Romeo

Quotes analysis

“I defy you starts!”

• He is openly opposing to fate when he finds Juliet “dead”.

• Sadly, in “defying” fate he actually brings it about. Romeo’s suicide prompts Juliet to kill herself, thereby ironically fulfilling the lovers’ tragic destiny.

“Oh I’m fortune’s fool!”

• Luck = fate.

• If fate deals us a good hand, we call ourselves lucky. If not, we become fortune’s fool, as Romeo lamented.

• The alliteration of "f" sounds disgusted, because when you say "f", it makes your lip curl, implying that fate is a nefarious force for Romeo.

“Juliet is the sun.”

• Soliloquy

• Metaphor

• Romeo is looking up at Juliet’s window and the light comes on, referring to Juliet as the sun. It can be argued that he is implying Juliet as Holy since he is:

  1. Looking up, in the direction of Heaven, which was very valued and believed during the Elizabethan era.

  2. Looking up and implyng that she is superior to him, which can demonstrate his dedication to Juliet since seeing a human as holy was considered a sin during Elizabethan era.

  3. The light can imply her graciouness and brightness. Highlihting the impact she has on his life like a blessing.

  4. The metaphor also suggests that Juliet is the centre of his life, which can be interpreted as a sin since he could be diminishing God.

“O brawling love! O loving hate!”

• Oxymoron

• The verb 'brawl' is used as an adjective here and has connotations of fighting. The oxymoron between 'brawling' and 'love' foreshadows that love and conflict is intertwined - comes from prologue 'star crossed' - their fate
  He is speaking in a blank verse at this time which contrasts with the sonnet structure with an iambic pentameter - sacred true love

• One could argue that the repetition of the poetic apostrophe 'O' phonetically mimics the anguish Romeo feels and and when coupled with the paradoxical nature of Shakespeare's vocabulary, 'loving hate', it stresses the seemingly inescapable inner turmoil that is consuming Romeo.