Romeo and Juliet

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Randy LeBlanc

English 1302

David Wickham

6 December 2016                        

                                        English Journals

Romeo and Juliet:

Gender Roles:

At the beginning of the play, Romeo and Juliet’s behavior reverses common gender roles on an emotional level. Romeo acts in a way that his friends react to as that of feminine qualities, while Juliet exhibits masculinity. Romeo is by no means a typical Elizabethan era man; he is not so much interested in asserting his physical power like the other male characters do in the play. Instead, Romeo chooses to stew in his brooding woes. On several instances, Romeo's companions (especially Mercutio) suggest that his emotional behavior is effeminate. On the other hand, Juliet exhibits a more pronounced sense of mean to her struggles than most female characters in this setting. While the women around her, like her mother, blindly act to satisfy Lord Capulet's wishes, Juliet proudly expresses her opinion and rejection of his agenda. Even when Lord Capulet insists she consider marrying Paris, she demonstrates the cunning ability to divert attention without committing to anything. In her relationship with Romeo, Juliet clearly takes the lead by insisting on marriage and proposing the plan to unite them. As the play progresses, Romeo starts to break out of his inability to aid the call of action to the point that Mercutio notices. Romeo also makes a great shift from his cowardly attempt at suicide in Act III to his willful decision in Act V. Overall, Romeo and Juliet are arguably a good match because they are so distinct in nature. Juliet is headstrong, while Romeo is passive until passion strikes and inspires him to action.

Romeo and Juliet:

Poison:

In “Romeo and Juliet” Shakespeare gives poison a major role within the play. It is used theoretically as well as seriously in different aspects of the play. He uses society and their families to poison the relationship of the young couple as well as poison given to them in order to kill themselves. In this play society has major influences on the outcome. The social roles instilled upon the young adults by society are part of the down fall of the couple’s romance in this case. By forcing Juliet to get married to Paris her father encourages the tragedy that is about to occur. Because their two families are at war with one another, society impacts their relationship in a negative way. It is made socially unacceptable for the two to court or pursue the other due to the negative relations between the two families. This poisons the hopes of the young couple and the relationships that they have with their own families. Because of this the couple develops a negative view of their society and are forced to hide their love with secrets. These secrets lead to misunderstandings and more secrets that results in their demise. Because of their secrets, Romeo kills Tibalt and is banished. Juliet is then forced to marry Paris which leads to her taking a potion from father Laurence that makes her appear to be dead. This results in Romeo taking a poison that ultimately kills him as well as Juliet. Father Lawrence says in the beginning of the play that poison can be used for good along with evil. It can be medicinal just as easily as it can be deadly. Fortunately for both families the poisoned love of Romeo and Juliet had a medicinal effect on the relationships of the families.

The Merchant of Venice:

The relationship of Antonio and Bassanio:

In The Merchant of Venice, a unique relationship is established between Antonio and Bassanio early on in the play. By letting Bassanio borrow a large sum of money it shows that Antonio is not only very wealthy, but that he truly loves Bassanio. Because Bassanio was comfortable enough to ask Antonio for the loan which he knew he would not be able to repay it shows that he sees Antonio as a father figure. This relationship similar to a father son relationship shows many things about both Antonio and Bassanio’s characters. Once the climax in the play occurs and Shylock demands to claim his pound of flesh from Antonio’s body more details about each individual surfaces. Antonio’s love for Bassanio is more apparent when he shows that he is willing to die for this young man while Bassanio is willing to risk his new relationship to try to save Antonio.

Much Ado About Nothing:

The relationship of Claudio and Hero:

In Much Ado About Nothing one of the more curious relationships in the play is that between Claudio and Hero. Rather than having known one another for some period of time, the two have briefly laid eyes on each other before claiming they were “in love”. The two only share a few sentences before deciding to get married. Later when Don John sets up Hero in one of his schemes Claudio does not even question what he believes he has seen. Instead of talking to her calmly and rationally he decides to publicly humiliate her on the day of their wedding. In the process of humiliating her he soils her reputation making her out to be unfaithful and unpure. He then storms off and refuses to hear her defense. Hero and her family then decide to deceive Claudio in order to try to redeem her reputation and save the two’s relationship. They decide the best way to do this is to pretend that Hero has died. Miraculously this plan works and Claudio, the man who showed no empathy for the death of Hero until he learned that he had falsely accused her, gets married to Hero after announcing that she truly was faithful to him. Though Claudio technically he thought he was marrying her cousin. I don’t think I would consider the feelings the two shared for one another to be love.

Much Ado About Nothing:

Deceit being used as a driving force within the play:

One major issue within Much Ado About Nothing is the never ending deceit between the main characters. Beatrice and Benedict are both deceitful to one another as well as their families when it comes to their true feelings, Hero deceives Claudio by faking her own death, the family members and friends of Benedict and Beatrice deceive both of them in order to get them to be honest about their feels, and Don John deceives Claudio and Don Padro to get Claudio to call off his marriage to Hero. Shakespeare uses this conflict as both a positive driving force in the play as well as to create conflict and humor. The deceitful acts committed by each character helped to create characterization along with building relationships and enemies in the play. It also created an interesting plot line full of confusion amongst the characters. Both Beatrice and Benedict had no idea of one another’s feelings so they continued to verbally abuse the other whenever the opportunity presented itself. Because of their families plot to get them to be honest the couple was brought together and later on married. Had deceit not been the driving force then the play would not be nearly as entertaining for the viewer.

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