How does Shakespeare guide our responses to the main characters in Romeo and Juliet Essay Example For Students

How does Shakespeare guide our responses to the main characters in Romeo and Juliet? Essay In a play we as the audience learn about its characters by their speech, actions, tone of voice and their stage directions. It is usually very easy to see a characters personality in a play as the playwright usually makes it easy to understand who is Good and who is bad. It must be remembered that an Elizabethan audience would respond slightly differently to the characters as we do as nowadays people have more cynical views. One character that the audience take immediate dislike to is Tybalt. He is obviously an evil character and consequently one the audience dislikes straight away. In Act I he is aggressive and insulting towards Benvolio, who is trying to keep the peace between the Capulets and Montagues. He says What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee. His repetition of the word hate shows his aggressive nature. From this you can also conclude he is a character who loves to fight, resulting in our feelings of dislike for him. On the other hand one character who we feel sympathy for is Romeo, even before he is encountered in the play. Montague and Benvolio first mention him, discussing the way he is acting. We find out he has been troubled for some time, often sighted on his own, obviously upset. This makes the audience feel sympathetic towards him. When we finally encounter him we find out the cause- he is a victim of unrequited love with Rosaline. He says This love feel I, that feel no love in this., meaning he loves but is not loved in return. He comes across as lovesick and confused at the beginning of the play. This is shown through his poetic, exaggerated language throughout Act 1, Scene 1. One Example is his use of oxymorons when conversing with Benvolio. For example O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first create, O heavy lightness, serious vanity. This shows just how confused he really is. At this point in the play we almost feel that Romeo is pathetic and unworthy of respect, because we have a more cynical view of love but an Elizabethan audience would most likely feel different and show great sympathy for him. When Romeo meets Juliet he comes across as a more genuine character, using religious language to describe Juliets beauty. For Example If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. He is more smitten now that he realises he didnt love Rosaline, as shown Act 1, Scene 5. He quotes Did my heart feel love till now? Forswear it, sight, for I neer saw true beauty till this night. Although the audience still think he could be exaggerating again and his love may actually be physical attraction (as with Rosaline) and he may be being fickle again, as backed up by the opinion of the Friar. He Says Young mens love then lies not truly from their hearts, but in their eyes, He is less pathetic now, more pure and innocent, more blinded by Juliets beauty. An Elizabethan audience would be more believing of Romeo, as they strongly believed in fate. The fight scene between Romeo and Tybalt is one of huge consequence and one that shows a totally different side to Romeo. After hearing news of Tybalt killing Mercutio, Romeo is enraged and seeks out Tybalt to kill him. This shows some similarity with Tybalt, in the way that Romeo can be aggressive and thoughtless of consequence. He seeks him out and kills him in a furious state. Romeo is shocked by his own actions, blaming not himself but fate for what he has done. O, I am fortunes fool! he shouts in act III after killing Tybalt. This gives us the impression that Romeo is irresponsible for his own actions, which makes us lose respect for him. However, to an Elizabethan audience this would have been seen as fates fault, as they had strong beliefs in this, and would strongly sympathise with him. As a consequence of murdering Tybalt, Romeo is banished from Verona. At this he is heartbroken, as it means he will never see Juliet again. He goes to Friar Lawrence and talks to him about it and what he will do. He acts very immaturely; having a tantrum about having to leave Verona and Juliet, telling the friar he would rather be killed. He says Hadst thou no potion mixed, no sharp-ground knife, No sudden mean of death, though neer so mean, But banished to kill me? Banished! It is now that the Friar acts as a father, giving him advice and telling him that he is better off leaving than losing his life. Romeo shows another side of his personality childishness and immaturity but this changes at the end when he shows nobility and loyalty to Juliet by taking his life, because he believes she is dead. Our opinions of him change throughout the play due to his actions, speech and Friar Lawrences viewpoints on him. Juliet also changes throughout the play. In Act 1 our initial impression of her is that she is an obedient young teenager. We find out that she is only 13 years of age quite early on in scene 3 of Act 1, when her mother (Lady Capulet) and Nurse discuss marriage between her and Paris. The Nurse says Critical Analysis of Presentations Essay Thou counterfeits a bark, a sea, a wind; For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea Describing her as bark (trees), the sea, the wind, which are all beautiful natural things. It is also apparent that he has only the best intentions for Juliet, as he puts a lot of effort into the arrangements of the wedding. When he finds out that Juliet refuses to marry, he gets very aggressive and cruel towards her, threatening her and calling her names. He says Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds, But fettle your fine joints gainst Thursay next, To go with Paris to Saint Peters Church, Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. Out you green-sickness carrion! Out you baggage! You tallow-face, meaning that if she does not comply with his plans he will force her to go anyway. He carries on, saying Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church o Thursday, Or never after look me in the face. Speak not, reply not, do not answer me. My fingers itch. Stating that if she doesnt go along with it he will lose all respect for her forever after. The saying of my fingers itch. shows how aggressive he really is, as this means that he wants to hit her, which is more shocking to a modern audience than an Elizabethan audience. However our opinion of him changes at the end of the play, when he nobly joins together in peace with the Montagues, after all of the deaths. The nurse plays the role of Juliets second mother, and this bond is strengthened by the similarity between Juliet and Susan, the nurses late daughter, so they play important roles in each others lives as Mother and daughter. She calls her a lamb and a lady-bird, representing Juliets innocence. The nurse helps with the relationship between Romeo and Juliet by acting as a messenger, a go-between. She is a very frustrating, crude old woman at times, especially in scene 2 of act 3, where she explains that Romeo has killed Tybalt by merely shouting Ah well-a-day! Hes dead, hes dead, hes dead! We are undone, lady, we are undone, Alack the day, hes gone, hes killed, hes dead! Confusing Juliet into thinking that Romeo is dead. We feel sympathetic for the nurse in act 4 scene 5, when she is devastated by finding Juliet (apparently) dead. She shouts O lamentable day! O heavy day! Shes dead, deceased, shes dead, alack the day! O lamentable day! the repetition of the O shows her misery and sorrow for the death of Juliet. When this is said, the emotional reaction stimulated by the fake death makes the audience feel that Juliets actions were selfish and thoughtless. Friar Lawrence is to Romeo what the nurse is to Juliet, a substitute parent who cares for Romeo as a son, he says Too familiar is my dear son with such sour company. The friar also tries to help Romeo and Juliet in a lot of ways, including actually marrying them in act 2, showing his good intentions towards their relationship. The friar also is a character who mirrors the audiences feelings of Romeo, he says Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline that thou didst love so dear So soon forsaken? Young mens love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. Which mirrors our feelings of Romeos rapid change of heart in Rosaline. He does it again in act 3, he says O deadly sin! O rude thankfulness! Thy fault our law calls death but the kind Prince, Taking thy part, hath rushed aside the law, And turned that black word death to banishment. This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not. This also mirrors our feelings of Romeo at the news of his banishment. An audience nowadays has a differing opinion of Friar Lawrence than an Elizabethan audience because he in the Elizabethan era would have been seen as a bad friar and one that aids rebellion. A modern audience would see him as a man who helps lovers relationships bloom. The play covers many themes, some of love, tragedy, death, family feuds, hatred and passion, the most obvious being tragedy. It is a tragedy because the main characters commit suicide at the end because they cannot live without eachother. Some good comes out of the tragedy though, as the Capulets and Montagues join in peace at the end. Romeo and Juliet are in a way to blame for the outcome of their relationship, but the Elizabethan audience would strongly believe that their fates were totally to blame. Shakespeare uses fate a lot in the play to provoke sympathy for those who have unlucky fates. In a play we as the audience learn about its characters by their speech, actions, tone of voice and their stage directions, as stated before. Shakespeare uses fate and dramatic irony intentionally to provoke sympathetic reactions to characters in the play and affect our responses and emotions about different situations. Different audiences in different times in differing societies can interpret the play many different ways, which is probably the reason why it was and still is such a popular play today.