school cards Flashcards
‘the fearful passage of their death-mark’d love’
Prologue
-Romeo and Juliet are on a predetermined journey that will end in death, even their love cannot overcome this -the adjective ‘fearful’ emphasises the harm and pain that will come to Romeo and Juliet, both physically and mentally
-The lovers lives are describes using the image of a ‘passage’, a predetermined route with only one possible way out, as if their destiny was already set.
-we are introduced to the constant battle between love and hate through the juxtaposing ‘death markd love’ suggesting that their love has already been tainted. Shakespeare makes it explicit that they will die and the audience therefore anticipates this throughout.
-many of Shakespeares audience will have had a firm belief in fate. prologue spoken by a chorus is a greek tragic convention. Dramatic irony is evident within the prologue as the audience has an awareness that the characters will die but the characters on stage do not.
