Theme- Isolation Flashcards
How does Shakespeare present love?
-Unrequited
-Elevated and holy
-Physical
-Linked with violence and death
How is unrequited love portrayed?
Through Romeo’s infatuation with Rosaline. Instead of bringing him joy he becomes depressed as his love is one-sided and she doesn’t feel the same way.
In Act 1 Scene 1 what language technique does Romeo use to express his emotions about love?
He uses a range of oxymorons. “O brawling love, O loving hate”. “brawl” and “love” represent the contrast between Romeo and Juliet’s love with the quarreling and violence of the family feud.
Name some of the oxymorons that Romeo uses in Act 1 Scene 1.
“feather of lead,” “bright smoke,” “cold fire”, “sick health”
When Romeo lists oxymorons in Act 1 Scene 1 when talking about love what does this show?
-Romeo is unable to comprehend what is in front of him (confused about love)
-immature and inexperienced
-foreshadows how R+J’s love will be linked to violence
What is an asyndetic listing?
When words are joined without the use of conjunction but with commas instead.
“too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden, too like the lightning”. What technique is Juliet using here?
Asyndetic listing
“too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden, too like the lightning”- Act 2 Scene 2. What does this show about Romeo’s character when Juliet says this about him?
He is someone who is reckless and impulsive and possibly a foreshadowing of how he doesn’t handle love well.
How does R+J’s first meeting contrast to their last?
The pure and chaste religious imagery contrasts with their last when the imagery becomes sexualized. In Act 5 Scene 3 they both commit suicide which some see as the ultimate sin.
In Act 5 Scene 3 the imagery becomes sexualized. How is this presented?
-Romeo drinks the poison from a round viall which in Elizabethan times was an allusion to female sexuality
-Juliet kills herself with a dagger- a phallic symbol that could also be seen as representing a re-consummation of the marriage
R+J die together. What does this show?
-eternal devotion
-Juliet was controlled by Romeo
In what states are love presented?
Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
Act 1 Scene 4, “love be rough with you, be rough with love.” -Mercutio. How would you analyze this quote?
This eludes to the sexual nature of love which is physical and not pure. Love being “rough” is evident in how Romeo is suffering from unrequited love.
Act 2 Scene 1, “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes,/ By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,/ By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh”- Mercutio. What effect does this quote have?
It subverts the convention of romantic poetry. Reducing what was previously a love-filled romance for Rosaline to nothing but a sexual description of her body.
What are the Friar’s views on love?
That love isn’t something from the heart. “Young men’s love lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes”. Or this could be Shakespeare suggesting that love is superficial.
