine. When the forms an, and , or and if appear instead of the modern form if , we have reduced and to an but have not changed any of these forms to their modern equivalent, if. We also modernize and, where necessary, correct passages in foreign languages, unless an error in the early printed text can be reasonably explained as a joke.

Whenever we change the wording of the Second Quarto or add anything to its stage directions, we mark the change by enclosing it in superior half-brackets ( ⌜ ⌝ ). We want our readers to be immediately aware when we have intervened. (Only when we correct an obvious typographical error in the Second Quarto does the change not get marked.) Whenever we change the Second Quarto’s wording or its punctuation so that meaning changes, we list the change in the textual notes , even if all we have done is fix an obvious error.

We correct or regularize a number of the proper names, as is the usual practice in editions of the play. “Mountague” becomes “Montague,” for example, and the Prince’s name, “Eskales,” is printed as “Escalus.” Although neither Lady Montague nor Lady Capulet receives the honorific title “Lady” in the early printed versions of the play, the title is traditional in editions and is consistent with the social relations of the families as these are depicted both in the play and in its source. Therefore we refer to these characters as “Lady Montague” and “Lady Capulet.”

This edition differs from many earlier ones in its efforts to aid the reader in imagining the play as a performance. Thus stage directions are written with reference to the stage. For example, we do not describe Romeo and Juliet at their parting in Act 3 as being “at the window” (the First Quarto’s stage direction) because there is unlikely to have been an actual window above Shakespeare’s stage. Instead, we follow the Second Quarto and describe them simply as “aloft,” i.e., in the gallery above the stage.

Whenever it is reasonably certain, in our view, that a speech is accompanied by a particular action, we provide a stage direction describing the action. (Occasional exceptions to this rule occur when the action is so obvious that to add a stage direction would insult the reader.) Stage directions for the entrance of characters in mid-scene are, with rare exceptions, placed so that they immediately precede the characters’ participation in the scene, even though these entrances may appear somewhat earlier in the early printed texts. Whenever we move a stage direction, we record this change in the textual notes. Latin stage directions (e.g., Exeunt ) are translated into English (e.g., They exit ).

We expand the often severely abbreviated forms of names used as speech headings in early printed texts into the full names of the characters. We also regularize the speakers’ names in speech headings, using only a single designation for each character, even though the early printed texts sometimes use a variety of designations. Variations in the speech headings of the early printed texts are recorded in the textual notes.

In the present edition, as well, we mark with a dash any change of address within a speech, unless a stage direction intervenes. When the – ed ending of a word is to be pronounced, we mark it with an accent. Like editors for the last two hundred years and more, we display metrically linked lines in the following way:

( 1.1.163 –64)

However, when there are a number of short verse-lines that can be linked in more than one way, we do not, with rare exceptions, indent any of them.

We have also consulted the computerized text of the Second Quarto provided by the Text Archive of the Oxford University Computing Centre, to which we are grateful.

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Romeo and Juliet

By william shakespeare, romeo and juliet essay questions.

In what way do Romeo and Juliet break gender conventions? How do these roles fluctuate throughout the play?

At the beginning of the play, the young lovers' behavior reverses common gender conventions – Romeo acts in a way that his friends call feminine, while Juliet exhibits masculine qualities. Romeo is by no means an archetypal Elizabethan man; he is disinterested in asserting his physical power like the other male characters in the play. Instead, Romeo chooses to stew in his pensive melancholy. On several instances, Romeo's companions suggest that his introspective behavior is effeminate. On the other hand, Juliet exhibits a more pronounced sense of agency than most female characters in Shakespeare's time. While the women around her, like her mother, blindly act in accordance with Lord Capulet's wishes, Juliet proudly expresses her opinion. Even when she has lost a battle (like when Lord Capulet insists she consider marrying Paris), she demonstrates a shrewd ability to deflect attention without committing to anything. In her relationship with Romeo, Juliet clearly takes the lead by insisting on marriage and proposing the plan to unite them. As the play progresses, Romeo starts to break out of his pensive inaction to the point that Mercutio notices this change. Romeo also makes a great shift from his cowardly attempt at suicide in Act III to his willful decision in Act V. Overall, Romeo and Juliet are arguably a good match because they are so distinct. Juliet is headstrong, while Romeo is passive until passion strikes and inspires him to action.

Contrast Romeo's attempted suicide in Act 3 with his actual suicide in Act 5. How do these two events reveal changes in his character and an evolving view of death?

Romeo considers suicide in both Act 3 and Act 5. In Act 3, Romeo's desire to take his own life is a cowardly response to his grief over killing Tybalt. He is afraid of the consequences of his actions and would rather escape the world entirely than face losing Juliet. Both Friar Laurence and the Nurse criticize Romeo for his weakness and lack of responsibility - taking the knife from his hands. In contrast, Romeo actually does commit suicide in Act V because he sees no other option. He plans for it, seeking out the Apothecary before leaving Mantua, and kills himself out of solidarity with Juliet, not because he is afraid. While suicide is hardly a defensible action, Romeo's dual attempts to take his life reveal his growing maturity and his strengthened moral resolve.

Several characters criticize Romeo for falling in love too quickly. Do you believe this is true? Does his tendency towards infatuation give the audience occasion to question Romeo's affection for Juliet?

This question obviously asks for a student opinion, but there is evidence to support both sides of the argument. In Act 2, Friar Laurence states his opinion that Romeo does indeed fall in love too quickly. Romeo is arguably in love with being in love more than he is in love with any particular woman. The speed with which his affections shift from Rosaline to Juliet – all before he ever exchanges a word with the latter – suggests that Romeo's feelings of 'love' are closer to lust than commitment. This interpretation is supported by the numerous sexual references in the play, which are even interwoven with religious imagery in Romeo and Juliet's first conversation. However, it also possible to argue that Romeo's lust does not invalidate the purity of his love. Romeo and Juliet celebrates young, passionate love, which includes physical lust. Furthermore, whereas Romeo was content to pine for Rosaline from afar, his love for Juliet forces him to spring into action. He is melancholy over Rosaline, but he is willing to die for Juliet. Therefore, a possible reading is that Romeo and Juliet's relationship might have been sparked by physical attraction, but it grew into a deep, spiritual connection.

Examine the contrast between order and disorder in Romeo and Juliet . How does Shakespeare express this dichotomy through symbols, and how do those motifs help to underline the other major themes in the play?

The contrast between order and disorder appears from the Prologue, where the Chorus tells a tragic story using the ordered sonnet form. From that point onwards, the separation between order and disorder is a common theme. Ironically, violence and disorder occurs in bright daylight, while the serenity of love emerges at night. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet is uncomplicated without the disorderly feud between their families, which has taken over the streets of Verona. The contrast between order and disorder underscores the way that Shakespeare presents love - a safe cocoon in which the lovers can separate themselves from the unpredictable world around them. At the end of the play, it becomes clear that a relationship based on pure love cannot co-exist with human weaknesses like greed and jealousy.

Many critics note a tonal inconsistency in Romeo and Juliet . Do you find the shift in tone that occurs after Mercutio's death to be problematic? Does this shift correspond to an established structural tradition or is it simply one of Shakespeare's whims?

After the Prologue until the point where Mercutio dies in Act III, Romeo and Juliet is mostly a comic romance. After Mercutio dies, the nature of the play suddenly shifts into tragedy. It is possible that this extreme shift is merely the product of Shakespeare's whims, especially because the play has many other asides that are uncharacteristic of either comedy or tragedy. For example, Mercutio's Queen Mab speech is dreamy and poetic, while the Nurse's colorful personality gives her more dimension than functional characters generally require. However, it is also possible to see the parallels between this tonal shift and the play's thematic contrast between order and disorder. Shakespeare frequently explored the human potential for both comedy and tragedy in his plays, and it is possible that in Romeo and Juliet , he wanted to explore the transition from youthful whimsy into the complications of adulthood. From this perspective, the play's unusual structure could represent a journey to maturity. Romeo grows from a petulant teenager who believes he can ignore the world around him to a man who accepts the fact that his actions have consequences.

Eminent literary critic Harold Bloom considers Mercutio to be one of Shakespeare's greatest inventions in Romeo and Juliet . Why do you agree or disagree with him? What sets Mercutio apart?

One of Shakespeare's great dramatic talents is his ability to portray functional characters as multi-faceted individuals. Mercutio, for example, could have served a simple dramatic function, helping the audience get to know Romeo in the early acts. Then, his death in Act 3 is a crucial plot point in the play, heightening the stakes and forcing Romeo to make a life-changing decision. Mercutio barely appears in Arthur Brooke's Romeus and Juliet , which Romeo and Juliet is based on. Therefore, Shakespeare made a point of fleshing out the character. In Mercutio's Queen Mab speech, Shakespeare has the opportunity to truly delve into the bizarre and often dangerous sexual nature of love. Further, Mercutio's insight as he dies truly expresses the horrors of revenge, as he declares a plague on both the Montague and Capulet families. He is the first casualty of their feud - and because he transcends functionality, the audience mourns his untimely death and can relate to Romeo's capricious revenge.

How does Shakespeare use symbols of gold and silver throughout the play? What does each element represent?

Shakespeare uses gold and silver as symbols to criticize human folly. He often invokes the image of silver to symbolize pure love and innocent beauty. On the other hand, he uses gold as a sign of greed or desire. For example, Shakespeare describes Rosaline as immune to showers of gold, an image that symbolizes the selfishness of bribery. Later, when Romeo is banished, he comments that banishment is a "golden axe," meaning that banishment is merely a shiny euphemism for death. Finally, the erection of the golden statues at the end of the play is a sign of the fact that neither Lord Capulet nor Lord Montague has really learned anything from the loss of their children. They are still competing to claim the higher level of grief. Romeo, however, recognizes the power of gold and rejects it - through him, Shakespeare suggests a distinction between a world governed by wealth and the cocoon of true love.

Do a character analysis of Friar Laurence. What motivates him? In what ways does this motivation complicate his character?

Friar Laurence is yet another character who transcends his functional purpose. When Romeo first approaches the Friar to plan his marriage to Juliet, the older man questions the young man's sincerity, since Romeo openly pined for Rosaline only a few days before. However, the Friar shows a willingness to compromise by agreeing to marry the young lovers nevertheless. What ultimately motivates Friar Laurence is his desire to end the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, and he sees Romeo and Juliet's marriage as a means to that end. While his peaceful intentions are admirable, his devious actions to achieve them – conducting a marriage that he explicitly questions – suggests he is more driven by politics than by an internal moral compass. The fact that a religious figure would compromise one of the Church's sacraments (marriage) further suggests that the Friar wants his power to extend beyond the confines of his Chapel. He also displays his hubris by helping Juliet to fake her death, rather than simply helping her get to Mantua to be with Romeo. While Friar Laurence is not an explicit villain, his internal contradictions speak to Shakespeare's ability to create multi-faceted characters.

Should Romeo and Juliet be considered a classical tragedy (in which fate destroys individuals)? Or is it more a tragedy of circumstance and personality? Moreover, could the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet have been avoided?

In classical tragedy, an individual is defeated by Fate, despite his or her best efforts to change a pre-determined course of events. A classical tragedy both celebrates an individual's willpower while lamenting the fact that the universe cannot be bested by mankind. The tragic elements in Romeo and Juliet are undeniable - two young lovers want nothing more than to be together and fall victim to an ancient feud and rigid societal conventions. However, while Romeo and Juliet's deaths result from human folly, the immovable power of fate also has a hand in sealing their destinies. For instance, Romeo and Juliet had many opportunities to simply run away together instead of being separated after Romeo is banished from Verona. Furthermore, many of the tragic occurrences are contingent on antagonistic characters running into one another, and then choosing to pursue vengeance rather than simply walk away. Based on this evidence, it is possible to read Shakespeare's intent as suggesting that behavioral adjustment can often prevent tragic events.

How is Romeo and Juliet a criticism of organized religion? Examine the play's secularism to develop your answer.

While Romeo and Juliet does not present explicit attacks against religion, Shakespeare reveals his skepticism of Christianity in subtle ways. In many ways, Romeo and Juliet must reject the tenets of Christianity in order to be together. In their first meeting, they banter, using religious imagery to share their sexual feelings. In this exchange, the lovers acknowledge the omnipresence of Christianity, but cheekily use religious images in an unexpected context. Further, Christian tradition would have required Juliet to submit to her father's desire, but instead, she manipulates his expectations to distract him from her real agenda. Even Friar Laurence, an explicitly religious figure, uses Christianity as a tool towards his own ends. In this way, the play implicitly suggests that the rigid rules of religion often work in opposition to the desires of the heart - and to pursue true happiness, one must throw off the shackles of organized faith.

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Romeo and Juliet Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Romeo and Juliet is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Can you find verbal irony in the play? Where?

One example of verbal irony would be Romeo's reference to the poison he has purchased as a "sweet medicine". A cordial is a sweet liquor or medicine.

Come, cordial and not poison, go with me To Juliet's grave; for there must I use thee.

What do we learn about Mercutio in queen man speech?

The whole speech is based on pagan Celtic mythology. Mercutio’s speech is laced with sexual innuendo. The words “queen” and “mab” refer to whores in Elizabethan England. As his speech goes on we notice the subtext get increasingly sexual...

What does Romeo fear as he approaches Capulet house? What literary device would this be an example of?

Romeo feels something bad is going to happen.

I fear too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars

Looks like foreshadowing to me!

Study Guide for Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet Summary
Romeo and Juliet Video
Character List

Essays for Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Unity in Shakespeare's Tragedies
Fate in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet: Under the Guise of Love
The Apothecary's Greater Significance in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet: Two Worlds

Lesson Plan for Romeo and Juliet

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to Romeo and Juliet
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
Romeo and Juliet Bibliography

E-Text of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet e-text contains the full text of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

List of Characters

Wikipedia Entries for Romeo and Juliet

Introduction

Romeo And Juliet Introduction Essay

Romeo and Juliet By: William Shakespeare Introduction The story of Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare he was baptised on April 23, 1564 and he was dead on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52 years old, he has three children Susanna Hall, Hamnet Shakespeare, Judith Quiney and his wife is Anne Hathaway. Romeo and Juliet story is the one of the famous story in the world. The characters is Romeo the boyfriend of Juliet Montague his father Mrs. Montague his mother, Benvolio their kinsman, Balthasar romeo’s seving man, Juliet the girlfriend of Romeo, Capulet her father Mrs. Capulet her mother, Paris the Prince’s kinsman and the Juliet suitor, and others. William Shakespeare he become a famous writer in Romeo and …show more content…

Romeo decides to go to the Juliet house. Paris see Romeo’s coming, Paris challenge Romeo to a duel but Romeo kills him quickly. Romeo come close to Juliet to give a last kiss and dies then Romeo drink a poison. Friar Lawrence explain the whole story into lord Capulet anf lord Montague after that the two families will now friends. Analysis Romeo and Juliet is beautiful artwork of William Shakespeare. In that story it portray the unmeasurable love between Romeo and Juliet. In that stoer the memorable is Romeo climbed to come close to Juliet and to say his feeling for her and they kissed each other. But the most I dislike part is when they both die in the ending, However, it’s okay beacause it makes Montague and Capulet be Friends again. Romoe’s strength is to makes Juliet happy and he do anything just for Juliet. He can give anything just for her. But his weakness is also his too much love for Juliet, because it is the maine cause of his death because he willing to give up everything for Juliet. Juliet strength is Romeo, because like Romeo, Juliet also giving anything to him. No matter how hard the situation is she’s always find a time to see Romeo. But her weakness, to sees Romeo hurting when she saw the death of Romeo she get suicide to show to Romeo how there is

Essay about Marcy Alvarez Unit 6 Assignment HN205

Romeo’s strengths include the capability to open up to me about his attempted suicides, gang involvement, and drug use. Also, one other strength Romeo has, is that he has great aspiration to improve his life. Romeo is stepping outside of his barrier and speaking with me about the hardships in his life.

Romeo And Juliet Quotes

Juliet is a strong character in this book. She has the aspects of independence, determination, and love. Juliet represents these qualities in everything she does throughout the book. She shows very good character in the words she says. These next four paragraphs will go into more detail of these characteristics.

Examples Of Warnings In Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is, as is commonly known, filled with tragedy. There is no question about the moments of bitter misfortune but what is worthy of question is what causes the somber events and it may be who most would least expect. Romeo and Juliet is a poem by William Shakespeare written in the late 16th century. Upon a rebellious request by Romeo’s cousin and great friend Benvolio. Romeo meets up with Juliet and over the course of five dramatic days the end up dead, poisoned and stabbed as both families mourn on their mistakes. Romeo and Juliet is about love, but is also about how dangerous love is. Shakespeare hints at an idea of love’s constraining effects of the mind and how this can be to the danger of many.

Scavenger Hunt In Romeo And Juliet

Throughout the existence of humanity, there have been many notable authors whose works are studied and admired. From the works of Aristotle, all the way to Stephen King, many famous and skillful writers have wrote beloved masterpieces that people still love to this day. However, none may be as notable as William Shakespeare is, and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is perhaps Shakespeare’s most admired, referenced, and beloved work. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a fateful love story between two teens who are repelled away from each other due to a feud between their families, the story takes place in Verona, an Italian city. The story is centered around a feud between two families, the Montagues, Romeo’s family, and Capulets, Juliet’s family.

Romeo And Juliet Loyalty Quotes Analysis

In this situation, Juliet is a very emotional person because she uses loyalty as a feeling of trust; she has only shown to be loyal to the people she trusts most. Firstly,

Characters To Blame In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

In the Tragedy story of Romeo and Juliet there are a lot of Characters to blame but by Opinion. There are three very important characters that are responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s Death. The Sad story of Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare .The Main Characters of this Tragic Story are Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Benvolio, Mercutio, The Nurse, Elder Capulets, and Elder Montagues. A Short little Summary about two members of Rival Families fall in Love and try to be together, but many things problems occur in their Love life.

Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare Essay

As one of the most complex characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio’s purpose is to act as a static catalyst for the death of most of the characters. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s character cleverly as the kind of character that stays in the background, but influences the rest of the cast in the utmost amount. Mercutio’s light and occasionally sardonic humor at inapt times relieves the play from being a complete tragedy and allows the audience a false sense of security before calamity strikes, such as the death of his character. Mercutio also stands as a consistent character to prove that despite the fact that the majority of Shakespeare’s characters are unpredictable and impulsive, there has to be at least one character to steady

Essay on Juliet's State of Mind in Shakespeare´s Romeo and Juliet

Juliet’s love and loyalty towards Romeo, and her developing character do not only play an important role in motivating her in speaking the lines that she does, but also in motivating her actions. Despite all the current events that have occurred; events that have affected her state of mind, Juliet decides to remain true and faithful to Romeo.

Theme Of Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

William Shakespeare is a famous poet and playwright who is considered to be a great English writer. One of his most famous plays he has written is Romeo and Juliet. It is set in Verona, Italy where there is a feud between the Capulet family and Montague family. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, meet and fall in love with each other. They got married, but end up committing suicide. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet are argued to be fate (destined to happen) or free-will (shaped by choices). The deaths of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are a result of free-will for many reasons. For example, Romeo decided to attend the Capulet’s party, Romeo and Juliet decided to marry each other, and Romeo and Juliet decided to kill themselves.

Romeo and Juliet Essay

4 Works Cited

Aristotle proposed what is believed to be the first definition of a true tragedy. Specifically, he states that a tragedy triggers great pity and fear caused by the main characters’ actions alone. Likewise, a true tragedy lacks coincidence and fate plays little in the overall play. William Shakespeare writes the play of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in which the audience knows the destiny of these two tragic heroes from the very beginning. Although this play is tragic knowing that the lives of two lovers are lost, it is not a tragedy as Romeo and Juliet are not solely responsible for their own deaths. Destiny is determined through the hands of greater forces than that of Romeo and Juliet, making this play merely tragic and not a true

Romeo and Juliet 5 Paragraph Essay

In many literary works, there are methods that authors use to make a story better. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, dramatic irony is the driving method. Dramatic irony is something in which characters do not know something, but the reader or audience knows what the true reality is. According to some researchers, “A staple of Elizabethan and Shakespearean drama was dramatic irony” (Halio 25). Furthermore some researchers also belive that dramatic irony is very prominent in the play, “ One of the more prominent literary devices in the play is irony” (Sauer 673). Romeo and Juliet, and also their friends and families face a lot of instances of dramatic irony in the story. Dramatic irony creates suspense and adds to

Strength Of Women In Romeo And Juliet

Everyone in the world of literature knows about the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Men in the story find power in sexual domination and violence. Women are treated as a belonging, and such as a property. Any person who was a female was expected to do as the men wished, and had no power over it at all. The women of this play are hampered by conventions, but many of the women still show great strength. The poor treatment acts upon major characters in the play such as, the nurse, Lady Capulet, and Juliet. In the play Lady Capulet shows strength by her tremendous personality of demand. The nurse, also shows an immense amount of strength by her ability to stay seriously involved with her work. Finally, Juliet shows her monumental strength by staying independent to herself.The women of this play are hampered by conventions, but many of the women still show great strength.

Romeo's Tragic Flaw

In the beginning of the play, Romeo is young and carefree, he loves Rosaline and then Juliet. He is in love with the fact that he is in love. Romeo in this case is the tragic hero, his tragic flaw is his immaturity and fickle traits. Benvolio and Mercutio make fun of Romeo in the beginning because he is always in love. Romeo goes to this party thinking that no girl is prettier than Rosaline, but when he goes and meets Juliet he thinks she is the most beautiful, and that fate brought them together. Romeo acts on this fate to make it permanent despite the several obstacles. Romeo says before the party at the Capulet’s, “I fear, too early, for my mind misgives-Some consequence yet hanging in the stars-shall bitterly begin

Romeo And Juliet Critical Essay

William Shakespeare wrote the play Romeo and Juliet, which is about the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are forbidden to see one another, due to their families’ feud. The Capulets, Juliet, and Montagues, Romeo, are the enemies in this feud. The question is, were the parents against them? Or were they just trying to protect and make them happy? Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. When he was eighteen years old, he married Anne Hathaway and has three children, Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet.

The Protagonist In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Juliet is the beautiful, daring side protagonist, who serves as the love interest of Romeo and takes advantage of the opportunities given. The story revolves around Juliet and Romeo’s struggle to be together; said in the prologue: “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-crossed lovers [Romeo and Juliet] take their life / Whose misadventured piteous overthrows” (Prologue.5-8). Expectedly, Juliet’s beauty, confirmed by the nurse: “Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed” (1.3.65), leads Romeo to fall madly in love with her. Breaching the Capulet’s walls, Romeo creeps up to Juliet’s window to catch a glimpse of her, achieving his goal and birthing the iconic love line: “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun” (2.2.2).

ROMEO AND JULIET

An Essay Writing Guide for GCSE (9-1)

So you now know the play – but how do you structure your essay?

This clean & simple new guide from Accolade Press will walk you through how to plan and structure essay responses to questions on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . By working through seven mock questions, these detailed essay plans will show you how to go about building a theme based answer – while the accompanying notes will illustrate not only how to masterfully structure your response , but also how to ensure all AQA's Assessment Objectives are being satisfied.

R.P. Davis has a First Class degree in English Literature from UCL, and a Masters in Literature from Cambridge University. Aside from teaching GCSE English (which he's done for nearly a decade now), he has also written a string of bestselling thriller novels

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Alternatively, you can purchase and download an electronically delivered PDF directly from us here .

SAMPLE FROM THE GUIDE

In your GCSE English Literature exam, you will be presented with an extract from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and a question that asks you to offer both a close analysis of the extract plus a commentary of the play as a whole. Of course, there are many methods one might use to tackle this style of question. However, there is one particular technique which, due to its sophistication, most readily allows students to unlock the highest marks: namely, the thematic method .

To be clear, this study guide is not intended to walk you through the play scene-by-scene: there are many great guides out there that do just that. No, this guide, by sifting through a series of mock exam questions, will demonstrate how to organise a response thematically and thus write a stellar essay: a skill we believe no other study guide adequately covers!

I have encountered students who have structured their essays all sorts of ways: some by writing about the extract line by line, others by identifying various language techniques and giving each its own paragraph. The method I’m advocating, on the other hand, involves picking out three to four themes that will allow you to holistically answer the question: these three to four themes will become the three to four content paragraphs of your essay, cushioned between a brief introduction and conclusion. Ideally, these themes will follow from one to the next to create a flowing argument. Within each of these thematic paragraphs, you can then ensure you are jumping through the mark scheme’s hoops.

The Shakespearian equivalent of a selfie.

So to break things down further, each thematic paragraph will include various point-scoring components. In each paragraph, you will quote from the extract, offer analyses of these quotes, then discuss how the specific language techniques you have identified illustrate the theme you’re discussing. In each paragraph, you will also discuss how other parts of the play further illustrate the theme (or even complicate it). And in each, you will comment on the era in which the play was written and how that helps to understand the chosen theme.

Don’t worry if this all feels daunting. Throughout this guide, I will be illustrating in great detail – by means of examples – how to build an essay of this kind.

The beauty of the thematic approach is that, once you have your themes, you suddenly have a direction and a trajectory, and this makes essay writing a whole lot easier. However, it must also be noted that extracting themes in the first place is something students often find tricky. I have come across many candidates who understand the extract and the play inside out; but when they are presented with a question under exam conditions, and the pressure kicks in, they find it tough to break their response down into themes. The fact of the matter is: the process is a creative one and the best themes require a bit of imagination.

In this guide, I shall take seven different exam-style questions, coupled with extracts from the play, and put together a plan for each – a plan that illustrates in detail how we will be satisfying the mark scheme’s criteria. Please do keep in mind that, when operating under timed conditions, your plans will necessarily be less detailed than those that appear in this volume.

The Globe Theatre in London. It was built on the site of the original, which was burnt down in 1613.

Now, you might be asking whether three or four themes is best. The truth is, you should do whatever you feel most comfortable with: the examiner is looking for an original, creative answer, and not sitting there counting the themes. So if you think you are quick enough to cover four, then great. However, if you would rather do three to make sure you do each theme justice, that’s also fine. I sometimes suggest that my student pick four themes, but make the fourth one smaller – sort of like an afterthought, or an observation that turns things on their head. That way, if they feel they won’t have time to explore this fourth theme in its own right, they can always give it a quick mention in the conclusion instead.

Before I move forward in earnest, I believe it to be worthwhile to run through the four Assessment Objectives the exam board want you to cover in your response – if only to demonstrate how effective the thematic response can be. I would argue that the first Assessment Objective (AO1) – the one that wants candidates to ‘read, understand and respond to texts’ and which is worth 12 of the total 34 marks up for grabs – will be wholly satisfied by selecting strong themes, then fleshing them out with quotes. Indeed, when it comes to identifying the top-scoring candidates for AO1, the mark scheme explicitly tells examiners to look for a ‘critical, exploratory, conceptualised response’ that makes ‘judicious use of precise references’ – the word ‘concept’ is a synonym of theme, and ‘judicious references’ simply refers to quotes that appropriately support the theme you’ve chosen.

The second Assessment Objective (AO2) – which is also responsible for 12 marks – asks students to ‘analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ As noted, you will already be quoting from the play as you back up your themes, and it is a natural progression to then analyse the language techniques used. In fact, this is far more effective than simply observing language techniques (personification here, alliteration there), because by discussing how the language techniques relates to and shapes the theme, you will also be demonstrating how the writer ‘create[s] meanings and effects.’

Now, in my experience, language analysis is the most important element of AO2 – perhaps 8 of the 12 marks will go towards language analysis. You will also notice, however, that AO2 asks students to comment on ‘form and structure.’ Again, the thematic approach has your back – because though simply jamming in a point on form or structure will feel jarring, when you bring these points up while discussing a theme, as a means to further a thematic argument, you will again organically be discussing the way it ‘create[s] meanings and effects.’

The Globe Theatre’s interior.

AO3 requires you to ‘show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written’ and is responsible for a more modest 6 marks in total. These are easy enough to weave into a thematic argument; indeed, the theme gives the student a chance to bring up context in a relevant and fitting way. After all, you don’t want it to look like you’ve just shoehorned a contextual factoid into the mix.

My hope is that this book, by demonstrating how to tease out themes from an extract, will help you feel more confident in doing so yourself. I believe it is also worth mentioning that the themes I have picked out are by no means definitive. Asked the very same question, someone else may pick out different themes, and write an answer that is just as good (if not better!). Obviously the exam is not likely to be fun – my memory of them is pretty much the exact opposite. But still, this is one of the very few chances that you will get at GCSE level to actually be creative. And to my mind at least, that was always more enjoyable – if enjoyable is the right word – than simply demonstrating that I had memorised loads of facts.

Essay Plan One

Read the following extract from act 1 scene 2 of romeo and juliet and then answer the question that follows..

At this point in the play, Paris is asking Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage.

PARIS But now, my lord, what say you to my suit? CAPULET But saying o’er what I have said before: My child is yet a stranger in the world; She hath not seen the change of fourteen years, Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride. PARIS Younger than she are happy mothers made. CAPULET And too soon marr’d are those so early made. The earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she, She is the hopeful lady of my earth: But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart, My will to her consent is but a part; An she agree, within her scope of choice Lies my consent and fair according voice.

Starting with this extract, explore the degree to which you think Shakespeare portrays Lord Capulet as a bad father. Write about: • how Shakespeare portrays Capulet in this extract. • how Shakespeare portrays Capulet in the play as a whole.

Introduction

The introduction should be short and sweet, yet still pack a punch. I personally like to score an early context point (AO3) in the opening sentence. Then, in the second sentence, I like to hint at the themes I’m going to cover, so that the examiner feels as though they have their bearings and is thus ready to hand out AO1 marks.

In this instance, I score early AO3 marks by invoking another Shakespeare text that places Romeo and Juliet in context. After this, I keep things short and sweet, hinting at the ambivalent approach I am about to take.1

“Father-daughter relationships abound in Shakespeare: the other mid-1590s sister play to Romeo and Juliet – A Midsummer’s Night Dream – starts with a father, Egeus, threatening his daughter, Hermia, with unwanted wedlock. However, while Capulet puts on a similar performance, he also embodies a host of admirable qualities that complicate an audience's perception.”

Theme/Paragraph One: Capulet exhibits genuine concern for his daughter’s wellbeing: in this extract, he is particularly concerned about his daughter marrying too young. However, this is undercut later in the play by his heavy-handed attempt at discipline.

As suitors go, Paris is hardly presented as a menacing presence: he politely asks Capulet for Juliet’s hand: ‘what say you of my suit?’ Nevertheless, Capulet quickly makes known his worries about Juliet’s extreme youth (‘not seen the change of fourteen years’), and exhibits concern that an early marriage could be detrimental: ‘Too soon marr’d are those early made.’ The alliteration of ‘marr’d’ and ‘made’ adds emphasis to Capulet’s point by powerfully linking these words: those who get made in marriage too soon end up marred.2 Capulet seems genuinely concerned for his daughter’s wellbeing and the implication of her tender age. [ AO1 for advancing the argument with a judiciously selected quote; AO2 for the close analysis of the language ].

However, although Capulet is presented as a caring father towards Juliet here, elsewhere he is presented as the polar opposite. In Act 3 Scene 5, Capulet, in the wake of Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris, threatens his daughter with violence (‘my fingers itch’) and brutally objectifies her: ‘You be mine, I’ll give you to my friend.’

Theme/Paragraph Two: Capulet in this extract is portrayed as emotionally frail, and arguably this frailty leads to an anxiety-driven, rash decision.

Capulet in this extract is oddly mercurial and rash in his decision making: at first, he is against Paris courting his daughter; yet, in the space of a few lines, he changes his mind: ‘woo her gentle Paris.’3

Although it might be argued that this vacillation should be attributed to Capulet’s deep concern for his daughter – an instinct to marry her to someone who can provide for her – on closer inspection, this is only half the story. Capulet lets slip that he has lost other offspring: he claims that ‘The earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she’ – the image of a personified earth eating his hopes communicating the fact other offspring have been buried, while the elision in ‘swallow’d’ has the missing ‘e’ mirror this loss.4 As a result of this emotional wound, Capulet goes against his own better judgement to ‘let two more summers wither’ and makes a rash volte-face .5 His concern for his daughter, therefore, is not only counterbalanced by a fierce temper, but also compromised by an emotional wound that muddles Capulet’s decision making. [ AO1 for advancing the argument with a judiciously selected quote; AO2 for the close analysis of the language ].

However, later in the play, one sees that Capulet’s frailty lends him greater emotional intelligence as a father: after Juliet feigns her death in Act 4, Capulet mourns her death with moving poetry: ‘Death lies on her like an untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower.’ That this elegy comes right at the close of Act 4 lends it extra structural emphasis, since the natural pause between acts forces the audience to linger on the words.6 [AO2 for observing how structure shapes meaning].

Theme/Paragraph Three. Capulet is a good father insofar as he sets a positive example in the way he interacts with the wider world.

In this passage, Capulet comes across as a positive role model in the community. He deals with Paris in a calm, respectful manner – even though Paris is pursuing his young daughter. Even if one disagrees with his final response, he does show patience with Paris. Indeed, Capulet does not monologue at Paris; rather, there is a respectful back and forth, and Capulet gives Paris space to speak. This is exemplified by Paris’s line – ‘younger than she are happy mothers made’ – midway through the extract: Shakespeare, by interpolating this line amid Capulet’s words, uses form to relay a sense of respectful dialogue. [AO2 for observing how form shapes meaning].

Elsewhere in the play : At Capulet’s party, Capulet attempts to keep the peace when Tybalt is trying to escalate tensions with the Montague gatecrashers. However, whereas Capulet cast himself as a respectable role model in this scene, at other points in the play he falls well short: the audience’s very first introduction to Capulet, prior to this extract, sees him seeming to lust for violence: ‘Give me my long sword, ho!’ – Shakespeare’s structural decision to place this line in the play’s opening scene lending it extra emphasis. [AO2 for observing how structure shapes meaning].

I have a smaller theme tucked up my sleeve; however, given the length of the previous themes, it feels wisest to integrate it into the conclusion. I wish to point out that Capulet exhibits a flexibility that boosts our estimation of his fathering abilities...

“Capulet – like the play in which he appears – embodies powerful contrasts: he is a positive role model to Juliet, yet a provocateur; an empathetic father, but callous.7 This extract exemplifies Shakespeare’s flair for ambiguity. Although one might argue (as above) that Capulet's volte-face ought to be considered a flaw, it could equally be considered a virtue: he has an admirable capacity for flexibility, which allows him to hew to Juliet’s choices in a way that empowers her: ‘Within her scope of choice / Lies my consent and fair according voice.’ The audience is left feeling as if Capulet is ‘a stranger in this world’ – an individual beyond our ability to definitively decipher . ”

1 To be ambivalent is to have mixed feelings about something or someone.

2 If something has been marred, it has been damaged or disfigured.

3 If someone is mercurial, it means their mood or state of mind is frequently subject to change.

4 Elision is when you remove a syllable or a sound from a word, and is usually signified by an apostrophe replacing the missing syllable. We use elision all the time in present-day English – for example, ‘let’s’ and ‘I’m’.

5 A volte-face is when someone takes the polar opposite view to the one they previously held.

6 An elegy is a lyric or poem that involves deep contemplation, and is most frequently seen during the commemoration of a death.

7 A provocateur is someone who intentionally acts in such a way as to provoke strong emotions in others.

Proceeding chapters….

Essay Plan Two : explain how Shakespeare presents Romeo’s feelings towards Juliet.

Essay Plan Three : explain how far you think Shakespeare presents the Friar as a positive influence.

Essay Plan Four : explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Mercutio as a heroic character.

Essay Plan Five : explain how Shakespeare presents the idea of justice in Romeo and Juliet .

Essay Plan Six : discuss to what extent the Nurse is portrayed as a maternal figure in the play.

Essay Plan Seven : explain how Shakespeare portrays grief in Romeo and Juliet .

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

I love this book as in how specific it is in terms of delivering how students should study the extracts of Romeo and Juliet. I am a tutor and I believe this is a possible guidance to how to study literature and the answering techniques to literature exams. Not only is the mindset applicable to questions related to Romeo and Juliet, but also to literature in GCSE in general. This is a book that students would want to read because the language is not hard either, and it patiently guides you through - highly recommended to GCSE students (and tutors perhaps!)

This is a really useful revision guide in a great format. Focussing on the structure of planning and writing essays in the way that examiners are looking for is so useful for GCSE students. This book shows that it's not just about memorising content, but understanding key themes, events and quotations to gain higher marks. I would love to see a guide like this for more texts!

I found this text really useful from a parent's point of view, as it helped me understand what the exam questions are looking for, and will enable me to help my child better. It gives us a starting point for discussion for any exam question, not just those specific ones covered. Really clear structure. Would be great to see this format for other Shakespeare plays.

This is an extremely helpful guide to help students formulate and structure GCSE essay questions. Using a varied range of sample questions on the text it unpicks potential answers paragraph by paragraph and really helps students learn how to incorporate themes and gain those extra marks from the very start of the question. My daughter will find it invaluable in her GCSE revision.

Excellent guide for students going for the highest grades.

This is not a basic guide to R&J but rather an explanation as to how to structure essays thematically so as to achieve the highest grades (the marking structure is explained). The book therefore sets out seven detailed essays plans relating to key passages in the text. On a basic level this would help any student think intelligently about characters and themes eg Shakespeare’s portrayal of the friar, the idea of justice etc, but in a higher level it suggests a structure help the most able students order their thoughts and think about themes and how to present them.

As someone who studied this text for GCSE in 1994, I wish this was around then. My daughter struggled with my old revision guide but says this is laid out in such a way that it is clear to follow. It unpicks what the questions actually want as answers by liking at the questions in detail but simply enough to understand.

It was very easy to read and understand and stimulated further thoughts that my daughter agreed she hadn’t necessarily considered. She found it very comprehensive and has since used it when writing further essays. She has used some the the techniques suggested by the study guide to back up advice given by her teacher, which has definitely helped her gain higher marks, and made it a lot less stressful for her and us! As a parent it has helped me understand what information is expected from an exam perspective. Great guide would highly recommend.

My daughter got the guide to help aide with her studies.

She has found this particularly useful and would recommend this to all students taking their GCSEs.

It has helped retiterate points she has learned and helped with formation of essays, helping her put extra content in the writing.

A review from my son: This book is perfect for GCSE English students. It is easy to read it is pitched at just the right level for students hoping to get a high grade. It explains and demonstrates perfectly how to organise and write a Romeo and Juliet essay. It takes you through a good choice of possible exam questions and it emphasises how important the themes are. It shows you how to analyse themes and quotes from all parts of the play as well as showing you how to structure a response to the different questions and how give a much more in depth answer so you can get extra marks and a higher grade. I am now much more confident going into the exam!

As a parent, this is a really useful guide. It now gives me a much better idea of how I should be encouraging my son to prepare for his exams and make the best use of his revision time.

The essays in the book cover the main topics and typical questions that students may encounter in their exams. It clearly explains the marking criteria, so that students can fully understand how to bring in the different aspects into their own writing. The thematic approach gives them new ideas of how to approach the question and is helping them with their essay planning overall.

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Romeo and Juliet Lesson 3 Act 1, Scene 5 Romeo meets Juliet

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

27 August 2024

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This lesson focuses on Act 1, Scene 5 where Romeo and Juliet meet. The full script is included for easy annotation on interactive whiteboards.

Students produce an essay response using the provided framework.

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COMMENTS

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Flowers. One of the most famous lines in literature comes from Romeo and Juliet: "That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" ( 2.2.45-46 ). Here, flowers symbolize ...
Romeo and Juliet Analysis
For Juliet " 'tis twenty years" between dawn and nine o'clock; she would have the nurse travel at ten times the speed of light. For Romeo, a minute with Juliet equals a lifetime. The ...
A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo goes to see a churchman, Friar Laurence, who agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet. After the wedding, the feud between the two families becomes violent again: Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt in retaliation. The Prince banishes Romeo from Verona for his crime. Juliet is told by her father that she will marry Paris, so ...
Romeo and Juliet
Introduction to the play. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love.It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud. In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers' final union in death seems almost inevitable.
Juliet Essay (pdf)
Growing up, Juliet The timeless story of lovers, Romeo and Juliet is horribly tragic. In Act III, Scene V of the play the tragedy begins to unfold. Although the entire play is rather dramatic, this scene reveals the effects of past decisions and is the beginning of a tragic series of misunderstandings and fatal reactions. Important relational transformations occur amongst the characters, and ...
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet, play by William Shakespeare, written about 1594-96 and first published in an unauthorized quarto in 1597.An authorized quarto appeared in 1599, substantially longer and more reliable. A third quarto, based on the second, was used by the editors of the First Folio of 1623. The characters of Romeo and Juliet have been depicted in literature, music, dance, and theatre.
"Romeo and Juliet" Essay Introduction Free Essay Example
Essay, Pages 10 (2332 words) Views. 6629. William Shakespeare in his work "Romeo and Juliet" tells about a beautiful, pure and sincere love, which unfortunately ends tragically. This is a narrative, recounting about tender feelings of young people have faced a cruel and inhuman world. Enmity, strife and blood feuds are trying to resist ...
Romeo and Juliet
Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play The prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls the title characters "star-crossed lovers"—and the stars do seem to conspire against these young lovers.Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when Romeo and his friends attend a party at Juliet's house in ...
Romeo and Juliet Critical Essays
C. Feud ends with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. VII. Conclusion: The introduction, the complication, the climax, the falling action, and the conclusion are components of dramatic structure which ...
An Introduction to This Text: Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet was printed in a variety of forms between its earliest appearance in 1597 and its inclusion in the first collection of Shakespeare's plays, the First Folio of 1623.. In 1597 appeared An Excellent conceited Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet, a quarto or pocket-size book that offers a version of the play markedly different from subsequent printings and from the play that most ...
Romeo and Juliet Essay Questions
Romeo also makes a great shift from his cowardly attempt at suicide in Act III to his willful decision in Act V. Overall, Romeo and Juliet are arguably a good match because they are so distinct. Juliet is headstrong, while Romeo is passive until passion strikes and inspires him to action. 2. Contrast Romeo's attempted suicide in Act 3 with his ...
Romeo And Juliet Introduction Essay
Decent Essays. 716 Words. 3 Pages. Open Document. Romeo and Juliet By: William Shakespeare Introduction The story of Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare he was baptised on April 23, 1564 and he was dead on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52 years old, he has three children Susanna Hall, Hamnet Shakespeare ...
Romeo and Juliet: Essay Writing Guide for GCSE (9-1)
SAMPLE FROM THE GUIDE Foreword. In your GCSE English Literature exam, you will be presented with an extract from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and a question that asks you to offer both a close analysis of the extract plus a commentary of the play as a whole.Of course, there are many methods one might use to tackle this style of question.However, there is one particular technique which, due ...
Romeo and Juliet- detailed PowerPoints with full script ...
Romeo and Juliet Lesson 2 Act 1 Romeo and Juliet Lesson 1 context and introduction lesson This series of lessons covers the full play and focuses on developing students' essay writing responses using the provided framework.
Romeo and Juliet Essay Introduction
According to Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers" and their love was "death-marked.". They eventually lose their lives by their own hands and some people believe that it was caused by their own decisions in their lives that caused this, while others believe that it was their destiny. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet ...
Romeo and Juliet Lesson 3 Act 1, Scene 5 Romeo meets Juliet
This lesson focuses on Act 1, Scene 5 where Romeo and Juliet meet. The full script is included for easy annotation on interactive whiteboards. Students produce an essay response using the provided framework.

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