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PLAY SYNOPSIS & ANALYSIS - ROMEO AND JULIET
An Early Tragedy
In Verona, Sampson and Gregory (Capulet servants) complain that they will not put up with insults from the Montague family. Abram and Balthasar (Montague servants) appear and the four start quarreling. Benvolio (Lord Montague's nephew) appears and tries to break up the quarrel, but Tybalt (Lady Capulet's nephew) appears and picks a fight with Benvolio. At length, officers try to break up the fight, even while Lord Capulet and Lord Montague begin to fight one another. The Prince of Verona (Escalus) appears and stops the fighting, proclaiming sentences of death to any that renew the fighting. At Montague's
house he, his wife and Benvolio discuss how melancholy Romeo (Montague's only son) has been lately. Benvolio vows to find out why. Speaking with Romeo, Benvolio finds Romeo is in love with a woman who has sworn to stay chaste (Rosaline). Benvolio suggests pursuing other
women but Romeo refuses. Separately, Paris (a kinsman of the Prince of Verona) talks to Lord Capulet about wooing his daughter Juliet for marriage. Capulet responds that she is too young (nearly 14 years old) and must wait two years to
marry and then only to the man whom she chooses. Still, Capulet invites Paris to a party in the evening. Capulet's servant is sent to invite
guests but he can't read the list so he entreats Romeo to do so. Upon hearing of the party, Benvolio convinces Romeo to attend and compare his unattainable love Rosaline to more beautiful women to get his mind off
her. At Capulet's house, Lady Capulet speaks to Juliet about her feelings for marrying Paris while Juliet's Nurse listens on, telling stories of Juliet's childhood. Juliet, although hesitant, promises to be courteous. Masked, Romeo,
Mercutio and Benvolio head to the Capulet party. Romeo is still depressed, saying he dreamt a fearful dream of an untimely death that will result because of the evening's events, but Benvolio just makes fun of him. At Capulet's house, the Montagues attend the party (in masks), Romeo spies
Juliet and he falls in love with her. Tybalt sees Romeo and takes up arms but Lord Capulet attempts to calm him, though Tybalt vows to revenge Romeo's intrusion the next day. Juliet, too, falls for Romeo, but falls into despair when her Nurse informs her Romeo is a Montague, as does Romeo when he learns Juliet is a Capulet.
While leaving the party, Romeo hides in the orchard while Mercutio and Benvolio call for him to come out of hiding and go home with them; yet he will not. After they leave, Romeo appears and speaks to Juliet under her window, saying "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!" By and by they swear their love to one another. Juliet tells Romeo she'll send a messenger to him the next day to learn the details of their wedding. Having stayed up all night, Romeo visits Friar Lawrence's cell and tells him of this new love for Juliet. Although Lawrence is critical at first, Romeo eventually convinces him to marry them. In the
street Benvolio tells Mercutio that Romeo did not come home that night and that Tybalt has sent the Montagues a letter challenging Romeo to a duel. Romeo appears and they tease him for hiding from them. Juliet's nurse and servant Peter appear and Romeo tells her to tell Juliet to go to the Friar's cell that afternoon to be married. The Nurse returns to Juliet and, though she skirts around the message, she finally tells Juliet the wonderful news. Soon, at the Friar's cell, he marries Romeo and Juliet, and Romeo plans to visit Juliet's bedroom that evening.
In the street, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt and Petruchio, leading to Tybalt and Mercutio fighting since Tybalt tries to pick a fight with Romeo, but he refuses. Romeo tries to break up the
fight but Tybalt slays Mercutio under Romeo's arm, then Tybalt flees. As Mercutio dies, he declares "A plague on both your houses," since he is only a friend of Romeo's and not his kinsmen. When Benvolio informs Romeo that Mercutio is dead, Romeo seeks out, fights, and slays Tybalt in revenge. Benvolio convinces Romeo to flee. The prince appears and Benvolio explains all to him, at which the Prince exiles Romeo for slaying Tybalt. At the Capulet's orchard, Juliet waits for Romeo when her Nurse appears and informs her of Mercutio and Tybalt's
deaths and Romeo's banishment. Juliet falls into despair, realising she would rather Tybalt
be dead than Romeo, but also that a banished Romeo is virtually dead. At the Friar's cell, he informs Romeo of the Prince's edict of banishment,
despairing him. Romeo states he would rather be dead than banished. The Nurse arrives and tells Romeo that Juliet is sad too, but forgives Romeo. Still, Romeo pulls a dagger and tries to kill himself, but the Friar stops him and tells him to stay the night with Juliet, then flee to Mantua. At Capulet's house, he and Paris set the wedding date for Paris and Juliet to be three days hence. In Juliet's bedroom, Romeo says a tearful goodbye to Juliet. After he leaves, Lady Capulet appears and, while discussing Tybalt's death, states she will send a henchman to
Mantua to kill Romeo (though she never does). She then informs Juliet of her impending marriage to Paris. Juliet tells her parents she will not
marry but Lord Capulet commands it will be so. The Nurse too, tells Juliet she should marry Paris. In private, Juliet decides to no longer trust the nurse and vows to kill herself if the Friar cannot find a way to save her from marrying Paris.
At Friar Lawrence's cell, Paris informs the Friar of his upcoming wedding to Juliet. When Juliet arrives to see the Friar, Paris politely leaves. The Friar, hearing Juliet threaten suicide, tells her of a "distilled liquor" she can take to fake death. He explains the drug will keep her asleep and seemingly dead for 42
hours during which she can be placed in the Capulet tomb. Then, when she awakes, Romeo can be there waiting for her to take her to Mantua. Friar Lawrence send Friar John to Mantua with an explanatory letter for Romeo. Juliet returns to her father and
apologises for refusing to marry, causing her father to move the wedding forward to the next morning (two days early). In her bedroom, Juliet sends her mother and nurse away, then, after much worrying over the future, she drinks the vial of medicine and sleeps. Later in the early morning, all feverishly prepare for the wedding and Capulet sends the Nurse to wake Juliet. The Nurse wails upon finding Juliet
'dead', summoning the others to find her and mourn. The Friar instructs all to prepare Juliet for her funeral.
In Mantua, Romeo's servant Balthasar arrives and tells Romeo that Juliet is dead. Romeo vows to see Juliet in her tomb and poison himself there, buying the poison from a poor Apothecary who illegally sells it to Romeo only because he (the Apothecary) needs the money. At Lawrence's cell, Friar John reports he could not deliver the letter to Romeo since he (John) got stuck in a quarantined house while searching for Romeo. Friar Lawrence heads to the cemetery with a crowbar. At the tomb, Paris and his page arrive and Paris mourns Juliet's death. Paris hides when he hears Romeo and Balthasar approach. Romeo orders Balthasar to leave him alone, no matter what he hears. When Romeo opens the tomb, Paris steps out and tries to stop him by provoking him to fight. Romeo entreats Paris to simply walk away and not
fight but Paris forces Romeo to fight him, resulting in Romeo slaying Paris. In sorrow, Romeo lays Paris in the tomb, while Paris' page secretly leaves to call the watch. Romeo finds Juliet and mourns her death, then drinks his poison and dies. Outside the tomb, Friar Lawrence arrives and meets Balthasar who tells the Friar that Romeo has been in the tomb for one half hour. Lawrence enters the tomb and finds Romeo and Paris dead. Juliet then awakes and spots Romeo. The Friar, upon hearing noises outside flees, leaving Juliet with Romeo. Juliet tries to kill herself with Romeo's poison, but can find none, either in the vial or on Romeo's lips. In desperation, she stabs herself with Romeo's dagger. The watch arrives, having found Balthasar and the Friar. The Prince and Lord and Lady Capulet arrive and learn Paris,
Romeo and Juliet are dead (amazingly to them, Juliet seems to have been alive, and then newly dead again). Lord Montague arrives and reports that his wife has died from grief over Romeo's exile, then learns himself of Romeo's death. Capulet and Montague make peace and swear to never fight again. They vow to build solid gold statues of Romeo and Juliet and place them side by side so all can remember their plight.
ANALYSIS
Shakespeare is a well known author who wrote in the 1500's. Many of his plays are classified as tragedies. According to the Oxford dictionary of current English, a tragedy is described as a serious disaster or a sad event. In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic hero. For a play to be a tragedy, there must be a tragic hero. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the tragic hero. The theme of tragedy plays a great role in the play Romeo and Juliet. By analyzing Romeo's tragic flaw, his noble birth, his series of poor decisions, the suffering of Romeo that extends beyond himself, it is evident that Romeo and Juliet is classified as a tragedy.
A person must posses certain qualities that classify one as a tragic hero. One of these qualities is the noble birth of a character. In the play Romeo and Juliet Romeo being the tragic hero, possesses that quality. Romeo is a Montague and in the city of Verona the Montagues are a well known and respected family. It is a known fact that the Montagues are of noble birth when it is said by Benvolio in Act 1, Scene 1, Line 141: "My noble uncle." Benvolio is referring to Lord Montague, who is the father of Romeo. The Montagues are also a rich family, and that is one of the reasons for the respect for Romeo. "Verona brags of him... a bears him like a partly gentleman." This was said by Lord Capulet in Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 65-66. This quote illustrates that even Romeo's enemies know well of him and know that he is respected and talked about by the citizens of Verona. Usually when a character is introduced as being noble, the audience is aware that in the end of the play, the character will have a tragic fall.
Another necessary quality possessed by a tragic hero is the hero's tragic flaw, which in Romeo's case is falling in love too quickly and deeply. " To seek a tragic flaw in either Romeo or Juliet is a foolish and futile." - comments Harold Goddard, a critic from the book: " Modern critical views, William Shakespeare the Tragedies." Goddard supports the idea that having a tragic flaw is a part of being a tragic hero. Another critic states that " if Romeo's character does have a tragic flaw, it is youthful impetuosity; an older or more deliberate man might somehow have managed to avoid the quarrel and would not rush to kill himself as soon as he believed that Juliet was dead." ( Phillis Rackin, author of " Shakespeare Tragedies.") In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo's tragic fall being that he falls in love too quickly and too deeply, brings him to an awful end. In the beginning of the play one is introduced to Romeo being deeply and hopelessly in love with Rosaline. However Rosaline does not feel the same way about Romeo. This is when Romeo is unhappy and says to Benvolio: "Not having that which makes having short." ( Act 1, Scene 1, line 162). This very well illustrates how deeply Romeo was in love with Rosaline. In the next scene the audience realise that Romeo ha fallen for another, Juliet. "For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night" said by Romeo in Act 1, Scene 5, line 52.The audience can quickly identify Romeo's flaw of falling in love too quickly and deeply when he forgets about his feelings for Rosaline and concentrates on Juliet. Juliet too realises that Romeo's love for her was too fast when she said : "It is too rash, too undvis'd, too sudden."( Act 2, Scene 2, lines 117-118). Having a tragic flaw could be foreshadowing of the fall of the tragic hero.
Romeo, representing the play's tragic hero makes a series of poor decisions. The first decision of many was going to the Capulet's party. " Direct my sail! Oh lusty gentlemen" says Romeo in Act 1, Scene 4, line 113. If Romeo did not go to the party he would not have met Juliet. It was unnecessary for Romeo to try to stop the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio. If Romeo did not try to stop the fight, Mercutio would not have been killed, and the fight between Romeo and Tybalt would not have existed. Romeo says in Act 3, Scene 1, line 94: " Courage, man; the hurt can not be much.", when he tries to stop the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio. Romeo makes the wrong choice when he decides to fight Tybalt for the death of Mercutio. "Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him."( Act 3, Scene 1, line 1290). This quote refers to Romeo's challenge for Tybalt. If Romeo did not fight Tybalt he would not have been banished from Verona. Another one of Romeo's poor decisions was the decision to commit suicide, which was also his last decision. "O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick, thus with a kiss I die" said Romeo in Act 5, Scene 3, line 120, right before he died. If only Romeo decided not to drink the poison he would have been alive to see Juliet wake. All these decisions caused Romeo, the tragic hero, to end his life tragically.
The suffering of the tragic hero also extends beyond himself. Due to the actions of Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt died. "When he tries to make peace between them and Mercutio is fatally wounded, Romeo remarks pathetically 'I thought out for the best' " comments Phillis Rackin author of Shakespeare Tragedies. "Mercutio's soul is but a little way above our heads", remarks Romeo after Mercutio's death, caused by Romeo. Tybalt's death also results from Romeo's poor actions. After Romeo's death Lady Montague dies of a heart attack. Lord Montague says to the Prince in Act 5, Scene 3, line 209: "Alas my leige, my wife is dead tonight."
Because of Romeo, Juliet decides upon her own death. She argues with her father, drinks the potion, and later stabs herself, all for the love for Romeo. Verona's peace is disturbed by all the commotion of the fights between the Capulets and the Montagues, caused mainly by Romeo. There is still no peace in the streets of Verona. The families of both Romeo and Juliet suffer over the loss of their children and everyone is unhappy.
Since Romeo brought suffering upon people rather than himself, he is truly the tragic hero and makes the play Romeo and Juliet a tragedy. It is obvious that in the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the tragic hero. This is evident when the audience see Romeo's noble birth, his tragic flaw, series of poor decisions he made and the fact that through his actions he brought suffering upon other people. Most plays, stories or novels have a moral. The moral of Romeo and Juliet is not to rush into things like love, hate and important decisions. All people should think twice about every decision they make.
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