Romeo

locks fair daylight out… makes himself an artificial night [lord montague]- 1.1

with tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew [lord montague] - 1.1

• initially, romeo presents all the signs of a courtly lover as he is melancholy in his self-inflicted isolation

• the dichotomy between day and night reflects his conflicted emotions as he enjoys the idea of being in love with Rosaline

for beauty, starved with her severity, cuts beauty off from all posterity- 1.1

• he plays the role of the Patrarchan lover as he is forlorn and despondent, wallowing in his self-pity due to unrequited love

• he places emphasis on Rosaline’s outward appearance and aesthetics , portraying him to be materialistic with a depthless and ornamental view of women. This depicts him as having an overly romanticised and glamorised perception of love; he merely enjoys the idea of being in love

• he is primarily drawn to beauty, valuing this above all other traits , suggesting that he is merely inspired by lust rather than genuine affection

O brawling love, O loving hate… feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health - 1.1

• the sequential use of oxymorons represent the ineffable quality of love: it is contradictory and causes Romeo to be caught within the extreme binaries of courtly love

• this speech highlights his role as a Petrarchan lover , suffering from unrequited love

• may be a mockery of courtly love by Shakespeare

• Romeo’s professed love for Rosaline does incite doubt over the validity and sincerity of his true feelings for Juliet later

• Serves as a reminder of his young age, which makes him more vulnerable to experiencing the extremes of emotions

• Romeo shares his feelings with Benvolio, suggesting that love does not merely occur

  between two individuals; others can and will mediate the expressions and feelings of a relationship. - demonstrated through Benvolio’s advice to Romeo to ‘examine other beauties’

my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars… But he hath the steerage of my course - 1.4

• Romeo lacks control of his life, reinforcing the idea of fate, in which the events of his life are dictated by the ‘heavens’, essentially rendering him helpless and powerless to change the course of his short life.

• Shakespeare employs dramatic irony here as the audience are already anticipating the meeting of Romeo and Juliet and their eventual demise.

• Despite Romeo’s premonition, it is strong enough to deflect him away from the Capulet ball, as it quickly becomes irrelevant through Mercutio’s comic relief.

• Perhaps this quick dismissal of his doubt suggests the mercurial nature of youth, whilst also highlighting our tendency to ignore the things which install anxiety and fear within us.

• Alternatively, this may also foreshadow Romeo’s later hastiness and impetuousness as he fails to heed his own warnings and doubts.

• use of an allegory to represent Romeo as a ship and fate as the captain, thus signifying his passivity to higher power

some awful destiny that will result in [his] own untimely death- 1.5

• shows the power of fate which has pre-determined Romeo’s actions

• the concept that he has no free will may allow his actions to be viewed less as a character flaw and more objectively

• Shakespeare uses his hamartia (his impulsivity and tendency towards violence) as a narrative tool through which he communicates a plethora of morals to the audience

she doth teach the torches to burn bright … a snowy dove trooping with crows- 1.5

• use of light imagery to convey her beauty and radiance which she become defined by

• the contrasting bird imagery highlights her purity and innocence amongst the darkness in the world

• but much of this imagery used by Romeo is forced and hyperbolic , suggesting the superficial nature of his love as he is still playing the role of the courtly lover

• establishes the mercurial and changeable nature of Romeo’s love as he instantly begins to fawn over Juliet’s beauty- Juliet has immediately replaced Rosaline in his mind, claiming that Juliet surpasses all other women.

• It also speaks to the turbulent and

  overwhelming nature of love, as Romeo seemingly has no control over his emotions or affections once meeting Juliet.

it is the east and juliet is the sun - 2.2

• Romeo uses light imagery again in his soliloquy to describe Juliet as the most important object in his world, and the universe, illustrating his growing infatuation of her: the sun is the source of all life; Juliet vitalises Romeo

• This introduces another duality for the strength of their love to overturn- Juliet is so beautiful that she can transform the

  night into the day.

• alt- The light imagery also suggests the overwhelming, profound and even unwanted power of love; although Juliet is a vision of welcoming light and daybreak soon, both Romeo and Juliet will be wishing for nighttime when they can be together.

with love’s light wings did i o’erperch these walls - 2.2

• the dichotomy between abstract nouns like love with concrete nouns such as walls highlights how love can transcend border, using the allegory of flying over walls

• he makes a classical reference to cupid through this metaphor to make it apparent that his love is powerful enough to overcome physical boundaries

• iambic pentameter characterises him be to romantic and decorative in his language

both our remedies / Within thy help and holy physic lies- 2.3

• Romeo confides in the friar and views him as a paternal figure, and he becomes the sole receiver of his confession of intent to marry Juliet

• he characterises marriage to be a medicine, which in turn illustrates the family feud to be a sickness that pervades love and romance

reputation is stained - 3.1

• after Mercutio’s death, Romeo’s disposition becomes noticeably more vengeful; this moment serves as a turning point for him as it spurs his capacity for violence, rooted in patriarchal ideals of male honour

• he is ashamed of his reputation , a patriarchal concept which is derived from men taking pride in acting with violence against anyone who may threaten their good reputation

• this exemplifies the powerful influence and dominance of patriarchal ideals in society and their inevitable consequences

thy beauty hath made me effeminate… soften’d valour’s steel - 3.1

• romeo is presented as a blunt sword, symbolic of his emasculation as the inability to conform to male violence and failure to uphold male honour is considered feminine

• also shows violence to be an inherently masculine trait, implying femininity to be inferior, reflecting the societal attitudes towards women at the time

• he feels ashamed at the loss of his masculinity, which he blames juliet’s love for, and thus Romeo vowing to become more violent is symbolic of his attempt to regain his masculinity

• proves that violence is the result of a patriarchal society and male system of power

O I am fortune’s fool - 3.1

• Romeo blames fate for his current situation, although arguably it is the result of his own choices as his desire for revenge caused him to hastily kill Tybalt

• he presents himself as the object , indicating his passive perception of life and his inability to accept responsibility for his actions

• this highlights a flaw within Romeo: his hastiness and fickle nature

there is no world without Verona’s walls … heaven is here where Juliet lives… more validity lives in carrion flies than Romeo - 3.3

• shows Romeo’s hyperbolic manner of thought and his lack of rationality as he becomes consumed by his emotions

• exaggerates his despair and misery by suggesting that flies have a better existence than him because they are able to feel Juliet’s touch, also reinforcing his self-involved nature as he has not even considered Juliet’s feelings, only her in a physical sense

• he believes that the pain caused by the absence of love supersedes the pain of death and would prefer death to banishment without Juliet

thy tears are womanish , thy wild act denotes [friar] - 3.3

• the Friar is forced to respond to save Romeo from mortal sin following his expression of suicide idealisation

• he accuses him of being too emotional, also conveying the patriarchal ideals of women being overly emotional

• the friar exposes romeo’s loss of self by drawing analogy to a beast, implying a level of dehumanisation

more light and light, more dark and dark our woes - 3.5

• although light imagery was previously used by Romeo to express Juliet’s beauty, the dawn now brings pain, foreshadowing their demise and fate

• the shift in meaning of light throughout the play may be used by Shakespeare as it allows him to structurally represent the fickle and mercurial nature of love; it perhaps reflects how quickly love can change from being the cause of happiness and joy to the cause of pain, and ultimately, their death.

I defy you stars! - 5.1

• shakespeare creates a conflict between fate and the individual

• Romeo still believes that fate is keeping him away from Juliet and the use of the personal pronoun ‘you’ when addressing the stars as though they might reply, demonstrates his desperation

• romeo’s belief that he can defy fate suggests a self-assured hubris which will inevitably be followed by his destruction and downfall, mirroring the structure of the play

• alt- His outburst of emotion here appears to be more genuine, contrasting with his previous outbursts of misery whilst he was wallowing in self-inflicted melancholy, conforming to the role of a Petrarchan lover. Perhaps his rejection of fate signifies his maturation and growth since finding his lover for Juliet, as it is as if she has spurred his capacity to experience and voice genuine emotion

the world is not thy friend… thy gold, worse poison to men’s souls- 5.1

• Romeo visits an apothecary to bribe him for poison to end his life, and through their interaction, provides insight into Shakespeare’s criticisms of society with a Marxist perspective

• he illustrates society as being unfair as it favours the rich over those like the poor, frail apothecary. He blames money, greed and commerce for the flaws within society and presents a bleak world view

• alt- This could also be perceived as ironic, considering how the purpose of Romeo’s visit is to purchase poison as a means to end his own life, but he expresses that it is the money and greed which is the greatest poison and causes the greatest suffering in society.

shake the yoke of inauspicious stars- 5.3

• romeo still tries to defy fate, which he believes he can achieve through suicide, but ironically fulfils his destiny by doing this

• the dramatic irony set up in the prologue makes their deaths seem even more tragic and poignant

seal with a righteous kiss/ A dateless bargain to engrossing death- 5.3

• the juxtaposition between kiss and death illustrates Romeo’s final conflict between love and violence, having experienced the epitome of both.

• Their deaths can be viewed as a catalyst for peace, both for the protagonists, as they are able to reunite in death, and for society, as it marks the end of the family feud. Although the families reconcile and join hands as a symbol of their union, it is ultimately a phyrric victory in which the lovers’ sacrifice seems pointless

• The scene is also poignant and cathartic for the audience , magnified by the staging of their deaths (alongside Tybalt and Paris) as it visually encapsulates the waste of youth, beauty and love due to pettiness of a family feud.

• Shakespeare uses their suicide to demonstrate the fundamental flaws inherent in the Elizabethan deals of courtship and love , in that it is almost impossible to possess and express genuine love without causing violence too , in this case due to to politics and the ancient family feud