stacey reay

• Romeo and Juliet


  • They speak in iambic pentameter upon meeting one another
  • They share a sonnet
• Iambic pentameter in their most pivotal moments


  Shakespeare is showing us the embodiment and subliminal meaning of love and their unison
• Romeo and Juliet committing the sin of lust


  Juliet speaks in 5 syllables when she says "oh happy dagger", losing the other half of the 10 syllable count that represents their partnership
• Romeo says "thus with a kiss I die" which is 6 syllables


  Shakespeare is subliminally telling us that Juliet's feelings are more genuine and authentic, as she hasn't loved anyone else, unlike Romeo who has been "flitting around with Rosaline"
• Tragic hero


  The protagonist in a tragedy, who possesses certain qualities that lead to their downfall
• Qualities of a tragic hero


  • Noble birth
  • Tragic flaw
• Tragic flaw


  The character trait or decision that leads to the tragic hero's downfall
• Romeo is the tragic hero in Romeo and Juliet
• Petrarchan lover


  A man whose feelings of love aren't reciprocated by the lady he admires, and who uses poetic language to express his emotions
• Romeo's language in early speeches


  Shows he is an inexperienced lover
• Romeo matures from adolescence to adulthood as a result of his love for Juliet and his involvement in the feud
• Romeo's tragic flaw is falling in love too quickly and deeply
• Romeo makes a series of poor decisions throughout the play
• Romeo's role as a blind lover


  He doesn't believe there could be another lady more fair than Rosaline
• Romeo: 'Did my heart love till now? I never saw true beauty till this night.'
• Romeo is fickle, quickly forgetting Rosaline when he falls in love with Juliet
• Romeo and Juliet's love


  Exists in a world distinct from the violence of the feud
• Romeo's world


  Is defined by love rather than feuds
• Tybalt's death

  Brings about the clash between the private world of the lovers and the public world of the feud
• When Romeo hears about Juliet's 'death', he is mature and composed, resolving to die himself to be with her
• Romeo's final speech recalls the prologue, linking love and fate
• Oxymorons


  Phrases that mix the joy of love with the emotional desolation of unrequited love, e.g. "brawling love", "loving hate"
• Romeo's use of oxymorons and cliched language in Act 1 Scene 1 demonstrates his immaturity and idealized notion of love
• Romeo's language


  Shifts to blank verse and rhyme as his love for Juliet develops, showing it is more genuine
• Romeo's emotional turmoil reflects the chaos of Verona, which is divided by the feud
• Romeo uses military terms to describe his attempts to win Rosaline, foreshadowing the tragic ending
• In Act 1 Scene 5, Romeo forgets Rosaline and falls deeply in love with Juliet
• Sonnet


  An idealized poetic form often used to write about love, with a specific rhyme scheme
• Romeo and Juliet's first exchange is a shared sonnet, suggesting they are perfect for each other
• Religious imagery


  Metaphors that present Romeo and Juliet's love as pure and sacred
• The religious imagery also suggests their love is close to blasphemy
• Religious imagery


  Suggests their love can be described only through the vocabulary associated with religion and God, therefore their love becomes associated with something pure, sacred, and passionate
• Divine love


  The religious imagery indicates a divine love, and therefore Romeo moves away from the clichéd, artificial, exaggerated love he presented in the opening
• The language Romeo used in Act 1 Scene 1 is clichéd, full of oxymorons, and an idealized version of love
• Through the metaphorical religious imagery


  Romeo shows us true love and genuine love which he feels for Juliet
• Blasphemy


  The link to God and religion means that the couple are close to blasphemy, as Romeo compares Juliet to the image of a saint, which the Church of Elizabethan times would have seen as idol worship
• The lovers' relationship faces conflict from the family feud and on a wider scale, i.e. religion
• Fate and destiny are working against Romeo and Juliet
• Romeo pursues and wants to kiss Juliet


  Juliet lets him, but she becomes more independent and assertive as the play progresses
• The public feud with Tybalt acts as the catalyst leading to the lovers' deaths