literature essay on romeo and juliet

Romeo and Juliet

William shakespeare, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Romeo and Juliet: Introduction

Romeo and juliet: plot summary, romeo and juliet: detailed summary & analysis, romeo and juliet: themes, romeo and juliet: quotes, romeo and juliet: characters, romeo and juliet: symbols, romeo and juliet: literary devices, romeo and juliet: quizzes, romeo and juliet: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Romeo and Juliet

Other books related to romeo and juliet.

• Full Title: Romeo and Juliet
• When Written: Likely 1591-1595
• Where Written: London, England
• When Published: “Bad quarto” (incomplete manuscript) printed in 1597; Second, more complete quarto printed in 1599; First folio, with clarifications and corrections, printed in 1623
• Literary Period: Renaissance
• Genre: Tragic play
• Setting: Verona, Italy
• Climax: Mistakenly believing that Juliet is dead, Romeo kills himself on her funeral bier by drinking poison. Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and fatally stabs herself with his dagger.
• Antagonist: Capulet, Lady Capulet, Montague, Lady Montague, Tybalt

Extra Credit for Romeo and Juliet

Tourist Trap. Casa di Giulietta, a 12-century villa in Verona, is located just off the Via Capello (the possible origin of the anglicized surname “Capulet”) and has become a major tourist attraction over the years because of its distinctive balcony. The house, purchased by the city of Verona in 1905 from private holdings, has been transformed into a kind of museum dedicated to the history of Romeo and Juliet , where tourists can view set pieces from some of the major film adaptations of the play and even leave letters to their loved ones. Never mind that “the balcony scene,” one of the most famous scenes in English literature, may never have existed—the word “balcony” never appears in the play, and balconies were not an architectural feature of Shakespeare’s England—tourists flock from all over to glimpse Juliet’s famous veranda.

Love Language. While much of Shakespeare’s later work is written in a combination of verse and prose (used mostly to offer distinction between social classes, with nobility speaking in verse and commoners speaking in prose), Romeo and Juliet is notable for its heady blend of poetic forms. The play’s prologue is written in the form of a sonnet, while most of the dialogue adheres strictly to the rhythm of iambic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet alter their cadences when speaking to each another, using more casual, naturalistic speech. When they talk about other potential lovers, such as Rosaline and Paris, their speech is much more formal (to reflect the emotional falsity of those dalliances.) Friar Laurence speaks largely in sermons and aphorisms, while the nurse speaks in blank verse.

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 25, 2020 • ( 6 )

Shakespeare, more than any other author, has instructed the West in the catastrophes of sexuality, and has invented the formula that the sexual becomes the erotic when crossed by the shadow of death. There had to be one high song of the erotic by Shakespeare, one lyrical and tragi-comical paean celebrating an unmixed love and lamenting its inevitable destruction. Romeo and Juliet is unmatched, in Shakespeare and in the world’s literature, as a vision of an uncompromising mutual love that perishes of its own idealism and intensity.

—Harold Bloom, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human

Romeo and Juliet, regarded by many as William Shakespeare’s first great play, is generally thought to have been written around 1595. Shakespeare was then 31 years old, married for 12 years and the father of three children. He had been acting and writing in London for five years. His stage credits included mainly histories—the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III —and comedies— The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors, and Love’s Labour’s Lost. Shakespeare’s first tragedy, modeled on Seneca, Titus Andronicus , was written around 1592. From that year through 1595 Shakespeare had also composed 154 sonnets and two long narrative poems in the erotic tradition— Venus  and  Adonis   and  The  Rape  of  Lucrece.  Both  his  dramatic  and  nondramatic  writing  show  Shakespeare  mastering  Elizabethan  literary  conventions.  Then,  around 1595, Shakespeare composed three extraordinary plays—R ichard II, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet —in three different genres—history, comedy, and tragedy—signalling a new mastery, originality, and excellence.  With  these  three  plays  Shakespeare  emerged  from  the  shadows  of  his  influences and initiated a period of unexcelled accomplishment. The two parts of Henry IV and Julius Caesar would follow, along with the romantic comedies The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night and the great tragedies Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra . The three plays  of  1595,  therefore,  serve  as  an  important  bridge  between  Shakespeare’s  apprenticeship and his mature achievements. Romeo and Juliet, in particular, is a crucial play in the evolution of Shakespeare’s tragic vision, in his integration of poetry and drama, and in his initial exploration of the connection between love and tragedy that he would continue in Troilus and Cressida, Othello, and Antony  and  Cleopatra.  Romeo  and  Juliet   is  not  only  one  of  the  greatest  love  stories in all literature, considering its stage history and the musicals, opera, music, ballet, literary works, and films that it has inspired; it is quite possibly the most popular play of all time. There is simply no more famous pair of lovers than Romeo and Juliet, and their story has become an inescapable central myth in our understanding of romantic love.

Despite  the  play’s  persistence,  cultural  saturation,  and  popular  appeal,  Romeo and Juliet has fared less well with scholars and critics, who have generally judged it inferior to the great tragedies that followed. Instead of the later tragedies of character Romeo and Juliet has been downgraded as a tragedy of chance, and, in the words of critic James Calderwood, the star-crossed lovers are “insufficiently endowed with complexity” to become tragic heroes. Instead “they  become  a  study  of  victimage  and  sacrifice,  not  tragedy.”  What  is  too  often missing in a consideration of the shortcomings of Romeo and Juliet by contrast with the later tragedies is the radical departure the play represented when compared to what preceded it. Having relied on Senecan horror for his first tragedy, Titus  Andronicus,  Shakespeare  located  his  next  in  the  world  of  comedy and romance. Romeo and Juliet is set not in antiquity, as Elizabethan convention dictated for a tragic subject, but in 16th-century Verona, Italy. His tragic protagonists are neither royal nor noble, as Aristotle advised, but two teenagers caught up in the petty disputes of their families. The plight of young lovers pitted against parental or societal opposition was the expected subject, since  Roman  times,  of  comedy,  not  tragedy.  By  showing  not  the  eventual  triumph  but  the  death  of  the  two  young  lovers  Shakespeare  violated  comic  conventions,  while  making  a  case  that  love  and  its  consequences  could  be  treated with an unprecedented tragic seriousness. As critic Harry Levin has observed, Shakespeare’s contemporaries “would have been surprised, and possibly shocked at seeing lovers taken so seriously. Legend, it had been hereto-fore taken for granted, was the proper matter for serious drama; romance was the stuff of the comic stage.”

Shakespeare’s innovations are further evident in comparison to his source material.  The  plot  was  a  well-known  story  in  Italian,  French,  and  English  versions. Shakespeare’s direct source was Arthur Brooke’s poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). This moralistic work was intended as  a  warning  to  youth  against  “dishonest  desire”  and  disobeying  parental  authority. Shakespeare, by contrast, purifies and ennobles the lovers’ passion, intensifies  the  pathos,  and  underscores  the  injustice  of  the  lovers’  destruction.  Compressing  the  action  from  Brooke’s  many  months  into  a  five-day crescendo, Shakespeare also expands the roles of secondary characters such as  Mercutio  and  Juliet’s  nurse  into  vivid  portraits  that  contrast  the  lovers’ elevated lyricism with a bawdy earthiness and worldly cynicism. Shakespeare transforms Brooke’s plodding verse into a tour de force verbal display that is supremely witty, if at times over elaborate, and, at its best, movingly expressive. If the poet and the dramatist are not yet seamlessly joined in Romeo and Juliet, the play still displays a considerable advance in Shakespeare’s orchestration of verse, image, and incident that would become the hallmark of his greatest achievements.

The play’s theme and outcome are announced in the Prologue:

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

Suspense over the lovers’ fate is eliminated at the outset as Shakespeare emphasizes the forces that will destroy them. The initial scene makes this clear as a public brawl between servants of the feuding Montagues and Capulets escalates to involve kinsmen and the patriarchs on both sides, ended only when the Prince of Verona enforces a cease-fire under penalty of death for future offenders of the peace. Romeo, Montague’s young son, does not participate in the scuffle since he is totally absorbed by a hopeless passion for a young, unresponsive beauty named Rosaline. Initially Romeo appears as a figure of mockery, the embodiment of the hypersensitive, melancholy adolescent lover, who  is  urged  by  his  kinsman  Benvolio  to  resist  sinking  “under  love’s  heavy  burden”  and  seek  another  more  worthy  of  his  affection.  Another  kinsman,  Mercutio, for whom love is more a game of easy conquest, urges Romeo to “be  rough  with  love”  and  master  his  circumstances.  When  by  chance  it  is  learned that Rosaline is to attend a party at the Capulets, Benvolio suggests that they should go as well for Romeo to compare Rosaline’s charms with the other beauties at the party and thereby cure his infatuation. There Romeo sees Juliet, Capulet’s not-yet 14-year-old daughter. Her parents are encouraging her  to  accept  a  match  with  Count  Paris  for  the  social  benefit  of  the  family.  Love  as  affectation  and  love  as  advantage  are  transformed  into  love  as  all-consuming, mutual passion at first sight. Romeo claims that he “ne’er saw true beauty till this night,” and by the force of that beauty, he casts off his former melancholic  self-absorption.  Juliet is  no  less  smitten.  Sending her nurse  to  learn the stranger’s identity, she worries, “If he be married, / My grave is like to be my wedding bed.” Both are shocked to learn that they are on either side of the family feud, and their risk is underscored when the Capulet kinsman, Tybalt, recognizes Romeo and, though prevented by Capulet from violence at the party, swears future vengeance. Tybalt’s threat underscores that this is a play as much about hate as about love, in which Romeo and Juliet’s passion is  increasingly  challenged  by  the  public  and  family  forces  that  deny  love’s  authority.

The  first  of  the  couple’s  two  great  private  moments  in  which  love’s  redemptive and transformative power works its magic follows in possibly the most famous single scene in all of drama, set in the Capulets’ orchard, over-looked by Juliet’s bedroom window. In some of the most impassioned, lyrical, and famous verses Shakespeare ever wrote, the lovers’ dialogue perfectly captures the ecstasy of love and love’s capacity to remake the world. Seeing Juliet above at her window, Romeo says:

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou her maid art far more fair than she.

He overhears Juliet’s declaration of her love for him and the rejection of what is implied if a Capulet should love a Montague:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. . . . ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet .So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name; And for that name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.

In  a  beautifully  modulated  scene  the  lovers  freely  admit  their  passion  and  exchange vows of love that become a marriage proposal. As Juliet continues to be called back to her room and all that is implied as Capulet’s daughter, time and space become the barriers to love’s transcendent power to unite.

With the assistance of Friar Lawrence, who regards the union of a Montague and a Capulet as an opportunity “To turn your households’ rancour to pure  love,”  Romeo  and  Juliet  are  secretly  married.  Before  nightfall  and  the  anticipated consummation of their union Romeo is set upon by Tybalt, who is by Romeo’s marriage, his new kinsman. Romeo accordingly refuses his challenge, but it is answered by Mercutio. Romeo tries to separate the two, but in the  process  Mercutio  is  mortally  wounded.  This  is  the  tragic  turn  of  the  play  as  Romeo,  enraged,  rejects  the  principle  of  love  forged  with  Juliet  for  the claims of reputation, the demand for vengeance, and an identifi cation of masculinity with violent retribution:

My very friend, hath got this mortal hurt In my behalf; my reputation stain’d With Tybalt’s slander—Tybalt, that an hour Hath been my kinsman. O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate And in my temper soft’ned valour’s steel!

After killing Tybalt, Romeo declares, “O, I am fortune’s fool!” He may blame circumstances for his predicament, but he is clearly culpable in capitulating to the values of society he had challenged in his love for Juliet.

The lovers are given one final moment of privacy before the catastrophe. Juliet, awaiting Romeo’s return, gives one of the play’s most moving speeches, balancing sublimity with an intimation of mortality that increasingly accompanies the lovers:

Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-brow’d night; Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Learning the terrible news of Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment, Juliet wins her own battle between hate and love and sends word to Romeo to keep their appointed night together before they are parted.

As Romeo is away in Mantua Juliet’s parents push ahead with her wedding to Paris. The solution to Juliet’s predicament is offered by Friar Lawrence who gives her a drug that will make it appear she has died. The Friar is to summon Romeo,  who  will  rescue  her  when  she  awakes  in  the  Capulet  family  tomb.  The Friar’s message to Romeo fails to reach him, and Romeo learns of Juliet’s death. Reversing his earlier claim of being “fortune’s fool,” Romeo reacts by declaring, “Then I defy you, stars,” rushing to his wife and breaking society’s rules by acquiring the poison to join her in death. Reaching the tomb Romeo is surprised to find Paris on hand, weeping for his lost bride. Outraged by the intrusion  on  his  grief  Paris  confronts  Romeo.  They  fight,  and  after  killing  Paris, Romeo fi nally recognizes him and mourns him as “Mercutio’s kinsman.” Inside the tomb Romeo sees Tybalt’s corpse and asks forgiveness before taking leave of Juliet with a kiss:

. . . O, here Will I set up my everlasting rest And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh.

Juliet  awakes  to  see  Romeo  dead  beside  her.  Realizing  what  has  happened,  she responds by taking his dagger and plunges it into her breast: “This is thy sheath; there rest, and let me die.”

Montagues, Capulets, and the Prince arrive, and the Friar explains what has happened and why. His account of Romeo and Juliet’s tender passion and devotion shames the two families into ending their feud. The Prince provides the final eulogy:

A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things; Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished; For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

The  sense  of  loss  Verona  and  the  audience  feels  at  the  lovers’  deaths  is  a  direct  result  of  Shakespeare’s  remarkable  ability  to  conjure  love  in  all  its  transcendent power, along with its lethal risks. Set on a collision course with the values bent on denying love’s sway, Romeo and Juliet manage to create a dreamlike, alternative, private world that is so touching because it is so brief and perishable. Shakespeare’s triumph here is to make us care that adolescent romance matters—emotionally,  psychologically,  and  socially—and  that  the  premature and unjust death of lovers rival in profundity and significance the fall of kings.

Romeo and Juliet Oxford Lecture by Emma Smith

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays

Share this:

Categories: Drama Criticism , Literature

Tags: Analysis of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Bibliography Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Character Study Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Criticism Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Drama Criticism , ELIZABEHAN POETRY AND PROSE , Essays Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Literary Criticism , Notes Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Plot Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Romeo and Juliet , Romeo and Juliet Analysis , Romeo and Juliet Criticism , Romeo and Juliet Drama , Romeo and Juliet Essay , Romeo and Juliet Guide , Romeo and Juliet Lecture , Romeo and Juliet Notes , Romeo and Juliet PDF , Romeo and Juliet Summary , Simple Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Study Guides Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Summary Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Synopsis Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Themes Of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , William Shakespeare

Related Articles

• Analysis of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream | Literary Theory and Criticism
• Cappello & Bedau Text | Ubiquity
• Fisher-Ari et al Full Text Volume 7 Issue 2 | Ubiquity
• Johnston Full Text Vol 7 Issue 2 | Ubiquity
• Gangi Full Text Vol 7 Issue 2 | Ubiquity
• Lowers et al Full Text Vol 7 Issue 2 | Ubiquity

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Although it was first performed in the 1590s, the first  documented  performance of Romeo and Juliet is from 1662. The diarist Samuel Pepys was in the audience, and recorded that he ‘saw “Romeo and Juliet,” the first time it was ever acted; but it is a play of itself the worst that ever I heard in my life, and the worst acted that ever I saw these people do.’

Despite Pepys’ dislike, the play is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved and most famous, and the story of Romeo and Juliet is well known. However, the play has become so embedded in the popular psyche that Shakespeare’s considerably more complex play has been reduced to a few key aspects: ‘star-cross’d lovers’, a teenage love story, and the suicide of the two protagonists.

In the summary and analysis that follow, we realise that Romeo and Juliet is much more than a tragic love story.

Romeo and Juliet : brief summary

After the Prologue has set the scene – we have two feuding households, Montagues and Capulets, in the city-state of Verona; and young Romeo is a Montague while Juliet, with whom Romeo is destined to fall in love, is from the Capulet family, sworn enemies of the Montagues – the play proper begins with servants of the two feuding households taunting each other in the street.

When Benvolio, a member of house Montague, arrives and clashes with Tybalt of house Capulet, a scuffle breaks out, and it is only when Capulet himself and his wife, Lady Capulet, appear that the fighting stops. Old Montague and his wife then show up, and the Prince of Verona, Escalus, arrives and chastises the people for fighting. Everyone leaves except Old Montague, his wife, and Benvolio, Montague’s nephew. Benvolio tells them that Romeo has locked himself away, but he doesn’t know why.

Romeo appears and Benvolio asks his cousin what is wrong, and Romeo starts speaking in paradoxes, a sure sign that he’s in love. He claims he loves Rosaline, but will not return any man’s love. A servant appears with a note, and Romeo and Benvolio learn that the Capulets are holding a masked ball.

Benvolio tells Romeo he should attend, even though he is a Montague, as he will find more beautiful women than Rosaline to fall in love with. Meanwhile, Lady Capulet asks her daughter Juliet whether she has given any thought to marriage, and tells Juliet that a man named Paris would make an excellent husband for her.

Romeo attends the Capulets’ masked ball, with his friend Mercutio. Mercutio tells Romeo about a fairy named Queen Mab who enters young men’s minds as they dream, and makes them dream of love and romance. At the masked ball, Romeo spies Juliet and instantly falls in love with her; she also falls for him.

They kiss, but then Tybalt, Juliet’s kinsman, spots Romeo and recognising him as a Montague, plans to confront him. Old Capulet tells him not to do so, and Tybalt reluctantly agrees. When Juliet enquires after who Romeo is, she is distraught to learn that he is a Montague and thus a member of the family that is her family’s sworn enemies.

Romeo breaks into the gardens of Juliet’s parents’ house and speaks to her at her bedroom window. The two of them pledge their love for each other, and arrange to be secretly married the following night. Romeo goes to see a churchman, Friar Laurence, who agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet.

After the wedding, the feud between the two families becomes violent again: Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt in retaliation. The Prince banishes Romeo from Verona for his crime.

Juliet is told by her father that she will marry Paris, so Juliet goes to seek Friar Laurence’s help in getting out of it. He tells her to take a sleeping potion which will make her appear to be dead for two nights; she will be laid to rest in the family vault, and Romeo (who will be informed of the plan) can secretly come to her there.

However, although that part of the plan goes fine, the message to Romeo doesn’t arrive; instead, he hears that Juliet has actually died. He secretly visits her at the family vault, but his grieving is interrupted by the arrival of Paris, who is there to lay flowers. The two of them fight, and Romeo kills him.

Convinced that Juliet is really dead, Romeo drinks poison in order to join Juliet in death. Juliet wakes from her slumber induced by the sleeping draught to find Romeo dead at her side. She stabs herself.

The play ends with Friar Laurence telling the story to the two feuding families. The Prince tells them to put their rivalry behind them and live in peace.

Romeo and Juliet : analysis

How should we analyse Romeo and Juliet , one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frequently studied, performed, and adapted plays? Is Romeo and Juliet the great love story that it’s often interpreted as, and what does it say about the play – if it is a celebration of young love – that it ends with the deaths of both romantic leads?

It’s worth bearing in mind that Romeo and Juliet do not kill themselves specifically because they are forbidden to be together, but rather because a chain of events (of which their families’ ongoing feud with each other is but one) and a message that never arrives lead to a misunderstanding which results in their suicides.

Romeo and Juliet is often read as both a tragedy and a great celebration of romantic love, but it clearly throws out some difficult questions about the nature of love, questions which are rendered even more pressing when we consider the headlong nature of the play’s action and the fact that Romeo and Juliet meet, marry, and die all within the space of a few days.

Below, we offer some notes towards an analysis of this classic Shakespeare play and explore some of the play’s most salient themes.

It’s worth starting with a consideration of just what Shakespeare did with his source material. Interestingly, two families known as the Montagues and Capulets appear to have actually existed in medieval Italy: the first reference to ‘Montagues and Capulets’ is, curiously, in the poetry of Dante (1265-1321), not Shakespeare.

In Dante’s early fourteenth-century epic poem, the  Divine Comedy , he makes reference to two warring Italian families: ‘Come and see, you who are negligent, / Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi / One lot already grieving, the other in fear’ ( Purgatorio , canto VI). Precisely why the families are in a feud with one another is never revealed in Shakespeare’s play, so we are encouraged to take this at face value.

The play’s most famous line references the feud between the two families, which means Romeo and Juliet cannot be together. And the line, when we stop and consider it, is more than a little baffling. The line is spoken by Juliet: ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ Of course, ‘wherefore’ doesn’t mean ‘where’ – it means ‘why’.

But that doesn’t exactly clear up the whys and the wherefores. The question still doesn’t appear to make any sense: Romeo’s problem isn’t his first name, but his family name, Montague. Surely, since she fancies him, Juliet is quite pleased with ‘Romeo’ as he is – it’s his family that are the problem. Solutions  have been proposed to this conundrum , but none is completely satisfying.

There are a number of notable things Shakespeare did with his source material. The Italian story ‘Mariotto and Gianozza’, printed in 1476, contained many of the plot elements of Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet . Shakespeare’s source for the play’s story was Arthur Brooke’s  The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet  (1562), an English verse translation of this Italian tale.

The moral of Brooke’s tale is that young love ends in disaster for their elders, and is best reined in; Shakespeare changed that. In Romeo and Juliet , the headlong passion and excitement of young love is celebrated, even though confusion leads to the deaths of the young lovers. But through their deaths, and the example their love set for their parents, the two families vow to be reconciled to each other.

Shakespeare also makes Juliet a thirteen-year-old girl in his play, which is odd for a number of reasons. We know that  Romeo and Juliet  is about young love – the ‘pair of star-cross’d lovers’, who belong to rival families in Verona – but what is odd about Shakespeare’s play is how young he makes Juliet.

In Brooke’s verse rendition of the story, Juliet is sixteen. But when Shakespeare dramatised the story, he made Juliet several years younger, with Romeo’s age unspecified. As Lady Capulet reveals, Juliet is ‘not [yet] fourteen’, and this point is made to us several times, as if Shakespeare wishes to draw attention to it and make sure we don’t forget it.

This makes sense in so far as Juliet represents young love, but what makes it unsettling – particularly for modern audiences – is the fact that this makes Juliet a girl of thirteen when she enjoys her night of wedded bliss with Romeo. As John Sutherland puts it in his (and Cedric Watts’) engaging  Oxford World’s Classics: Henry V, War Criminal?: and Other Shakespeare Puzzles , ‘In a contemporary court of law [Romeo] would receive a longer sentence for what he does to Juliet than for what he does to Tybalt.’

There appears to be no satisfactory answer to this question, but one possible explanation lies in one of the play’s recurring themes: bawdiness and sexual familiarity. Perhaps surprisingly given the youthfulness of its tragic heroine, Romeo and Juliet is shot through with bawdy jokes, double entendres, and allusions to sex, made by a number of the characters.

These references to physical love serve to make Juliet’s innocence, and subsequent passionate romance with Romeo, even more noticeable: the journey both Romeo and Juliet undertake is one from innocence (Romeo pointlessly and naively pursuing Rosaline; Juliet unversed in the ways of love) to experience.

In the last analysis, Romeo and Juliet is a classic depiction of forbidden love, but it is also far more sexually aware, more ‘adult’, than many people realise.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”

Modern reading of the play’s opening dialogue among the brawlers fails to parse the ribaldry. Sex scares the bejeepers out of us. Why? Confer “R&J.”

It’s all that damn padre’s fault!

• Pingback: A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
• Pingback: A Short Analysis of the ‘Two Households’ Prologue to Romeo and Juliet – Interesting Literature

Comments are closed.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples

Looking for Romeo and Juliet essay titles? The world’s most tragic story is worth writing about!

🥀 Best Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles

🖤 romeo and juliet essay prompts.

• 🏆 Best Romeo and Juliet Essay Examples

📌 Interesting Romeo and Juliet Essay Topics

🎭 easy titles for romeo and juliet essays, 👍 exciting romeo and juliet title ideas, ❓ romeo and juliet essay questions.

Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is a story of two young lovers whose deaths reconcile their feuding families. Whether you are assigned an argumentative, persuasive, or analytical essay on this piece of literature, this article will answer all your questions. Below you’ll find Romeo and Juliet essay examples, thesis ideas, and paper topics.

• “Romeo and Juliet”: character analysis
• What role does the setting play in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• “Romeo and Juliet” and antique tradition of tragic love stories
• Theme of love in “Romeo and Juliet”
• What role does the theme of fate play in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• “Romeo and Juliet”: dramatic structure analysis
• Analyze the balcony scene in “Romeo and Juliet”
• “Romeo and Juliet”: feminist criticism
• The most famous adaptations of “Romeo and Juliet”
• “Romeo and Juliet” in the world culture

Keep reading to learn the key points you can use to write a successful paper.

• Original Italian Tale vs. Shakespeare’s Tragedy

The story described in Shakespeare’s tragedy is based on the Italian tale that was translated into English in the sixteenth century. Original version represents situations and lines from Romeo and Juliet lives.

Shakespeare added a few more main characters: Mercutio, Paris, and Tybalt. Numerous researches state that Shakespeare used three sources to write his tragedy: a novella Giulietta e Romeo by Matteo Bandello, written in 1554; a story Il Novellio, by Masuccio Salernitano; and the Historia Novellamente Ritrovata di Due Nobili Amanti, written by Luigi Da Porto.

You can learn more about these novels to find out similarities and differences between primary sources and Shakespeare’s work

• Love and Fate in Romeo and Juliet

If you’re going to write Romeo and Juliet essay on fate, read this paragraph. Fate is the fundamental concept of the plot. It makes us look at Romeo and Juliet affair as a single tragedy.

At the same time, another core element of the story is love. From the very beginning of the drama, you will clearly understand that the story will end in tragedy.

Shakespeare shows us the value of fate events.

However, love remains a crucial thematic element. The roles of Nurse, Paris, and Romeo show us a physical attraction, sympathy, and romantic affection while being the embodiment of love. Analyze what type of love is represented by each character in your essay. Explain, what do you think real love is.

• Value and Duality in Romeo and Juliet

Among the central idea to consider for your Romeo and Juliet essay titles is an issue of value and duality. Shakespeare actively uses duality in his tragedy by representing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet as reasons of tragedy in Verona, which brought new order to the city.

Friar Laurence also reveals ambiguity when he helped Romeo and thus forced young lovers to suffer in the end. The decision to marry couple had a reason to end the conflict between Montague and Capulets.

Romeo and Juliet’s example discloses happiness and blame brought by key episodes and change in society. In your writing, you may analyze how the effect of adoration had influenced Romeo, Juliet, and other people lives.

• Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet

A lot of Romeo and Juliet essay examples analyze the role of gender and masculinity in the tragedy. Mercutio is shown as a classic example of a real man: active, brave citizen.

He is a person of action. On the other hand, Romeo is described as a boy who seeks for love. Romeo and Juliet love thrown into quarreling world.

You can analyze the reasons why Romeo fights and kills Paris when finding him near Juliet body.

Covering all of the points mentioned above will help you to produce an outstanding Romeo and Juliet essay. Check the samples below to get inspiration and more ideas that you can use in your own paper.

🏆 Best Romeo and Juliet Topic Ideas & Essay Examples

• Different Types of Love Portrayed in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Term Paper In regards to this communication, the issue of romantic love between Romeo and Juliet is highlighted7. The concept of true love is no where to be seen in Romeo and Juliet’s relationship.
• William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” This paper examines romantic love as the source of joy and fulfillment in “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Love is the source of pain and suffering in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
• The Portrayal of Fate in “Romeo and Juliet” Thus, the play Romeo and Juliet demonstrates that fate is the invisible, unavoidable force behind the entirety of the human experience.
• Symbolism and Foreshadowing in “Romeo and Juliet” The love of Juliet to Romeo at the early stages is described as the “bud love, expected to grow into a beauteous flower” when the two meet later.
• Analysis of the Play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Another interesting scene of the production that makes it real understanding of the authors work is the casting of the romantic love between Romeo and Juliet, the physical love of the nurse and the contractual […]
• The Renaissance Time During Romeo and Juliet Men and women performed different roles in the household; the man was responsible for farming while the woman took care of the poultry and dairy. In the upper-class, marriages were arranged and the parents chose […]
• William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in Baz Luhrmann’s Interpretation The fragility of love in this work is contrasted with its hardness – it can be compared in quality and beauty to a cut diamond.
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Act 1 Scene 4 Review In this speech alone we see Mercutio in direct opposition to all of the characters in Romeo and Juliet while at the same time we are provided an alternate point of view to the ideals […]
• Breaking the Rules: Romeo and Juliet’s Quest for Independence Finally, the death of Romeo and Juliet puts an end to their love and is powerful enough to reconcile their feuding families.
• Romeo and Juliet’s Analysis and Comparison With the Film Romeo Must Die It can be concluded that, in the case of the original Romeo and Juliet, the main heroes are dying, but their families reconcile.
• Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet” Adaptation As the plot of the play develops and the reader gets more involved in the reading of the play, the constant need to read the stage directions has a disruptive effect on the reader’s interaction […]
• “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare: Play’s Concept In Romeo and Juliet, the development of characters eventually led to the tragedy of the main characters. The love of Romeo and Juliet is a remarkable love as they have to undergo many obstacles to […]
• Forbidden Love in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare From Freud’s perspective, the characters’ problems can be perceived as the result of a conflict between their superego, id and ego.
• Analysis of “Romeo and Juliet” Directed by Simon Godwin The actors played in the theater without an audience, and the shooting itself took two and a half weeks, but also due to the director’s attempt to combine the action on the theater stage and […]
• Friar Lawrence in “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare The strengths of such friendships can be seen in the way Friar Laurence accepts and anticipates Romeo’s actions, showing that he is ready to hear him as a friend not as a priest, “Doth couch […]
• “Romeo and Juliet”: Play and Film Preminger et al.claim that poetry is to be educative and pleasurable and both versions of “Romeo and Juliet” meet this criterion regardless of the fact that they had to appeal to the audience of a […]
• “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Winter’s Tale” Comparison Because of the importance of the role of plants and trees in the two abovementioned plays, it would be reasonable to consider each of the plays in detail.
• Romeo and Juliet: Analysis of Play Being a tragedy, the story narrates the challenges two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, go through due to the enmity between their respective families. For example, the story of Juliet and Romeo presents a romantic and […]
• Love and Sadness in the First Act of “Romeo and Juliet” The love story of Romeo and Juliet is well known to most people, but one might forget that Romeo was initially not in love with Juliet; he met her later.
• Carlo Carlea’s Film “Romeo and Juliet” The new adaptation of my play generally made a controversial impression: the actors look suitable for their roles, but the internal theme of the play seems to be not so profoundly got.
• “Romeo and Juliet” Staged in Greek Style According to the analysis, it is evident that even though the story, plot, and characters stay the same, the change in the style of “Romeo and Juliet” will have a significant difference from the original […]
• Personality and Maturity in the Romeo and Juliet Play by W. Shakespeare While this idea is not always true in specific cases, it can be assumed to be true in the case of Romeo and Juliet because of the ways in which they act.
• Oh Tae-Suk’s Romeo and Juliet Oh Tae-suk is a South-Korean playwright and director, well-known for his masterful portrayal of modern Korean life and the use of the elements of the traditional Korean theater in his plays.
• What Shapes More Lovers’ “Story of Romeo and Juliet?” In Romeo and Juliet, love is the central theme of the tragedy, and the images of the protagonists are mostly shaped by the relationships and challenges they had to face.
• Nurse and Friar Laurence in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” The way Friar Laurence supported Romeo and Juliet to get Married, The way the Nurse is opposing in her regards of Romeo and Paris, When Friar Laurence clandestinely married them, the way the Nurse is […]
• Character Analysis of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” The Renaissance in Italy was a time in which historians and writers were most active, sparking a new wave of literacy in the Italian world, said to be the father of Renaissance Europe.
• “Analysis of Causes of Tragic Fate in Romeo and Juliet Based on Shakespeare’s View of Fate” by Jie Li The article is easy to read and makes a compelling case for the reasons that precipitated the tragedy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
• Romeo and Juliet: The Twentieth Century This is the first scene of the play. In the mean time, Capulet learns that Juliet has fallen in love with Romeo, and he is infuriated with the behavior of her daughter.
• Relationships Among Individuals in Shakespeare’s Plays The events that take place in Athens are symbolic in the sense that they represent the sequence of events during the day whereas the events in the forest represent the dream like circumstances.
• The Saga as Old as Time: Romeo and Juliet, Vampire Style Basing partially on the plot of Romeo and Juliet story and partially on the problems that modern teenagers face, The Twilight Saga offers a number of issues that are quite topical nowadays, such as the […]
• The Interpretation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli
• The Irresponsibility of Friar Laurence in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Key Elements of Aristotle’s Unity of Action Theory in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Love of Young Lovers in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Lack of a Real Loving Connection Between Juliet and Her Own Parents in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Language of Love and Death in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Life-Changing Decisions During the Teen Years in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• Central Themes of Violence and Conflict in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Origins of the Archetypal Themes Present in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Passionate Hatred of Tybalt and the Theme of Revenge in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Perceptions of Love and the Use of Language and Structure in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The True Meaning and Experience of Love in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Relationship Between Parents and Children Presented in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Theme of People Being in Unusual Circumstances in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Responsible for the Deaths of the Lovers in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Role of Fate and Coincidence in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• Comparing the Characters of Tybalt and Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Role and Representation of the Nurse in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Significance of Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Tragic Ending of a Pair of Star Crossed Lovers in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Underlying Theme and Message in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Unselfish Character of Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• True Love in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Use of Dramatic Irony and Other Literary Elements in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• Young Love and Human Nature in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Suicidal Instinct Depicted in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Various Types of Love in the Tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The World of True Love in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Young Lovers in the Play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• Timeless Appeal of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”
• Tragic Love in Movie Adaptations of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “Othello”
• Transformation of Juliet in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Use of Oppositions to Create Conflict in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• Two Against the Whole World: “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Use of Language to Convey Strong Emotion in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• Violence and Conflict in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Volatile Mixture of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Use of Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic Irony in William Shakespeare’s Play “Romeo and Juliet”
• Shakespeare’s Reflections on Love in the Play “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Importance of Act Three Scene One in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Use of Sonnets in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare’s Use of Death to Create Tension in “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Themes of Love and Madness in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Use of Imagery in the Play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• How Does Shakespeare Create a Sense of Tragedy in the Final Scene of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Are Romeo and Juliet Responsible for Their Deaths?
• How Does Shakespeare Create Drama and Tension in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Why Does Shakespeare Create Sympathy for “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Is “Romeo and Juliet” Relevant to Modern Life?
• How Does Shakespeare Create a Dramatic Conclusion in Act Five Scene Three of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Are Adults Presented in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Are the Main Themes Presented in the Opening Sequence of Baz Luhrman’s Film “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Does “Romeo and Juliet” Deserve to Be Considered Pop Culture in the Elizabethan Era?
• Why Does “Romeo and Juliet” Attract Teenagers?
• How Did Shakespeare Introduce the Characters of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Act One Scene One Provide an Effective Opening to “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Did Hate Cause Major Events in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Bas Luhrman’s Staging of Key Scenes “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Did Baz Luhrmann Manage to Gain Sympathy for “Romeo and Juliet” and Interest a Modern Audience?
• How Does Baz Lurhmann Make “Romeo and Juliet” More Accessible to a Modern Audience?
• How Does Conflict Manifest Itself in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Fate Affect “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Why Did Fate Lead to the Tragic Conclusion of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Lord Capulet Change Through the Course of the Play “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Why Does Love Change Romeo and Juliet’s Life?
• How Do Shakespeare Introduce Romeo and Juliet’s Relationship?
• Did Romeo and Juliet Ever Have Control Over What Happened to Them or Was It All Fate?
• How Does Shakespeare Make Romeo and Juliet Dramatically Effective?
• How Do Juliet’s Decisions Affect Her Growth and Her Relationships in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Shakespeare Portray Ambiguity in the Play “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Are the Relationships in “Romeo and Juliet” Represented and Developed?
• Does the Film “Romeo and Juliet” Have the Same Dramatic Impact on the Audience as the Original Play?
• How Does Shakespeare Portray Love in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Shakespeare Present Conflict at the Start of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• The Story of an Hour Essay Ideas
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Research Ideas
• Oedipus the King Essay Topics
• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Research Topics
• The Other Wes Moore Paper Topics
• The Road Not Taken Topics
• The Handmaid’s Tale Research Ideas
• The Glass Menagerie Paper Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, December 7). 114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/romeo-and-juliet-essay-examples/

"114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples." IvyPanda , 7 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/romeo-and-juliet-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples'. 7 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples." December 7, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/romeo-and-juliet-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples." December 7, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/romeo-and-juliet-essay-examples/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples." December 7, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/romeo-and-juliet-essay-examples/.

A ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for people who think they know ‘Romeo and Juliet’

S askia Martínez’s Barbie-pink, terraced set for “Romeo and Juliet” is the first clue that director Marianna Bassham is not interested in a traditional production of this oft-told tale. Her Actors’ Shakespeare Project ensemble emerges in Lisa Coleman’s contemporary outfits — hoodies and sunglasses, torn jeans, crop tops and T-shirts — all in muted shades of black and white, and they move with a fluid grace and groove (choreographed by Ilya Vidrin) that celebrates life even as the specter of death looms over the proceedings.

This expressionistic vibe strips away any expectations in a production that feels extraordinarily fresh and vibrant. It also captures a lot of humor and playfulness among these characters, who are, in so many ways, just trying to get by in a world that seems determined to thwart their simple attempts at happiness.

In the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion, Bassham assembles an outstanding group of novices and veterans who tap directly into the raw emotions that drive the action. That mixing of experienced Shakespearean actors with newcomers ups everyone’s game, and the result is performances that are absolutely transparent, driving the familiar plot twists with new awareness of our continued weakness for petty squabbles that perpetuate shocking violence.

Bassham’s dispensing of the literal interpretation of the tragedy never sacrifices Shakespeare’s poetry; instead it frees the actors to infuse their characters with an immediacy that makes them instantly recognizable. This ensemble’s ease with their characters and the language eliminates the usual need to take a few minutes to tune into Shakespeare’s “blank verse” channel. More than four centuries after this play was first performed, these characters converse without a hint of artifice, and with a sincerity and conviction that sounds uneasily like our neighbors or ourselves.

Watch Esme Allen (Lady Capulet) play the part of the spoiled rich wife whose overbright smile never reaches her eyes and whose boozy enthusiasm for her daughter Juliet’s impending marriage rings hollow. Michael Broadhurst (Mercutio) slinks and shimmies across the stage, teasing and taunting his friend Romeo. His Mercutio is appealingly complex, a man torn by a trauma he only hints at, who laughs to keep his own despair at bay. Sandra Seoane-Serí, as Tybalt, seethes with so much anger, the air fairly crackles every time her character appears on stage. This Tybalt is so driven by hatred and revenge, he simply can’t exist without it.

But the play, of course, belongs to the young lovers, played by Evan Taylor (Romeo) and Chloe McFarlane (Juliet). Their confidence with Shakespeare’s poetry is matched only by their open, relaxed responses to each other. They imbue that sweet first kiss with a childlike innocence that instantly creates empathy even as we worry about how vulnerable they are. They have a chemistry that makes us unsurprised at their sudden attraction for each other and an excitement about what the future could hold that is contagious.

The true beauty of this production is that every member of the company makes us feel they are living this experience in real time, even though Bassham and her production team keep reminding us that the Verona of Shakespeare’s story could be anywhere, at any time. As if to keep that thought front and center, Jesse Hinson sits at a small table upstage center throughout the performance, his electric guitar and array of effects knobs and pedals providing the enchanting atmospheric soundscape as the drama unfolds.

Although we may know this will not end well, these characters do not (despite a few well-placed bits of foreshadowing), and they sweep us up in their rush of newfound love and possibility. Bassham’s contemporary, hopeful take on the ending makes the action that came before even more heart-wrenching. This “Romeo and Juliet” takes us on a ride that is never less than thrilling.

Terry Byrne can be reached at [email protected] .

ROMEO AND JULIET

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Marianna Bassham. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Through June 2. actorsshakespeareproject.org