❤️🔥 Romeo and Juliet Flashcards
(5 cards)
Introduction?
Said to be written between 1594 and 1596, William Shakespeare’s most renowned play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ centres on the juxtaposing themes of love and hate and explores the fatal consequences of forbidden romance. Shakespeare strategically chose to set his play in Italy, a country synonymous with passion yet also aggression, to critique 16th century society while seemingly depicting a foreign culture to evade offending the Queen. The play circumnavigates both internal and external conflict- alluding to the intertwined themes of love and hate- and exploring [ question topic ] in a time of religious and political turmoil.
Romeo Quotations?
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‘bright smoke, cold fire, sick health’
The frequent use of oxymoronic language could mimic Romeo’s conflicting emotions. Alternatively, this could allude to the idea of Romeo being a hopeless romantic.
The phrase ‘bright smoke’ reflects Romeo’s perception of love as something beautiful yet elusive with the ‘smoke’ comparing love to a mirage, something that is fleeting, ambiguous, and unsubstantial.
The oxymoron ‘cold fire’ further reinforces the conflicting emotions Romeo experiences in love with ‘fire’ representing intense passion yet the adjective ‘cold’ portrays how he is left emotionally frozen.
This duality mirrors the traditions of courtly love and foreshadows how Romeo’s passion will contribute to the tragedy later in the play.
‘Did my heart love till now?’
This presents Romeo as fickle and makes it clear that Romeo is a hopeless romantic. The use of this rhetorical question presents how quickly his emotions have changed from a state of depression to happiness and love.
‘Fire eyed fury be my conduct now’
This fricative statement from Romeo serves to reinforce his rage. ‘Fire’ has connotations to hell, which would have shocked contemporary audiences as 16th century society was highly religious. Alternatively the fricative alliteration creates a breathy effect, emphasising how deep and intense Romeo’s emotions are.
This expresses Romeo’s changing emotions as he is driven by violence, his desire for revenge, and sheer anger. In contrast, this highlights how he respects the Elizabethan value of honour as he is doing this to protect Mercutio’s honour.
This illustrates that whilst Romeo is most definitely a hopeless romantic, he also has the capacity for fur and violence.
‘Thus with a kiss I die’
This Romeo’s final soliloquy which indicates the amplified strength of his emotions/ feelings towards Juliet as death pales in comparison to love.
Romeo appears at peace with death, reinforcing the depth of his love for Juliet, as he sees dying as a way to be eternally united with her in the afterlife.
Structurally, Romeo’s soliloquy is longer than Juliet’s, reinforcing the intensity of his feelings and highlights how the main themes of love and hate are intertwined.
Juliet Quotations?
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‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’
In her soliloquy, the triadic repetition of ‘Romeo’ has an accumulative effect on the reader and emphasises and emphasises the extent of her longing for Romeo.
This subverts the preconcieved gender- based societal norms as both Juliet and Romeo speak in sonet form, which was typically a masculine way to express ones love.
This is written in iambic pentameter which mimics a heartbeat thus emphasising Juliet’s strong, heartfelt emotions.
‘Serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face’
Shakespeare uses the pivotal role of religion in 16th century society to emphasise Juliet’s strong emotions (question topic)
The animal imagery of the ‘serpant’ is used to symbolise the stealth and slyness of Romeo’s apparent betrayal.
The phrase ‘flow’ring face’ is used to allude to the snake that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, which is often depicted with a head resembling a flower.
Through this interpretation, it is evident that Juliet feels as though she has been tempted and then entrapped by Romeo and his undying love.
‘O happy dagger’
This is her final soliloquy
Juliet’s oxymoronic proclamation demonstrates her relief at the prospect of ending her life and being with Romeo in the after life.
The placement of the words ‘happy’ and ‘dagger’ mimics the both the internal conflict of Juliet and the conflict that has existed between the two families which leads to the death of Juliet.
Her suicide highlights the detrimental consequences of hate in society and her sacrifice due to love, is ultimately what ends the feud.
The way in which she kills herself presents her as rebellious, expressing how she is escaping the societal expectations placed upon women in a period where they were expected to be passive and mild.
Conflict/ Hatred/ Male Aggression Quotations?
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‘Do you bite your thumb at us sir?’
This insult is repeated by the servants, presenting their antagonistic actions and capturing the tension which exists between the two house holds.
Shakespeare builds dramatic tension and expresses the aggressive sense of masculinity the servants possess, which fuels the destructive nature of the feud.
The verb ‘bite’ has connotations of violence and intent to harm, showing how the conflict between the families has manifested into physical, deadly forms.
‘Peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee’
This makes it clear that Tybalt is a character who perpetuates the conflict between the families.
The accumulative effect of this triadic structure reinforces how fierce his hatred is and how ‘peace’ is a repulsive word to him and a concept which he doesn’t believe in.
The fricative ‘hate hell’ creates a breathy effect, reinforcing to the audience how Tybalt is the main antagonist and that whenever he is present, violence will follow.
‘A plague o’ both your houses’
Mercutio’s angry cursing suggests that he is blaming the feud for his tragedy. He believes that this conflict will lead to dire consequences.
The word ‘plague’ has connotations to disease and infection, symbolising how the feud is a disease that is spreading through Verona, poisoning relationships, and killing people in it’s path. This would have been petrifying to contemporary audiences as ‘plague’ was a symbol of death, evoking fear and reinforcing the fatal consequences of conflict.
Mercutio’s words also criticize the culture of male aggression and honour, suggesting that pride-fuelled violence is not noble, but fatal- foreshadowing the deaths of Tybalt, Romeo, and Juliet.
‘O happy dagger’
Juliet’s oxymoronic proclamation demonstrates her relief at the prospect of ending her life and being with Romeo in the after life.
The placement of the words ‘happy’ and ‘dagger’ mimics the both the internal conflict of Juliet and the conflict that has existed between the two families which leads to the death of Juliet.
Her suicide highlights the detrimental consequences of hate in society and her sacrifice due to love, is ultimately what ends the feud.
The way in which she kills herself presents her as rebellious, expressing how she is escaping the societal expectations placed upon women in a period where they were expected to be passive and mild.
Parent and Child relationships/ Lord Capulet Quotations?
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‘Ancient grudge’
Written in the prologue, this line connotes hatred and foreshadows the wider theme of the play from an early standpoint.
The adjective ‘ancient’ that this conflict has occurred for many years yet many of the family members (including Lord Capulet) are sill disillusioned to it and it’s consequences. This could argue that idea that Shakespeare wrote the play to critique the men of the Elizabethan era.
Alternatively, the adjective ‘ancient’ could also be representative of a fossil which is deeply routed within the earth. Reflecting how hatred is deeply routed within the families.
The noun ‘grudge’ creates an enduring sense of hatred and could foreshadow the violent scenes in the play and the ending itself.
‘My child is yet a stranger in this world’
Emphasises Juliet’s innocence and naivete, reinforcing that the decision that Capulet made (not letting Paris marry her) was a sensible one as he doesn’t want to damage her innocence and youth.
The noun ‘stranger’ may suggest that, as a result of Capulet’s protectiveness, Juliet is unaware of life outside her home as women during the era wouldn’t have been allowed out without their husbands.
Alternatively, the noun ‘stranger’ could link to Paris, representing Capulet’s concern over his daughter marrying someone that she isn’t familiar with and the dangers which could come with it. Arguably, this establishes the notion that Capulet is a good father who wants the best for Juliet.
‘disobedient wretch’
Despite Capulet’s initial representation of being a caring father who only wants the best for Juliet, his personality undergoes a cataclysmic change when Juliet refuses his wish for her to marry Paris.
The adjective ‘disobedient’ presents how Capulet believes Juliet has strayed away from the preconceived notion that men are able to dominate over women. Illustrating how Capulet has failed to demonstrate his assertiveness over her.
‘hang, bed, starve, die in the streets’
The asyndetic list of violent verbs amalgamate to create a semantic field of death, reinforcing Capulet’s failures as a father as he cares more about his honour and reputation than his daughter’s life.
The use of the verb ‘hang’ could be reminiscent of punishment of the era, implying that Capulet now views Juliet as having committed a crime because she has betrayed the socially accepted behaviours of women in the patriarchal society. This would be understood by contemporary audiences however modern audiences would be appalled.
‘O’ happy dagger’
Juliet’s oxymoronic proclamation demonstrates her relief at the prospect of ending her life and being with Romeo in the after life.
The placement of the words ‘happy’ and ‘dagger’ mimics the both the internal conflict of Juliet and the conflict that has existed between the two families which leads to the death of Juliet.
Her suicide highlights the detrimental consequences of hate in society and her sacrifice due to love, is ultimately what ends the feud.
The way in which she kills herself presents her as rebellious, expressing how she is escaping the societal expectations placed upon women in a period where they were expected to be passive and mild.
