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Title: GCSE ENGLISH ROMEO AND JULIET // JULIET
Description: GCSE / IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE ROMEO AND JULIET NOTES EACH CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Description: GCSE / IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE ROMEO AND JULIET NOTES EACH CHARACTER ANALYSIS
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CHARACTERS
ROMEO
The Montague Family’s only son, a romanticallyinclined young man desperately in
love with a lady called Rosaline until he meets Juliet, the daughter of his family’s
enemy
...
‘Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs’ Montague
(repetition of clouds)
‘Home my heavy son’ M
(alliteration of H to imitate the sound of sighing)
‘O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first create!’ R
(repetition of ‘O’ and use of !)
‘Madness most discreet, a choking gall, and a preserving sweet’ R
(contrasting emotions)
‘Serious Vanity’ (L72)
(Oxymoron showing the confusion, he is emotionally unstable
...
‘Under love’s heavy burden do I sink’ R
(etaphor
m
to describe his depression and that he is indulged in lovesickness)
Act 1 Scene 5 (Capulet’s Ball)
Romeo first sees Juliet at the ball
‘O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!’
(etaphor
m
to highlight Juliet’s overwhelming beauty)
R + J starts talking
Uses words like ‘holy shrines’, ‘dear saint’ and ‘pilgrims’
(suggests his admiration to J, and his
religionlike
worship to J’s beauty)
‘Have not saints lips, and holy palms too’
(uses religion as a source of romantic imagery where J
reciprocates
with religion imagery which
contrasts with Romeo’s unrequited love w/ Rosaline)
Realised they were from Capulet and Montague
‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’ J
(use of
antonyms/oxymoron
to compare her love to R and the hate b/w the feud)
Complimenting Juliet’s beauty
‘As a rich jewel in Ethiop’s ear’
(use of hyperbole shows how lovestruck Romeo is by Juliet’s beauty)
Capulet doesn’t mind him being there
‘And to say truth, Verona brags of him’
(shows of his relatively good reputation throughout Verona)
Act 2 Scene 2 (Balcony Scene)
Romeo is indulged in J’s beauty and can’t forget her
Used lexical field associating with such as ‘twinkle’, ‘brightness’, ‘daylight’ and ‘lamp’
light
(use of semantic field of brightness highlights the dazzling + splendid beauty of J)
‘Juliet is the sun’ comparing her beauty to the sun
That she shines brightly like the sun
And suggesting that his whole world now revolves around Juliet
S uses the different
levels of the stage
in this scene to create the sense of
contrasting
status
of the 2 protagonists
(J: higher lvl takes more control over the relationship and braver
R: lower lvl worships J and her beauty + a more passive character)
Both R + J are victims of the generational fued
(R uses strong negatives such as ‘never’ to suggest his determination in being together with J)
R no longer wants to be a Montague as he falls in love with J
‘Henceforth I never will be Romeo’
(talks about himself in 3rd person to show
isolation
with his original identity and that he is willing to give
up his status as a Montague for J)
Shakespeare makes the audience query if the relationship between R and J is love or lust
‘O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied’
(S uses
sexual implications
to suggest the lust of their love; this shows that R is a
shallow +
impulsive
young boy which is only attracted to J’s physical appearances)
Act 2 Scene 6
R is brave but also impulsive
‘Then lovedevouring death do what he dare, it is enough I may call her mine’
(Uses foreshadowing to imply their deaths as R compares love and death; shows the relationship b/w
love and death)
Act 3 Scene 3
‘Tis fortune, and not mercy, heaven is here, where Juliet lives’
Act 5 Scene 1
Romeo sees the apothecary
‘Then I defy you stars!’
(Romeo trying to escape his )
fate
Act 5 Scene 3 (Final Scene)
Reunited with Juliet
Ending, they die
R is a loving character
‘Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr’d’
(R uses direct address to ‘Death’, this implies his confusion and fury as he thinks it’s unbelievable how J
is taken away by ‘Death’ despite her stunning beauty)
R is a very emotional and dramatic character
He uses a large variety of punctuation e
...
‘?’, ‘!’, ‘:’, ‘,’
(helps to highlight his conflicting emotions: furious and confused, love and hate
...
This also helps S to portray him as a character that is loyal and dedicated to J
JULIET
The Capulet’s only child (other children have apparently died)
...
She develops
hugely throughout the play
...
The word ‘madame’ also implies that J is very respectful and polite)
J is presented as a submissive and obedient child
‘But no more deep will I endart mine eye, as your consent gives strength to make it fly
...
The
rhyme of ‘eye’ and ‘fly’ also implies J’s intelligence, where she is not impulsive at all and thinks before
she speaks; the word ‘consent’ is used to show J’s submissiveness)
Act 1 Scene 5 (Capulet’s Ball)
J meets Romeo for the first time
J develops throughout the play since she has met R
From being intelligent → admiring and worshiping R
Uses religious language such as ‘god’ and ‘idolatry’; emphasises her worship to R
Act 2 Scene 2 (Balcony Scene)
She became very impulsive from being cautious in her words
‘Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow’
(J uses imperatives and the timing word ‘tomorrow’ to show her
impatience
and immaturity)
Act 3 Scene 2
Waiting for Romeo to come
Finds out Romeo killed Tybalt
‘When I shall die, / Take him and cut him into little stars/ And he will make the heaven so fine’ A3S2
L2123
‘ O, I have bought the mansion of love, / But not possess’d it’ L2627
‘ I’ll to my wedding bed, and death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!’
(foreshadowing her death)
Act 4 Scene 3
Long soliloquy about taking the potion
‘Henceforward I am ever rul’d by you’
‘And in rage, with some great kinsman’s bone, as with a club, dash out my desperate brains?’
Act 5 Scene 3
Her death
Peace between the families
Mercutio
Characteristics:
Provocative
Jocular (jolly, likes to have fun)
Irascible (mood swings)
Charismatic
Mercurial
Relationships:
Romeo → friend
Benvolio → friend
Tybalt → enemy
Role
● Romeo’s other friend, whose aggressive vitality (shown in speech as well as action) provokes a
duel with a tragic outcome that affects every character in the play
...
Importance of Mercutio:
❖ Mercutio's death creates
sympathy
for Romeo's enraged, emotional reaction in avenging his
friend's death killing Tybalt
❖ His death marks a distinct
turning point
in the play as tragedy begins to overwhelm comedy,
and the fates of the protagonists darken
...
He has an adversarial concept of love that contrasts sharply with Romeo's idealized notion of
romantic union
...
Crude + humorous
Soliloquy about ‘Queen Mab’
S uses a
Soliloquy
to display Mercutio’s eloquence and vivid imagination
Mercutio describes women as ‘hags’ and ‘maids’ who are learning how to “bear”, which has a
connotation
of a demon sitting on a sufferer’s chest
...
This highlights
his character being a honourable and defensive friend of R
Whilst he’s dying, he curses both households
Stating that the feud has gone too far
‘A plague a’ both your houses!’
Even though he’s dying, he still has a sense of humour
‘They have made worms meat out of me’
Use of Language
Prose
Mercutio uses ‘prose’ in his speeches and soliloquies throughout the play
The fluid nature of prose suggests that he speak freely and carelessly
This implies that he is a crude character
Tybalt
Juliet’s cousin, a sophisticated and fashionable young man who is proud of his own
accomplishments, and very jealous of the family honour
...
He aggravates the fighting in the opening scene and causes a lot of trouble in act 3
...
+ This quote shows how violent he is and how much he hates peace so much so he hates
the word
This, by his voice, should be a Montague
...
What dares the slave…
+ Here he calls them a slave
+ Also we see here that even though the montagues haven't said anything to him yet he
is already ready to kill them
Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting
...
+ He is so impatient to kill them here
Tybalt is aggressive and hates all Montagues but he is loyal too
...
+ "I shall withdraw but this intrusion shall now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall"
(Shakespeare)
...
Summary
●
1
...
Benvolio, a friend of the Montagues, is trying to stop the fight
...
The situation gets so out of control that the Prince of Verona arrives to break it up
...
5: Tybalt spots Romeo at a Capulet party
...
Lord Capulet intervenes before Tybalt can do
anything and angrily orders him not to ruin the party
...
●
3
...
He trades some insults with them
before Romeo shows up
...
Romeo responds
mildly to his abuse and refuses to fight
...
Romeo
tries to stop them from fighting, and Tybalt wounds Mercutio while he is distracted by Romeo's
interference
...
But he comes back in time
for Romeo to challenge him to a duel to avenge Mercutio's death
...
Benvolio
Role:
One of Romeo’s friends, a serious and sensitive young man whose name indicates his
peacemaking role
His name means ‘good will’ which symbolises his characteristics of being against
violence and arguments
Part of the Montague’s family
Romeo’s cousin
Wellintentioned young man
Always tries to avoid violence
A character who encourages peace and acts of kindness
Comforts Romeo in his unfulfilled love for Rosaline
Discourages and tries to avoid conflicts
Contrasts with Tybalt (juxtaposes)
Key Quotations and Analysis:
Act 1 Scene 1
Tries to stop the fight on the street of Verona ‘Put up thy sword’
Use of imperative to imply that he is a character that is very against conflicts and
violence
A very caring cousin of Romeo, he is willing to share his sorrow as well as his happiness
‘No, coz, I rather weep’
Act 1 Scene 2
Wants to stop R from suffering in the unrequited love with Rosaline by suggesting him to go to
the Capulets’ Ball (responsible for their deaths because R might not have met J if he didn’t go to
the ball?)
‘One fire burns out another’s burning’
Uses metaphor to try to convince R that setting his eyes on another girl will help him forget
about R
Disrespectful to women to some extent
‘I will make thee think thy swan a crow’
Uses metaphor to compare Rosaline to an ugly animal crow
...
Lawrence
A friar of the Order of Saint Francis, whose good intentions precipitate the tragedy
Characteristics:
Wise
Knowledgeable
Good at giving advice
Brave, prepared to suggest risky plans
Caring towards Romeo
Represents the older generation
Comes up with practical plans, secret wedding
Relationships:
Romeo → father figure, confidant
Juliet → idol for her
Capulets and Montagues → middle man
father figure to Romeo
has good intentions
only wants peace, tries to help Romeo and Juliet
Key Scenes:
Act 2 Scene 3 → wants to turn the feud into love
Act 3 Scene 3 → advising and giving help
Act 4 Scene 1 → gives Juliet the potion
Act 5 Scene 2 → letter to Romeo
Act 5 Scene 3 → after Romeo and Juliet die
Key Quotes:
“Ghostly father” Romeo → A2S3 line 45
“For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancour to pure love” → A2S3
L9192
“Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast” → A2S3 L16
“I do spy a kind of hope” → A4S1 L68
“Unhappy fortune!” → A5S2 L17
“A great power that we can contradict hath thwarted our intents” A5S3 L153154
“I dare no longer stay” A5S3 L159
Paris
A nobleman, endowed with all the qualities that would make him (in Juliet’s parents’ eyes) an ideal
husband for Juliet
...
2: Paris asks Lord Capulet if he can marry the thirteenyearold Juliet
...
5: Though he has no lines, Paris dances with Juliet at the Capulet's party
...
(Paris doesn't realize this, of course
...
4: Even though the Capulets are mourning for Tybalt's death, Paris shows up hoping for news
that Juliet wants to marry him
...
Paris agrees
...
1: Paris goes to Friar Laurence to arrange the details of the wedding
...
Then Juliet shows up, and Paris greets her
enthusiastically
...
Friar Laurence suggests Paris should leave so Juliet can have confession
...
●
4
...
It's the morning of his
wedding, and finally, he gets to marry Juliet, the girl of his dreams
...
Juliet is dead
...
2: Paris, shocked that Juliet had to die the night before they are supposed to be married,
grieves quietly by Juliet's tomb
...
He and Romeo fight, and Romeo kills him
...
”
Childish anger use of the word ‘flourishes’ to suggest
immaturity
Exclamation mark used to show anger and
impulsiveness
Act 1 Scene 2
Protects Juliet from Paris, saying she’s too young to get married
“But saying o’er what I have said before: My child is yet a stranger in the world;
...
The earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she,
...
etaphor
M
to show empathy, care and his
fatherly love shows that he is a fatherly figure
Rejected Paris’ marriage with J b/c he cares about his daughter’s feelings and is
considerate:
contrasts
with the upcoming scenes
Act 1 Scene 5
Capulet restrains Tybalt from starting a fight with Romeo
Act 3 Scene 4
“Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender Of my child’s love; I think she will be ruled
...
nurse , back again”
Indication that the Nurse knows more than mother of daughter’s whereabouts
Uses command phrases to show that she is a typical demanding rich young woman
Lack of adjectives to show her lack of emotions and lack of love and connection with J
“Verona’s summer hath not such a flower”
Repetition of physical beauty and satisfaction rather than emotional satisfaction and
love
Metaphor of flowers creates imagery to create a physically beautiful atmosphere that
mirrors the boundaries of marriage only to physical attractiveness and not love
...
”
Repetition of ‘me’ suggests that she is very self centred and only cares about herself
...
Do as thou wilt, for I am done with thee”
Repeated uses of commas to suggest all of her feelings
Use of the superlative ‘most miserable’ to suggest absolute sadness
Semantic field of melancholy and desperation to show how upset and regretful she is
for Juliet’s death
THE NURSE
An affectionate, simpleminded woman in whom piety and sexuality are combined with commonsense
and a desire to please
...
Characteristics:
Sexual
Caring
Mother figure
Knowledgeable of Juliet
Trustworthy
Loyal
Advising
Protective
Devoted to Capulets
Humourous
Emotional
Respected by Juliet
Relationships:
Juliet → mother figure
Friar → counterpart to Romeo
Romeo → only trusts him because of Juliet
Capulet’s → loyal to them, doesn’t trust them that much
Role:
Raised Juliet up as a baby and had breastfed her
Has a motherdaughter relationship with Juliet, S shows extreme closeness between the 2
characters which contrasts with Lady Capulet and Juliet’s relationship
J trusts the the Nurse and therefore told her about R
She has knowledge of their marriage (so partially responsible for their deaths?)
She supports their love in the play but betrays Juliet when Lord Capulet opposes their marriage
Increasing isolation
Key points + Analysis:
Act 1 Scene 3
Conversation about Juliet marrying Paris
The Nurse is present every time Lady Capulet is on stage with Juliet
Shakespeare uses staging to imply that the relationship between the Nurse and Juliet is
much closer than Juliet with Lady C
‘and she was wean’d – and I shall never forget it’
She often mentions her earlier experiences of breastfeeding J when she was a baby to
show their intimacy
Act 2 Scene 3
Admiring Paris’ figure
“Why he’s a man of wax”
Act 2 Scene 5
Juliet waiting for the Nurse to return
“I am the drudge, and toil in your delight; but you shall bear the burden soon at night”
Act 3 Scene 2
Nurse tells Juliet to forget about Romeo
Suggests that she just marry Paris
Act 3 Scene 5
She warns Romeo to leave Juliet’s room after he spends the night
“Your lady mother is coming to your chamber
...
”Juliet
Rejects Nurse using subterfuge
“Ancient damnation! You wicked fiend!” Juliet
“Go, counsellor, thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain” Juliet
SETTINGS
Public setting conflict
Conflict in the play occurs in a public scene due to the family feud and both the Capulets and Montagues
trying to show off due to family loyalty
...
Even at the start of the play it begins with a
fight in public between the servants
...
’
The fact that it is also in public means that Mercutio and Tybalt are more
arrogant and show off in order to present loyalty to their family which results in both Mercutio and Tybalt
getting killed
...
Despite being in a public place
where lots of people are gathered at the Capulet’s household, Romeo and Juliet are able to enclose
themselves in their private world
...
However, the nurse comes in at this
point and says,
‘Madam, your mother craves a word with you
...
In contrast with daytime when characters are largely based in a public setting, nighttime is introduced as
an escape path for the lovers as daytime is too dangerous for their love to be shown
...
’
This quotation shows how deep Romeo’s love for
Juliet is
...
Contrasts
Romeo is seen in public whereas Juliet is only seen private places such as her bedroom
...
Here, we can
already see the different settings which could represent the differences in their lifestyles due to the
patriarchal society
...
Romeo on the other hand shows a strong sense of bravado and playfulness at certain parts of
the play, especially with Mercutio
...
’
This quotation reveals Romeo’s bravery and attitude towards his love for Juliet which he cannot show in
public
...
His loyalty and slight
irrationality takes over him as he kills Tybalt
...
This shows how differently Romeo acts in front of his friends in relation to how he presents himself in
private settings with Juliet
...
Hence a lot of important
decisions are made there
...
This is a major turning
point of their lives as the two families are now related and shows how different things are in a public
setting to a private setting, as in private they are married but in public they are a part of feuding families
...
Act 2 Scene 3
‘Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast
...
’
‘Therefore love moderately, long love doth so;’
Act 4 Scene 2
‘Be strong and prosperous in this resolve;
Summary
...
LOVE
Unrequited love Romeo and Rosaline
●
The first example of love we see in the play
●
Romeo believes he is in love with Rosaline but she doesn’t love him back,
‘she’ll not be hit
with Cupid’s arrow’
●
He is very self absorbed at this point of the play as he believes he knows exactly what love
should feel like and how you should speak when you are in love
●
Romeo associates love with sadness and misery
●
When he talks of love, he shows no real depth of understanding
●
Romeo uses 4 uninspiring, dull oxymorons in close succession
‘feather of lead, bright
smoke, cold fire, sick health’
●
Benvolio tries to persuade Romeo to get over his love for Rosaline but he doesn’t think he will
ever be able to, which shows he is inexperienced in love
...
●
Shakespeare uses the love for Rosaline to show how Romeo develops from a naive young boy
to a man who can make his own decisions
...
The nurse cares for Juliet as her
own own which shows that they have a mother daughter relationship
...
●
Juliet goes to the nurse for advice and uses her as a messenger
...
●
The nurse tells Juliet to marry Paris and forget about Romeo who has been banished
...
O, he’s a lovely gentleman! Romeo’s a dishclout to
him
...
●
The nurse had helped the marriage happen so has a certain responsibility and loyalty to Juliet
who now feels like she is on her own
...
●
‘Madam, I am here, what is your will?’ shows Juliet is respectful and formal around her
mother and that there is no warmth or real connection between them (formal tone)
●
Lady Capulet calls the Nurse back into their conversation as she feels uncomfortable when
being alone with Juliet
...
Lord Capulet shouts insults at Juliet
...
Do as thou wilt for I have done with thee
...
From this we can see that there is no real
connection between Juliet and Paris (act 1 scene 4, Friar Lawrence’s cell)
Paris: ‘Happily met, my lady and my wife!’
Juliet: ‘That may be, sir, when I may be a wife
...
’
Juliet: ‘What must be shall be
...
’
Paris: ‘Do not deny to him that you love me
...
’
Paris: ‘So will ye, I am sure, that you love me
...
’ etc
...
’
The Friar tells Romeo to be calm and not rush the relationship because his haste
could cause it to fail
Romeo will visit the Friar for problems, news and new experiences in his life
For example, Romeo goes to visit the friar early the morning after spending the night with Juliet
and we understand the closeness of their relationship when Friar says
‘God pardon sin! wast
thou with Rosaline?’ e can see the closeness in their relationship from this quotation
W
because not even Romeo’s parents know about his love for Rosaline
...
’
Nurse
basic humor, repetitive, verging on inappropriate (act 1 scene 3) She uses rexual
references in front of Juliet who is still a child
‘Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more
wit, wilt thou not, Jule?’
Romantic Love Romeo and Juliet
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Main focus of the play
...
‘O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!’
meaning Juliet is a glowing light
in the darkness
...
Romeo is using this comparison to show
that Juliet is rare and precious
...
(Apart from the fact that they have fallen in love and considered marriage within a few hours of
meeting), we also get the impression that Romeo and Juliet believe that no one else can ever
understand the meaning of their love by the way Juliet describes how she would feel about
marrying Paris (previous slide) and that she could never love anyone else but Romeo
...
It is also not to be forgotten that Juliet is happy to go along with the friar’s somewhat hasty plan
in which she pretends to be dead in order to be with Romeo
We also notice Romeo’s willingness to die for Juliet when, as soon as he hears about Juliet’s
“death”, he goes to buy poison so he can be with her
...
She says
‘O happy dagger, this is
thy sheath; there rust and let me die’ We can see their commitment to each other
...
This links to fate as it is a reflection of what will happen as the play
unfold, and so reinforces the idea that events will unfold in a preplanned way
Near the end of the play when Romeo is in Mantua, he says that he
“dreamt my lady came
and found me dead”
and then
“breath’d such life with kisses in my lips”
This an example of foreshadowing, as in the Capulet’s tomb, Juliet does wake to find
Romeo dead beside her
...
Romeo gives himself up to fate
Despite misgivings about going to the Capulet’s party, Romeo puts his trust in fate
“He that hath the steerage of my course direct my sail!”
Uses a capital ‘H’ for He implying that he believes there is a greater power in control of
what is going on
Believes that his life has a “course” to follow, and so shows he believes in fate
His lack of motivation to change anything, and resignation to fate, shows how
meaningless his life is without Juliet, and provides a great contrast to later on in the play
Without having surrendered to fate in this way, he would not have met Juliet, and so it is
his belief in fate that seems to drive the events of the play
Romeo also talks about a danger
“hanging in the stars” before the banquet, this idea of events
being written in the stars shows how life within the play is seen to be predetermined by fate
Finally, at the end of the play, Romeo inadvertently gives himself up to fate just as he ‘defies’ fate by
deciding to kill himself
Romeo says
“I defy you, stars!”
when he hears of Juliet’s death but as it was his fate to die all along
it means that he’s fulfilling his fate
Romeo tempting fate
Romeo’s bravado often sounds like he is tempting fate
At their wedding:
“Love devouring Death do what he dare, it is enough that I may
call her mine”
Here there is a personification of death: talking directly to death
...
”
This happens mostly just after Romeo has been with Juliet, and so he feels most elated and
invincible and therefore is confident enough to challenge death in this way
This builds up tension in the play, and dramatic irony, as the audience already know that they
will die
Romeo tempting fate also gives an insight into his character and his immense love for Juliet
Romeo also tempts fate by saying that he would rather die than live without Juliet’s love:
“My
life were better ended by their hate than death prorogued, wanting of thy love”
This also an example of foreshadowing as, in the end, they do die with each other’s
love
Foreshadow indicating fate
Reminds audience of play’s inevitable ending
Emphasises the importance of fate throughout play and how it influences all events
Many examples of foreshadowing employed throughout play by all characters
“Methinks I see thee… As one dead in the bottom of the tomb” Romeo and
Juliet’s last scene together and so an important quotation
“They stumble that run fast”
This is an ironic use of foreshadowing as it is the
Friar’s actions that hasten the climax of the play
“These violent delights have violent ends”
“A plague a’both your houses!”
and “This instrusion shall … Convert to bitter
gall”
Important quotations reflecting how Tybalt and Mercutio’s deaths lead to sorrow
for both families
“To bear a poison… That Romeo on receipt thereof soon sleep in quiet”
Example of more subtle foreshadowing, Lady Capulet hints that Romeo may die due to
poison
Foreshadowing is made more obvious because audience is already aware of play’s ending,
hence creating a degree of dramatic irony
Characters blaming fate
Many characters believe that fate is responsible for misfortunes
Some blame fate even when they seem to have acted with their own free will
...
g
...
g
...
2
...
●
●
In
Romeo Juliet
and
humour occurs in three forms
...
The second through the actions of characters and by their behaviour
...
Shakespeare manages to create a fair amount of humour in the play by the creation of some
humorous characters
...
●
She uses puns and also repeats jokes such as ‘
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more
wit, wilt thou not Jule? And by my holidam the pretty wretch left crying and said ‘Ay’
●
The nurse uses crude humour rather than wit which is one of the more obvious differences
between her humorous character, and the humour produced by Mercutio
...
●
One prime example of how the Nurse brings out humour in the way she behaves is when she,
after returning with news from Romeo, goes off into a long talk about her health and that Juliet
should be ashamed of sending her on such a long journey In Act 2 Scene 5
...
Mercutio
●
He uses lots of puns which are usually vulgar and sexual (these were used to hold the interest
of the Elizabethan audience)
●
His character is used mostly for humour which is why he was killed off before the later scenes in
the play as he would distract the audience from the death and sadness
●
In keeping with his character we find Mercutio making puns even when he is dying
...
Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man
...
●
The use of humour in the play was also added for preference of, arguably, the more lower class
people watching
...
●
Mercutio is also a humorous character as he mocks certain things such as love and dreamers
...
Other characters
●
●
●
The musicians bring an element of comedy into their scene as there are many puns used with
the word ‘note’
...
Also adding to the comedy in the scene, Peter gives each musician a
humorously musical name such as
James Soundpost
...
Peter also indulges in witty punning at inappropriate times during the play
...
m
The servants Sampson and Gregory
...
They use puns
on the words “coals”, “collier”, “choler” and “collar”
...
The humour in the play acts as a balance to the tragedy that already exists in the play, and the
humour helps to relax the readers or audience at times and also keeps the audience interested
in the play
...
Humour also adds a touch of reality to the play
...
He can be seen to personify
hatred
in
the play, and instigates much of the
conflict
and violence
...
Fetch me my rapier, boy
...
Act 1 Scene 1: “What, drawn and talk of peace?” immediately introduces the theme of
conflict
, and the
severity of the conflict suddenly escalates from the servant’s petty
...
’ brings out the theme of
hatred
and
portrays how strong the
hatred
is between the two families
...
fight
Shakespeare uses this fight to immediately introduce the theme of
conflict
and the between the
feud
families
...
We can see the volatility of Verona
feud
at the time, which helps explain how quickly circumstances change over the course of the play
...
We see the importance of
family pride
and how it is seen as
shameful to refuse
conflict
...
The
fight
hatred is emphasised here as we see a strong contrast in Romeo’s character
...
fight
This
conflict
is not due to
hatred
but due to loyalty and passion
...
Imagery
Shakespeare makes reference to
violent
images:
‘To strike him dead’ through Tybalt, Shakespeare creates
violent
images and adds drama
...
‘Cut’st my head off a golden axe’ Romeo’s reference of banishment to such a
violent
form of
death
‘Chain me with roaring bears’ Juliet compares marrying Paris to
violent
images
...
Act 1 scene 5 Romeo and Juliet confess their love for each other and exchange words of affection
...
‘
Violent
delights’ lead to ‘
violent
ends’ (Friar) Romeo’s
violent
love for Juliet, and Tybalt’s
violent
hatred
of Romeo both lead to ‘
violent
ends’
...
“My only love sprung from my only !” this expresses how ingrained the family is in its
hate
feud
members
“That I must love a loathed enemy” the use of the word ‘must’ shows that Juliet understands
she cannot change what she feels, but she knows that she should
Act 3 Scene 3: when Juliet discovers that Romeo killed Tybalt, she experiences internal
conflict
...
‘Serpent heart’ This shows that her first reaction feeling betrayed by Romeo
‘Beautiful tyrant’ the use of oxymorons shows that her feelings are
conflicted
, as she praises
Romeo at the same time as degrading him (heart vs head)
She then calls herself ‘a beast’ for being disloyal to Romeo
‘True knight’ After realising that she should be loyal to Romeo, she refers Romeo as her ‘true
knight’, suggesting that he saved her from her own family
Familial conflict
Act 3 Scene 5: Juliet and her father’s
...
This in turn emphasises the
truly unfavourable position Romeo and Juliet are faced with, knowing the consequence of displeasing
Juliet’s father
...
feud
The Chorus is particularly disdainful of the feud
...
However, the use of the words ‘ancient grudge’ suggest that it is no
longer relevant and is outdated
...
“These hot days is the mad blood stirring” suggests all
conflict
in Verona is irrational more
down to the weather than any deeper cause
...
From the outset we learn of Romeo and Juliet’s inevitable death by foreshadowing in the chorus
“Two starcrossed lovers take their lives”
and “death mark’d love”
this also shows us
that the play will be a tragedy
When Romeo climbs down from her window,
“Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low as
one dead in the bottom of the tomb”
this foreshadows Romeo’s death, as the last time she
sees him he is dead
...
The idea of Romeo and Juliet’s love being holy links to heaven and therefore death, and life with
each other after death
Friar Laurence tells Romeo,
“Not in a grave”,
and it soon becomes apparent to the audience
that when love is discussed, death is almost always hinted at
“The fool were married to her grave”
Lady Capulet, ironically this does actually happen
...
The deaths of Tybalt, Romeo, Mercutio, Juliet and Paris are all youths of Verona
...
This shows how tragic the deaths are and creates
sympathy as none of them were involved in the original feud
...
And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the
earth
...
I drink to Thee
...
Shakespeare uses
emotive language here to show the significant amount of bravery Juliet needs to perform the act
of suicide
...
Juliet uses
vivid imagery of ‘angl’d Tybalt’
m
...
The fears Juliet lists about the
●
poison not being able to make her appear dead and waking
‘before the time that Romeo’
rescues her is a form of foreshadowing as the audience is away the friars hasty plan does not
work
...
”
Personification of death
●
After Act 2 Scene 6, Death is personified greatly, until he seems to become a character in the
play
...
There she lies, Flower as she was, deflowered by
him
...
●
Romeo thinks that
“unsubstantial death is amorous”
, and that it wishes to be with Juliet,
therefore Romeo is convinced to kill himself so he can be with Juliet and stop the character
‘death’ from taking her
...
●
In the prologue it tell us that the
‘their children’s end’
is the only way to resolve the
‘ancient
feud’
between the two families
...
●
We are lead to believe that Romeo and Juliet have both been very unlucky in terms of death
and their fates, and Romeo says to Paris after killing him,
“One writ with me in sour
misfortune’s book”
, as Paris also has suffered at the hands of Fate
...
●
When Romeo says
“shake the yoke of inauspicious stars”
, he wants to break free of the
burden that Fate has caused him, and therefore kills himself (however this is not the only reason
for his death he wants to be with Juliet as well and believes he cannot live without her)
●
The deaths are constantly foretold therefore it seems like death can’t be escaped, as their fate
has already been chosen
...
Both
Tybalt, Mercutio and Paris die due to violence and the momentum of the ongoing family feud
...
Killed by Tybalt, but under
Romeo’s arm
...
”
Tybalt killed by Romeo to avenge Mercutio’s death
...
Paris killed by Romeo in the Capulet’s tomb, although Romeo tries to warn him,
“Fly hence,
and leave me”
...
Romeo kills himself with poison bought from an apothecary
...
“O happy
dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die
...
The journey of the play can be seen as a cycle of love to death
...
Title: GCSE ENGLISH ROMEO AND JULIET // JULIET
Description: GCSE / IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE ROMEO AND JULIET NOTES EACH CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Description: GCSE / IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE ROMEO AND JULIET NOTES EACH CHARACTER ANALYSIS