Romeo and Juliet Flashcards
Introduction?
Said to be written between 1594 and 1596, William Shakespeare’s most renowned play ‘Rome and Juliet’ centres on the juxtaposing themes of love and hate and explores the fatal consequences of forbidden romance. Shakespeare strategically chose to set his play in Italy, a country synonymous with passion yet also aggression, to critique 16th century society while seemingly depicting a foreign culture to evade offending the Queen. The play circumnavigates both internal and external conflict- alluding to the intertwined themes of love and hate- and exploring conflict in a time of religious and political turmoil.
Romeo Quotations?
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‘bright smoke, cold fire, sick health’
The frequent use of oxymoronic language could mimic Romeo’s conflicting emotions. Alternatively, this could allude to the idea of Romeo being a hopeless romantic.
The oxymoron ‘cold fire’ demonstrates typical courtly love traditions yet simultaneously shows that love turns into chaos which foreshadows the later tragedy in the play.
‘Did my heart love till now?’
This presents Romeo as fickle and makes it clear that Romeo is a hopeless romantic. The use of this rhetorical question presents how quickly his emotions have changed
‘Fire eyed fury be my conduct now’
This fricative statement from Romeo serves to reinforce his rage. ‘Fire’ has connotations to hell, which would have shocked contemporary audiences.
This expresses Romeo’s changing emotions as he is conducted by violence and sheer anger yet in contrast, this serves to highlight how he respects the Elizabethan notion of protecting family honour.
‘Thus with a kiss I die’
This Romeo’s final soliloquy which indicates the amplified strength of his emotions/ feelings towards Juliet as death pales in comparison to love.
Structurally, Romeo’s soliloquy is longer than Juliet’s, reinforcing the intensity of his feelings and highlights how the main themes of love and hate are intertwined.
Juliet Quotations?
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‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’
‘Serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face’
‘O happy dagger’
Juliet’s oxymoronic proclaimation
Conflict Quotations?
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‘Do you bite your thumb at us sir?’
This insult is repeated by the servants, presenting their antagonistic actions and capturing the tension which exists between the two house holds.
This builds dramatic tension and expresses the aggressive sense of masculinity the servants possess, which fuels the destructive nature of the feud.
The verb ‘bite’ has connotations of violence and intent to harm, showing how the conflict between the families has manifested into physical, deadly forms.
‘Peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee’
This makes it clear that Tybalt is a character who perpetuates the conflict between the families.
The accumulative effect of this triadic structure reinforces how fierce his hatred is and how ‘peace’ is a repulsive word to him and a concept which he doesn’t believe in.
The fricative ‘hate hell’ reinforces how Shakespeare presents Tybalt as the main antagonist and that whenever he is present, violence will follow.
‘Fire eyed fury be by conduct now’
This proves that most men in the play, representing Elizabethan men, were driven by the desire to protect their honour and as a consequence, male aggression is amplified to a greater intensity.
‘Fire’ has connotations to furiousity and temper, mimicking the heightened emotions of the brawl at this point and the synonymous temper of Verona as a whole.
‘A plague o’ both your houses’
Mercutio’s angry cursing suggests that he is blaming the feud for his tragedy.
The word ‘plague’ has connotations to disease and infection, symbolising how the feud is a disease that is spreading through Verona, killing people in it’s path.
