Romeo and Juliet: William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two young people who fall in love at first sight. Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet’s and he immediately falls in love with her. Their falling in love is not unusual as many youth still fall in love like this in our time. They marry secretly share a bed and consummate their love the night they married. Unfortunately the course of this love changes at the same rate as it started. Romeo is banished and leaves the newly married bride. It was not known to both partners that Romeo’s banishment to Mantua meant that they will never meet.
Shakespeare further portrays hate as a human weakness and how love as its sharp contrast triumphs over that wild animosity. The way Romeo and Juliet fall in love and the storm of infatuation in which they immediately fall into is in direct contrast to the intensity of hatred their families are in. this hatred is further intensified by the death of Mercutio Romeo’s friend and Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. Here Shakespeare instantly brings in suspense by “banishing” Romeo from Verona to Mantua. One might wonder as to what would happen to this new marriage when partners are forced to part abruptly like this. Will they part forever? Will they meet secretly as they did before? One would ask.
Shakespeare further uses the clergy in the character of Friar Lawrence and Friar John to facilitate the growth of the play’s plot. It is Friar Lawrence who secretly unites Romeo and Juliet in Marriage. Shakespeare waves this unity in such away that it “violates” the hate that prevails between the families of the marrying partners. Readers might ask; what if their families find out? What will happen to the marriage? Yes they do find out but not at this stage, they find out when the children are already dead.
When Capulet forces Juliet to marry Count Paris, it is Friar Lawrence again who give Juliet a drug to make her seem dead for some time so that her marriage with Paris fails. The clergy here is made to serve the good purpose of uniting the two antagonistic families. That is, Friar Lawrence adds to the growth of the plot that has already been established by Romeo and Juliet. It is stated in the play that Friar Lawrence already knew the fray and he married Romeo and Juliet on one very important reason; that this alliance may turn … (the )two families` hatred into love.” While Romeo and Juliet have not known each other in advance to their passion and have not fallen in love with the intention of uniting their families, we hear Friar Lawrence announcing he marries these partners with the intension of uniting their families.
Shakespeare goes on to depict the horror in the play when he makes Balthazar to see what happens to Juliet so that he may immediately go to Mantua to tell Romeo that Juliet is dead. Friar Lawrence has send Friar John who fails to tell Romeo the news in time enough to save his life. When Friar Lawrence took action of saving the lives of Romeo and Juliet it was too late. Romeo was already at the Capulet`s monument, had already killed Count Paris, was at Juliet’s bed witnessing Juliet’s “death”. Anything Friar Lawrence could do at this time was in vain. When he arrived at the Capulet`s monument, he first met Paris’s corpse, then alas! Romeo too was dead by Juliet’s bed. After the Friar has awakened Juliet he makes a mistake of leaving Juliet there all by herself. Juliet takes a sword by Romeo’s side and kills herself.
In this play, Shakespeare explores the theme of love versus hate in which he depicts love’s victory over hate. The playwright also deals with the importance of human values and how those essential elements of human existence can reform humanity as Moore and Myehoff (2000:28) affirm that drama influences … aesthetics of the society and forces chance thereof. In killing the Romeo and his Juliet, Shakespeare does not kill love and togetherness he seeks to establish among the Montagues and the Capulets, but the playwright tries to foster the interaction and the death of the couple to necessitate the coming together of the two families which finally occurs at the end of the play.
Shakespeare uses blood as a symbol of togetherness like in Christianity where the death of Christ is a symbol of redemption and a new life. Any way this belief that death or blood is the beginning of a bond of some king is not confined only to Christianity. It is also found in many traditions throughout the whole world. In this way, Romeo and Juliet is a masterpiece that is relevant in all societies and ages. It tallies with the world’s contemporary issues of teenage love and suicide and hatred that prevails in almost every society; cultural, political, religious or otherwise. This then makes Romeo and Juliet a good play indeed.
Submitted by; Tello Khosi
Thabana Morena Ha Konote 932
Mafeteng 900 Lesotho, Southern Africa
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