1. Romeo and Juliet Essay - a play with a tragic theme
This essay gives a general answer to a 'theme' question from a higher English past
paper.
Question -
Choose a play which involves a tragic theme and show how the dramatist makes the
play a moving experience for the audience. You may refer to structure, characterisation,
key scene(s) or any other appropriate feature.
Structure -
1. Introduction
2. The character of Romeo / the start of the play
3. Key scene - act 3, scene 1
4. Juliet‟s monologue
5. Conclusion
„Romeo and Juliet‟ is one of Shakespeare‟s best known stories and most celebrated
tragedies. In this essay I will show how the structure and characterisation of the play
make it a moving experience for an audience. The tragedy comes from the play‟s twin
themes of love and violence. The prologue suggests the „star-crossed lovers‟ will meet a
tragic end and in the first scene there is a brawl between the Capulet and Montague
families; the Prince forbids any fighting in public and shortly after this, we are introduced
to Romeo, who stands in contrast to the violent society of Verona.
Romeo represents the wide-eyed romantic who falls in love at first sight. who is pining
for his love Rosalind. He has missed the violence in the street. Mercutio and Benvolio
persuade him to attend the party at the Capulet‟s house where he meets Juliet. The
dialogue of the play emphasizes his rush of emotion at their first meeting: „She doth
teach the torches to burn bright‟. Comparing beauty to fire suggests that it can be a
destructive force. In contrast, Mercutio is a more down-to-earth character; he makes
rude jokes and puns at Romeo‟s expense and mocks his friend for being naïve and
idealistic.
The turning point of the play is act 3, scene 1. Before this, things have been going well
for the lovers. In the previous scene, they were married, after the Nurse and Friar
Benedict have given them advice and support. At the start of this scene, Mercutio mocks
Benvolio for being a troublemaker. When Tybalt arrives, Mercutio turns his jesting to
him. The tone of this dialogue is light rather than serious. When Romeo arrives, his
attitude towards Tybalt is that of reconciliation.
The death of Mercutio is accidental. He is wounded under Romeo‟s arm as he tries to
break up the fight. It can be played by the actors as horseplay that goes wrong.

2. Mercutiocontinues to joke as he dies, about his wound: „it is not as wide as a cellar door
but it may suffice‟. Comedy co-exists with tragedy through the course of the play;
however, with the death of Mercutio, the tone of the play changes as the lovers launch
their desperate plan.
The outcome of this scene is that the play ends in tragedy. The lovers make plans to
elope but bad luck and rash decisions mean that they both end up committing suicide.
Romeo is rash and idealistic, without the climate of violence created by the Capulets and
Montagues, the plan to escape with Juliet may well have worked. It is therefore difficult
to argue that the lovers were fated to die, even though this is the tone of the play‟s
prologue.
The events at the cemetery are foreshadowed by Juliet‟s final monologue:
I'll call them back again to comfort me.
Nurse!- What should she do here?
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.
The Nurse is a stabilising influence upon the young lovers, but at this point in the play
Juliet has rejected any further help, as she criticised her romance with Romeo. The
audience is prepared for the final scene in the graveyard - she fears waking up with
Tybalt‟s corpse in her family tomb. This symbolizes that her own family may represent
death to her – the world of brawling and one-upmanship is perhaps the factor that
caused her to fall in love with Romeo in the first place. Even though it puts her in
danger, Juliet would rather make her own decisions than do what is expected; and this
leads to the final tragedy of the double suicide.
In these ways, „Romeo and Juliet‟ is a tragic play which makes the audience think about
issues of love and violence. The fact that it may have ended happily makes it a moving
experience.
Posted by Bobby King at 04:08 No comments:
Labels: drama, essay, higher, Romeo And Juliet, Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet Essay Plan - Fate
Another 'Romeo and Juliet' essay. This is answers a theme question from a higher exam
paper. Is there a mystical force at work in the play? Or does the tragedy just come from
bad luck?
Question -
Choose a play in which a main theme is made clear early in the action. Show how the
dramatist introduces the theme and discuss how successfully he or she goes on to
develop it.

3. Shakespeare‟s „Romeo and Juliet‟ is a tale about a „love at first sight‟ which leads to
tragedy; its impact comes from the two lovers escaping their violent world through the
power of love, yet from the start of the play, there are hints that fate is against them.
During the Renaissance, beliefs in supernatural powers affecting human events were
commonplace and this is explored by various references in the play.
The prologue introduces the idea that „two star-crossed lovers take their life‟, This
suggests the events of the play have already been „written in the stars‟. This theme is
continued in Act I Scene V, where Romeo attends the Capulets masked ball to take his
mind off his unrequited love for Rosaline. There he sees the daughter of his families
sworn enemy, and the two fall in love at first sight. However, both are unaware of this
fact at the time and come to learn it later on in the night: „O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore
art thou Romeo?‟ The repetition of „Romeo‟ shows Juliets anguish, and her disbelief at
the minute chances of Romeo being from her family‟s worst enemies.
Perhaps the most evident development in the theme of fate comes in the turning point of
the play, and key scene Act III Scene I. In this scene, Romeo tries to break up a fight
between Mercutio and Tybalt, but tragically his mistake helps Tybalt slay Mercutio.
Romeo then avenges Mercutio, after stating that „fiery eyed fury be my conduct now‟.
Romeo believes that this outcome was already predetermined by fate: „O, I am fortune‟s
fool.‟ This shows that Romeo believes that fate was set to follow its course, and that he
was simply fulfilling his fate. By having these unlikely “misadventured piteous
overthrows” Shakespeare is able to manipulate and strictly enforce the theme of fate,
which he picks up on again later in Act V.
Yes this also shows that Romeo is perhaps reluctant to take full responsibility for his
actions. He shows naiveté in assuming that Tybalt will leave him in peace; the fact he
has just married Tybalt‟s cousin seems to blind his reason. This is a tension throughout
the play – the references to fate suggest that supernatural forces are at work, yet the
tragedy comes about because of human passions.
After Romeo‟s exile, the Friar and Juliet form a plan to get him back in, but it seems
once again that fate has intervened, against the hapless lovers: „A greater power than
we can contradict/Hath thwarted our intents.‟ The Friar believes there was nothing that
anyone could do, and that fate was always going to run its course for better or for
worse.
Upon hearing the news, Romeo decides to return from exile to be with Juliet in death. He
tries to defy fate, exclaiming: „I defy you, stars!‟ Once again, the idea of his fate already
being written in the stars is included, and it also shows that Romeo is eager not to let
fate prevail. However, Shakespeare's inclusion of this helps bring an effective conclusion
to the theme of fate; in Romeo trying to defy his fate, he is in fact tragically fulfilling it.
It emphasizes that Romeo‟s rash impulsiveness is as much the agent of this tragedy as
any mystical force.

4. And thus, Shakespeare effectively introduces and develops the theme of fate. By using a
prologue to introduce the theme, and putting the emphasis on the theme of fate in the
turning point, Shakespeare develops the theme in what I deem to be a successful and
entertaining way.
My comment -
The theme of fate in 'Romeo and Juliet' is slightly harder to discuss than the theme of
love and hate, or society. Although the playwright tells the audience that the stars have
determined that the lovers will die a tragic death, and Romeo tells the audience that he
is 'fortune's fool', in fact the whole play could have easily turned out differently if Romeo
and Juliet had made better decisions. You can contrast this with 'MacBeth', where the
whole play is built around a prophecy and all the action leads up to his defeat.
Personally, I think the two lovers were acting impulsively because they were surrounded
by violence and early death. This explains Juliet's last monologue before taking the
sleeping draught in act 4, scene 3. She thinks about all her relatives in the family
mausoleum, including that of her young cousin, Tybalt. To her, living in Verona and
being a Capulet means death; so, her only option is to fake her death in the hope that
she can escape with her new husband.
Posted by Bobby King at 03:54 No comments: