romeo and juliet - isolation

Question 1

Juliet - isolation

Answer 1

Seperation is symbolised by the contrast between day and night. She notes that much of their relationship occurs during the night, the darkness hiding their forbidden love. Her description of night being “love performing” highlights the secrecy of their love and emphasises how seperate it is from the rest of the world.

Question 2

Romeo - isolation

Answer 2

As romeo gets ready to kill himself to be with Juliet he acknowledges that his intents are “savage-wild”, showing his detachment from his humanity, isolating himself from everything that previously made him Romeo.

Question 3

context

Answer 3

Although many of the scenes in Romeo and Juliet portray the interaction of characters, there are many in which the characters are in physical isolation. This isolation is used by the characters to help process their thoughts and emotions. It’s important to consider how a character would look to an audience on stage alone. They would suddenly seem very vulnerable. It is often these moments that the audience finds out the inner feelings of the character (perhaps through a soliloquy) which makes them more relatable. The separation and isolation of the characters isn’t only physical, it is also reflected in the language they use.