Romeo & Juliet Flashcards
“death mark’d love”
Prologue
A01:
Shakespeare uses the prologue as a structural device to foreshadow the destruction that fate will ultimately bring by suggesting the forbidden love is doomed.
A02:
malignant (evil) noun phrase suggesting death was inevitable and ill fated IAAI the feud cannot be cured so claims the lives of Romeo and Juliet
imagery of the grim reaper connotes a darkly masked man marking them for hell
A03:
during the Great Plague a cross was marked on the victim’s house, Elizabethan audiences would recognise the inevitability of death for the young lover’s “mark’d love”
“Woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart”
“her consent”
Lord Capulet
Act 1 Scene 2
A01
Lord Capulet replies to Paris after he asks for her hand in marriage saying to woo her and get “her consent”
A02
**romantic verb “woo” **suggests at this part in the play Lord Capulet is actually more of a loving father, caring about Juliet’s wellfare
the graceful adjective “gentle” suggests Paris is a gentleman in a world of boys and brutes and Lord Capulet can see this as he urges Paris to attain Juliet’s heart and “her consent”
A03
the importance of getting familial approval but also Juliet’s status as a woman giving her no control over any choices in her life.
“O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!”
-Romeo
Act 1 Scene 5
AO1: This moment establishes him as driven by beauty and he is easily led into romantic feelings.
AO2: Overwhelmed interjection “O” he is awestruck by her beauty and presence
alliterative plosives “teach/torches” and “burn/bright” adds to his excited tone and heightened emotional state.
AO3: Context
women weren’t supposed to shine or be a bright presence perhaps this foreshadows Juliet’s atypical charisma and boldness
“It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden”
-Juliet
Act 2 Scene 2
A01:
Juliet rejects Romeo’s first marriage proposal being more mature and realising the predicament they are actually in
A02:
Triplet of pejorative (disapproving) adjectives shows her initial caution in contrast to Romeo’s whirlwind of strong emotions.
analeptic list shows she is too overwhelmed and caught up in the moment to pause and say and
A03:
Contemporary audiences would understand as they also had to be shaperoned and were not allowed to simply be with someone if their parents did not aprove.
“These violent delights have violent ends.”
A01
Friar Lawrence warns Romeo of the perils that await the couple lest they rush into the marriage he is about to perform, he is saying that it is risky and could go horribly wrong.
A02
Witty aphorism suggest the Friar has perhaps seen other lovers commit a hasty marriage and feels the need to warn Romeo who is practically his adopted son about what could happen when his parents find out he married the daughter of the feuding family.
The dreaded foreshadowing reflects on the prologue and how their love is “death mark’d” both the Friar’s warning and the prologue darkly link to the tragic end of the play when the lovers both commit suicide.
A03
Shakespeare may want to portray the love that step parents have for their children and although the Friar is not Romeo’s biological father he has been the most involved in his life and is understandably more pensive on Romeo’s behalf
“Juliet/ Thy beauty hath made me effeminate/ And in my temper softened valour’s steel”
-Romeo
Act 3 Scene 1
AO1: He thinks Juliet’s ‘beauty’ has distracted and weakened him making him more feminine.
AO2: derogatory adjective “effeminate” implies he is childish and has no qualms belittling his love with Juliet to nothing more than her beauty as a troublesome distraction.
The jellifying verb “softened”- suggests he blames Juliet for making him less of a man showing he cannot take responsibility and is immature in his views of love.
AO3: He feels pressure to fulfil the Renaissance masculine ideal and modern readers may sympathise with him as he dismisses the gender roles of the time.
“O I am fortune’s fool”
Act 3 Scene 1
A01
Romeo is immediately devastated and extremely regretful for the homicide of Tybalt.
A02
the self deprecating “0” suggests Romeo feels bleak as he realises the mistake he has made later cursing his fortune that he would rile the families against another after his murder of Tybalt.
breathless fricatives “fortune’s fool” emphasise Romeo’s self pitty and highlight his incapacity to take responisibilty for his actions, once again blaming fate and fortune for his misdoings just like he blames Juliet for making him “effeminate” and weak
A03
Many modern audience members who no longer believe in the controlling force of fate would despair at Romeo’s attempt to blame his fortune and his inability to take responsibility for his actions.
“Mistress minion”
Act 3 scene 5
(pepper)
A01
Capulet is furious that Juliet is refusing to heed his instructions so he turns to her and shouts “Mistress minion” hoping to cower her into submission.
A02
diminishing allietrative noun phrase
A03
a daughter is the property of her father until she is the porperty of her husband
“My finger’s itch”
Act 3 Scene 5
A01
Capulet threatens to hit Juliet when she refuses to marry Paris and suggests she follows his instructions or be disowned.
A02
violent euphemism (in place of another word) “itch”suggests he would prefer to beat Juliet to get her to submit than to rationally discuss the options with his daughter.
The juxtaposition is highlighted when Lord Capulet’s attitude towards Juliet takes a dramatic shift in Act 3 Scene 5, he goes from a loving atypical Elizabethan father to a more patriarchal typical contemporary father.
A03
Shakespeare may want to highlight the personality shift that can occur when people are faced with increasing deadlines or are denied something they have never been denied before, eg Lord Capulet is denied Juliet’s submission for the first time.
“Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, here’s a drink! I drink to thee”
Act 4 Scene 3
A01
Juliet takes drastic action to be reunited with her love Romeo, she takes solace in his name and finds the courage to take the poison.
A02
The chantlike triplet connotes an almost ceremonial like trance to the scene, it suggests Juliet wishes to summon Romeo to her rather than having to go through the ordeal of the poison, she is understandably scared to never wake up again
The joyous visual imagery of the toast implies a celebratory gesture however in this context it seems macabre and ill-timed, highlighting Juliet’s mental decline as she is separated from Romeo.
A03
A critic once said “Juliet has taken her life into her own hands” perhaps Shakespeare wants to embrace a woman’s need for independence in a protofeministic way.
“I defy you, stars!”
-Romeo
Act 5 Scene 1
AO1: Romeo wants to go against the stars as he blames fate for Juliet’s death.
AO2: The argumentative verb “defy” - suggests he cannot accept Juliet’s death may be remotely his fault and instead blames fate, showing his conceited view of life.
astronomical noun “stars”- links back to the prologue where the narrator describes R&J as “star-crossed lovers” and the theme of fate is linked to again even at the end of the play as Romeo curses the stars for his misfortunes.
AO3: Elizabethans believed that the stars controlled thier fate much like modern readers may believe zodiac signs predict their personality.
O, give me thy hand / One writ with me in sour misfortune’s book”
Act 5 Scene 3
A01
after murdering Paris at the entrance to Juliet’s tomb Romeo despairs at his and Paris’ own misfortunes and
“I’ll bury thee in a triumphant grave”
Act 5 Scene 3
Pepper
“Here’s to my love!”[drinks]
-Romeo
Act 5 Scene 3
AO1: Romeo’s last ditch effort to join Juliet even if it means joining her in death.
AO2: devoted tone he marginally redeems himself and changes his previous self-obsessed views. This shows a small amount of character development as he demonstrates his “love” for Juliet in a permanent way.
persevering verb “[drinks]” shows his determination to change his typical characteristics and take responsibility. His hamartia of ‘doing before thinking’ seals the play’s end in tragedy and solidifies his death.
AO3: Shakespeare may want to portray the chaotic whirlwind of emotions that grief can cause and a modern audience may sympathize with the Romeo, knowing the cycle of grief.
“All are punished”
Act 5 Scene 3
