Romeo and Juliet
At the start of the play there is a street fight between the two families. At the end of the fight, the prince has agreed that anyone found fighting in public again will be executed.
starts with rhyming couplet to grab audiences attention.
the word "love" has a capital letter. It has been made into a person- personification- importance- different aspects of love.
there are 11 oxymoron's. some are: "O heavy lightness" heavy hearted- depressed and light hearted-positive. "serious vanity" serious means genuinely important and vanity means trivid or vain. oxymoron's don't make sense- shows how he feels and that love is senseless. He doesn't understand why the family feud continues and why she doesn't love him back.
"Does thou not laugh?" He suspects that he is being foolish for reacting in the way that he is. This is because it is a rhetorical question.
You get to meet Romeo for the first time and you start to understand his thoughts and emotions. Romeo has heartfelt sadness. He's depressed
"A sea nourished with loving tears"'they cry to excess. Metaphors and elaborate emotions beacause the tears will turn into the see.
In the next part, Romeo feels offended because benvolio says "soft I will go along. Romeo then makes an apology for snapping and says "tut". " soft I will go along" means we won't talk I'll come along with you. Benvolio is adding to Romeos grief. "What shall I groan and tell thee?" Romeo is accusing benvolio of trying to make him sad. Benvolio says tell me who your lover is, seriously or truthfully.
In this previous scene, Romeo has felt sad and depressed of his lover rosaline. He explains this to benvolio and gives his definition of love.
the pun is about archery and cupids arrow. "aimed", "a right good mark man" ,"a right fair mark". reffereing to an arrow of love and that you've hit the bulls eye. a bow or an arrow is a weapon for shooting. cupid all relates to classical mythology.
"siege" means to persuade or to engage in sexual intercourse. its also a military metaphor. in this speech there is also a dramatic pause to attract the audiences attention.
Benvolio speaks one line after Romeos long speech and is not engaging with romeo. this highlights to the audience how romantic/selfish hes about himself. it is all about how Rosaline wont sleep with him. this a contrast between romeo and Benvolio in this speech.
"too fair, too wise, wisely to fair" this uses repetition and he is exasperated and insulted that she wont love him back. this also uses alliteration.
this speech is not a soliloquy because Romeo is talking to Benvolio n conversation and not on the stage on his own. he has adored Rosaline from afar and is an object of adoration not real love.
he is also not spoken about her as a real person, just a matter of imagination. this is because he is love sick, and is fed up of the ancient feud so he needs a lover to help control his emotional condition.
Act 2 scene 2, lines 2 to 69
Romeo starts by saying "be soft" this means be quiet else the guards or Juliet might hear as he isn't meant to be there.
" linking with act 1, scene 1,refferring to dianna the goddess of the moon. "sick and pale with grief." Diana is sick because she is jealous that Juliet is more beautiful than her. "envious moon" Juliet is more beautiful than the moon. she is a virgin and therefore Juliet is a maid of Diana because she is a goddess of virginity and Juliet is a virgin. "it is the east" this is an extended metaphore he sees Juliet coming onto the balcony as though the sun is rising in the east.
parenthesis after "she speaks" this is a drammatic pause as romeo is thinking and admiring in adoration.
"what if her eyes were there, they in her head?" this means what if her eyes were in the sky and the stars were in her head. "the brightness of her cheek would shame those stars" this means her cheeks are so radiant and beautiful that they but shame to her starry eyes. in this part there is a rhyming cuplet which is "bright......night" there is a similie "as daylight doth a lamp" her cheeks are brighter than her eyes as though a lamp on during the day.
in the next part juliet starts to talk and she is more practical than romeo because she is thinking about the family feud and the families feud but romeo is careless about that.
"as glorious to this night, being o'er my head" he is seeing her as heavenly floating, higher above than everybody else. also because she is on the balcony higher up than him. she is bright and beautiful even in the night.
starts with an explination mark. Wherefore art though romeo? means why are you called romeo. "deny thou father and refuse thy name" she is asking him to change his name and loyalty (Cap and Mon) "or thou wilt not, be but sworn my love" she then says it you wont deny your family and your name then i will. however even tough juliet is speaking about romeo she does not know romeo is there listening.
"doff thy name" means get rid of your name. "and for that name, which is no part of thee, take all myself" this also means get rid of your name and you can have me. " dear perfection" this is how quickly and procisely she sums up what she feels for him (perfection).
Romeo then jumps out of the tree and speaks. however it startles juliet. "i take thee at thy word" means that romeo accepts juliets love. "what man art thou, that thus bescreened in night. so stumblist on my counsel?" means shes been talking about a montague so shes worried because anyone could have heard.