R&J_ESSAY PLANS

• Romeo


  1) a romantic [LOVE] - Petrarchan lover - having intense loving emotions for Juliet, "did my heart love till now?" / Frequently compares her to light, "it is the east and Juliet is the sun," "she doth teach the torches to burn bright." - plosive 'b' shows love is overpowering / When they first meet, they speak in rhymes showing they are completed.

  2) hot-headed and reckless [CONFLICT] - doesn't consider the consequences of his actions, "fire eyed fury be my conduct now".

  3) unable to accept responsibility [FATE] - frequently blames fate for his own mistakes, "I am fortune's fool."
• Juliet


  1) initially established as obedient child who is naïve and immature - "My child is yet a stranger in the world" / "too rash, too unadvised, too sudden." / "deny they father, refuse thy name." - imperatives shows she believes going against family honour is simple.

  2) she becomes reckless, cause of Romeo - "wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day." "O bid me leap rather than marry Paris."

  3) intense loving emotions for Romeo, she's a victim of star-crossed lovers / "my bounty is as boundless as the sea, and my love as deep."
• Nurse


  1) very caring for Juliet - "faith, I can tell her age unto an hour."

  2) wants the best for Juliet, but in doing so loses her trust, shows that she really is just a servant and woman and cannot betray the master. - "I think you are happy in this second match, for his excels your first." / "Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin?"

  3) comedic relief, struggles to control what she says, sees love as a sexual matter - "happy nights to happy days"
• Mercutio


  1) misogynist, "when maids lie on their backs"

  2) antithesis of Romeo when it comes to thoughts on love, "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking and you beat love down."

  3) loyal to his friends and loving of Romeo. "Where the devil should this Romeo be?" / "nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance."
• Friar


  1) acts as guidance to Romeo, steers Romeo away from suicide, is a representation of religion and how it would be a sin - criticism of religion as the Friar eventually fails to save them.

  2) wise, rational "young men's love then lie not truly in their hearts but in their eyes" and disapproves of how quickly Romeo moved on from Rosaline. Lust is a deadly sin.

  3) naïve, thinks he can change fate by helping Juliet [which juxtaposes Capulet], even though he is aware of fate's power "these violent delights have violent ends.", believes their marriage would unite the households, which, I guess, in the end it did.
• fate


  1) fate cannot be controlled by humans / "star-crossed lovers take their lives," - were destined to die / Fate is omnipotent when Juliet says, "O happy dagger" - oxymoron shows she has no control / Many references of death and curses throughout play - "a plague on both your houses" (reference to plague that stops letter getting to Romeo.)

  2) fate is a scapegoat for the character's own mistakes, eg Friar and Romeo / Romeo is a reckless character "fire-eyed fury be my conduct now" yet he blames his own actions on fate, "I am fortune's fool." he resents its control over his life, "I defy your stars."

  3) characters who try to overcome fate always fail / Juliet tries to deny fate, but in the end it is inevitable. Despite this, she often foreshadows the future, "my grave is like to be my wedding bed". / Friar Lawrence is also aware of fate's power "these violent delights have violent ends" yet tries to deny it, ultimately being the cause of the pair's deaths who he was trying to prevent.
• conflict


  1) conflict between households - [servants at start, "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?", even the servants are involved in the conflict.]

  2) conflicts within the families - Capulet v Tybalt, Capulet v Juliet.

  3) inner conflict - Romeo and Juliet in betraying their family, links to family honour. Romeo as Petrarchan lover, Juliet as conflicted after Tybalt's death: "Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!"
• love


  1) viewed as something to be conquered by the male characters - Mercutio "prick love for pricking, and you beat love down."

  2) something fleeting, controlled by appearances." "She doth teach the torches to burn bright." "Did my heart love till now?" "Young mens' love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes." Romeo's quick recovery from the heartbreak of Rosaline - Petrarchan lover.

  3) it is passionate / courtly lover - love at first sight / Juliet - "my bounty is as boundless as the sea, and my love as deep." / Juliet is willing to do anything for Romeo, even denying the man her father wanted for her "Do not deny to him that you love me," "I will confess to you that I love him."
• death


  1 - death is merciful

  2 - death brings peace between the families. "for never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

  3 - death is foreshadowed through the play.