Romeo and Juliet - Romeo character analysis

Question 1

Romeo is presented as:

Answer 1

1) VIOLENT AND OVERZEALOUS (The agon, killing Paris, self destructive behaviour)
- Volatile
- Turbulent
- Erratic
- Pugnacious

2) INDECISIVE (love for Juliet, patriarchal values, loyalty? - one min loyal to his fam, next min not)
- Capricious
- Volatile
- Fickle
- Erratic
- Tempestuous
- Impulsive

3) DISLOYAL (to society, himself emotionally, his family, patriarchal principles).
- Rebellious
- Dissident
- Defiant
- Obstreperous
- Dissident

4) ISOLATED (literally and figuratively, from Verona, emotionally isolated, self inflicted isolation and parental neglect)
- Exiled from society
- Neglected
- Detached
- Disenfranchised
- Abandoned
- Ostracised
- Marginalise
- Alienated

5) ENTHRALLED AND ZEALOUS LOVER (Juliet, Rosaline, Friends - killing tybalt)
- Enamoured
- Bewitched
- Enthralled with amorous love for Juliet

6) LUSTFUL (Juliet- description, Rosaline, link to how perhaps he may not be?)
- Lascivious
- Sexually carnal
- Possesses Lecherous tendencies

Question 2

Romeo context: x2 element examples

Answer 2

• Petrarchan lover; embodies the qualities of one. P lovers sexualised women but were also tormented emotionally.
• Dissident of Elizebethan society; he is unable to assimilate norms of Verona and defies social patriarchal principles and expectations for men)
• Link to fate and religion -upholds religion though he simultaneously subverts it…..&raquo_space;>evoke a sense of catharsis from the Elizabethan audience and Shakespeare would use this as an opportunity do demonstrate that in the attempt to reclaim one’s arbitrary fate tragedy is what awaits the individual.

Question 3

WTF: Romeo

Answer 3

• Shakespeare uses Romeo to engage with the idiosyncrasies of his time, in order to:

CRITICISE - patriarchy principals and its fatal consequences

TEACH - The importance of equality within society and the consequences of marginalisation.

HIGHLIGHT - The importance of accepting humans for humans, and the consequences of not doing so.

Question 4

ROMEO QUOTATION BANK.

Answer 4

'’Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out and makes himself an artificial night’’

'’O brawling love, O loving hate’’

'’O she is rich in beauty only poor that when she dies with beauty dies her store’’

'’O doth she teach the torches to burn bright!’’

'’As a rich jewel on an Ethiop’s ear’’

'’O sweet Juliet, thy beauty hath made me effeminate, and my temper soften’d valour’s steel!’’

'’Away to heaven, respective lenity and fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now’’

'’O, I am fortunes fool’’

'’Tears augmenting the fresh morning due’’

'’Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well-governed youth’’

‘“There is no world without Verona walls, / But purgatory, torture, hell itself. / Hence banished is banish’d from the world, / And world’s exile is death.”

Question 5

'’Shuts up his windows, locks_____’’

Answer 5

'’Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out and makes himself an artificial night’’

Question 6

'’As a rich jewel_____’’

Answer 6

'’As a rich jewel on an Ethiop’s ear’’

Question 7

'’O brawling love, ____’’

Answer 7

'’O brawling love, o loving hate’’.

(always mention and conflicting emotions - syntactic parallelism, on line 13 of his speech in act 1 scene 1 act Rosaline, suggests Romeo’s love is imperfect and this is reflected through his lascivious description of Juliet - link to capricious and fickle, comma = emotional divide’’

Question 8

'’O, I am_____’

Answer 8

'’O, I am fortune’s fool!’’

• exclamation mark = assertion, no room for interpretation - Romeo has revealed his poignant fate and now conflict is shifted from Romeo versus his emotions to Romeo versus his fate - I defy you stars.

^^I defy you stars has syntactic parallelism.

Question 9

'’O she doth teach____’’

Answer 9

'’O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!’’

Question 10

'’O she is rich in beauty___’’

Answer 10

'’O she is rich in beauty only poor that when she dies, with beauty dies her store’’

• semantic field of objectification. created they antithesis
• syntactic parallelism
• comma
• foreshadowing through repetition of dies
• Plosive alliteration
  ^^1 INT = lustful
  ^^OR - could be arguing the fleeting nature of beauty - Romeo and his emotional maturity? - Juliet’s beauty does not transcend death?..

^^WTF - To teach E audience of the importance of placing value on true love rather than materialistic and carnal desires.

Question 11

'’O sweet Juliet, thy beauty ___’’

Answer 11

'’O sweet Juliet, thy beauty hath made me effeminate and my temper soften’d valour’s steel’’.

Question 12

'’Away to heaven respective lenity___’’

Answer 12

'’Away to heaven respective lenity and let fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now!’’