What are our expectations for the play to come Essay Example For Students

What are our expectations for the play to come? Essay By what means does Shakespeare establish the main themes and characters and engage his audience in the Prologue and Act 1 sc I of Romeo and Juliet? What are our expectations for the play to come? Romeo and Juliet is a perennial and universal play, tracking two young lovers, faced with adversity as they try to build they lives together, but inevitably end up dead because of their families ancient feud. Before we even meet Romeo in Act 1 sc I we know he is lovesick when his father and Benvolio are discussing him saying, so early walking did I see your son, he gladly fled from me, and shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, showing that Romeo just wants to be by himself, he is avoiding his friends and just finding it hard to sleep. When we finally meet him the first thing he says is, is the day so young, showing that time is dragging for him. We are shown that love rules you when Romeo says that love should be so tyrannous and rough in proof! indicating that love has overwhelmed him and it has been afflicted on him. When Romeo says, Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, we see love being presented as suffering and tragic. We see that Romeo has lost himself when he says I have lost myself, I am not here, this is not Romeo, hes some other where, and because he is speaking in the third person we see that he is longing to find himself. We will write a custom essay on What are our expectations for the play to come? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In his description of Rosaline, Romeo says, From Loves weak childish bow she lives uncharmed, showing that his love is not being returned. But we still have an expectation that Romeo will always love Rosaline, when he says, thou canst not teach me to forget, and so we dont expect that by the next act Romeo will be out of love with Rosaline and in love with Juliet. In Romeos riddle, this love fell I that fell no love in this, we see his ambivalence and his contradictory feelings. He uses the oxymoron, Do I live dead? showing that he has conflicting emotions. The sonnet spoken between Romeo and Juliet in Act 1 sc 5 in which Romeo says, holy shrine and blushing pilgrims shows that they are devoted to each other and it also shows Romeos worship of Juliet and courtly love. In the Princes speech we have lots of imagery such as, neighbour-stained steel and, purple fountains issuing from your veins, showing that their fighting is destructive and that the feud is ancient. When we first meet Tybalt we know that he is going to cause trouble when he says, what, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee, showing that he is provocative and Shakespeares use of tripling emphasises that he is a menace and he really looks down at the Capulets. We know that Romeo hates the fighting when he says, yet tell me not, which shows he doesnt want to know about the fighting and we have the fact that he is not involved in the first fight scene but ironically he still dies. We see there is animosity between the Capulets and the Montagues when the Prince says, thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets, showing that it has happened more than once and it is very unlikely that Romeo and Juliet will ever get together. We see a twist in Act 3 sc I when Romeo says, away to heaven, respective lenity, and fire-eyed fury be my conduct now! showing that he is going to avenge Mercutios death. This is the moment in the play where everything falls apart. .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 , .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .postImageUrl , .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 , .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:hover , .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:visited , .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:active { border:0!important; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:active , .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24 .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u072e2f8bc81cccad3a86edae5b9cbf24:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Commentary - Shakespeare Hamlet EssayIn the Prologue three keys phrases standout and show us that Romeo and Juliet are fated to love and fated to die. They are, fatal loins, star-crossed lovers, and death marked love, which show that no matter what Romeo and Juliet do there fate is already decided and they cannot change the future. In the other acts, we have the repetition of the word star in the line, my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars show that Romeo has a sense of foreboding and that all is not going to be right. When Juliet first realises who Romeo is she says, my grave is like to be my wedding bed, and my only love sprung from my only hate, sho wing that she is astonished that she fell in love with her familys mortal enemy, she knows all will not go well in there relationship because her parents will not let her marry him because of the ancient feud between the families. When Romeo kills Tybalt he says, Oh I am fortunes fool, showing it is inevitable that he kills him and the Gods have cursed him. It is Tybalts absolute determination to fight with Romeo when he comes to the Capulets party, which inevitably decides the two lovers fate. What is extremely weird about this play is that we are told what will happen before the play begins and yet all throughout the play we are hooked, because we want to know how what happens, happens. There is a contrast in tone from the beginning of Act 1 sc I to the end of Act 1 sc I. At the beginning we have Sampson and Gregory being crude and vulgar and at the end we have Romeo and Benvolio talking about Romeos love for Rosaline. There is also the matter of the Public conflict of the families and the Private conflict of Romeo. We see the echo of Act 1 sc I to Act 3 sc I which is a theme in five act plays- the twist is always in the third act. Apart from the issue of love and lovesickness, this play is very irrelevant to 21st century life. For instance Juliet relies heavily on her parents, and she has to have parental consent for everything, whereas in this day and age if we loved someone and our parents dont approve, it doesnt matter because there is always a way for people to be together.