[SCAN] [ANTHOLOGY] Explorers, or just boys messing about?

[SCAN] [ANTHOLOGY] The Explorer's Daughter

[THEME] Explore the theme of love in the play

Develops from fatal and destined to forlorn to perfunctory to pure permeates text from prologue to end

Prologue – “star-crossed lovers” “death-marked love”

LOVE IS FIRST PRESENTED AS PREDETERMINED - thwarted by malign stars - external forces – separated by cruel circumstance - death-marked - doomed to fail - set in stone

Introduction of Romeo - “O brawling love, o loving hate” “Feather of lead, bright smoke”

LOVE IS THEN PRESENTED AS melancholy, forlorn, one-sided, unrequited, miserable – in a stereotypical and clichéd light -  pining for Rosaline moody – infatuation – lust not love (“Chaste”, “waste”) thus objectifying Rosaline, erroneously mistaking it for love - locked in an artificial night due to the lack of reciprocation – lengthy ramble containing antithesis and juxtaposition show his internal turmoil and the deep conflict he has within – love is portrayed to be one-sided, a form of torment causing intense internal conflict, and as insincere and easily confused with lust

Introduction of Juliet - “I’ll look to like if looking liking move. But no more deep will I endart mine eye, than your consent gives strength to make it fly.”

Juliet’s response to her mother’s veiled order of question – wordplay in first line – non-committal – love is presented as a duty, a chore, a responsibility, an expectation – to consummate a marriage is to simply fulfill a job and uphold a tradition – logical, cold, methodological, forced, false, logical, mechanical - not so much a feeling - Juliet is placid and apathetic to the notion of love - not interested in any such discussion – Paris’ method of proposal only accentuates the intrinsically flawed system of marriage – preserve his status, name and social standing

Meeting – “If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this”

Romeo uses a metaphor to describe Juliet as a holy shrine – he is not worthy – Juliet is sacred, pious, holy - religious semantic field with connotations of faith, religious imagery running through their exchange – passionate love – absolute devotion – fervent, zealous, ardent – connotations of purity – magical, perfect, pure – spiritual, a necessity, goodness of God - Perfect sonnet form – 14 lines – iambic pentameter, heartbeat rhythm – love is perfect – harmonious relationship – “kisses by the book” however audience acknowledges he’s already shed most of his pretenses

“she doth teach the torches to burn bright” – Romeo sought sanctuary in the dark but the artificial night he fabricated for himself offered him no solace, it is only through Juliet’s love that he finds satisfaction

“That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet”

Love overpowers family names – strength of their love triumphs over whatever rifts exist between their households – rhetorical interrogative demands the authority of the regimental division of their families –mocking imperial importance of family status and history

"But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, temp'ring extremities with extreme sweet."

Romeo and Juliet forge onward in pursuit of their love — empowered to dare cross thresholds that have before been barriers – tempering steel – connotations of their love being strengthened by the obstacles they face

Balcony scene – “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,” “winged messenger of heaven”

Juliet is his sun – elevating Juliet, his love, to a heavenly status – aligns her with the sun and the stars – celestial metaphors - suggests that love is heavenly and otherworldly and its beauty is angelic like Juliet’s beauty – extended metaphor - sincere and deeply religious imagery, a more spiritual consideration – ethereal - contrast this to the artificiality of Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline and his over-inflated, melodramatic descriptions

Exploration of other forms of love:

 “And you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend, and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”

Possessive article – downward divergence - absolute possession of Juliet – threatening and intimidating – tyrannical – good intent with her best interests at heart however misguided and insensitive – paternal caring relationship albeit overly possessive between father and daughter

[CHARACTER] Explore the significance of Mercutio in the play

“If love be rough with you, be rough with love, prick love for pricking”

Direct contrast to Romeo’s idealized notions of a pure, non-physical idea of love – mocks his vision – anti-romantic character regarding love as a purely physical pursuit, much like the Nurse

“O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!”

Conveys his Mercurial character – volatile and feisty nature – similar to Tybalt – likes to provoke fights and brawls – tricolon “calm, dishonorable, vile” – escalating – “vile submission” conveys his immense sense of pride and incredulity that Romeo turned down a fight displaying “submission” - impactful – exclamative only emphasizes his impulsiveness – catalyst for the tragedy that soon ensues

Queen Mab speech – “Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues”

Cynicism – dreams bring false hope, false ambition – semantic field of illness and disease – spreads like infection or a plague – trickery of Queen Mab – dismissing dreams as nothing but idle fantasies

“Hot days” “Mad blood stirring”
Hot – pathetic fallacy – tense, angry, foreboding atmosphere - circular motion – no end to the hate – personification of blood as mad – inevitable violence which resides in their blood, their veins – innate – violence is inflamed by the summer's heat -

“A plague o both your houses!” “Worms’ meat out of me”               

His death emphasizes the pointless nature of the feud and its infectious nature - marks a distinct turning point in the play as tragedy begins to overwhelm comedy, and the fates of the protagonists darken – Mercutio = comic character – demise of Mercutio signifies the end of happier times – reader’s response: sympathy

[CHARACTER] Explore the significance of the Prince in the play

“On pain of torture… Throw your mistemper’d weapons to the ground.”

Represents voice of law, justice and authority – neutral in the feud and desire only peace between them – however also serves to show how powerless law – embodied by the prince – is compared to the passions of love and hate – tautology emphasizes consequences of disobedience – personification to drive some sense into families and instill guilt within them – imperative sentence shows his high status, power and authority however fate is a higher power

“Profaners of this neighbor-stained steel! Will they not hear? – What ho, you men, you beasts!”

Does everything in his power to keep the peace and often ends up exasperated from the effort involved – neighbor connotes friendliness and convey his good intentions and desire for peace and amity – “stained” display his feelings towards the feud – ridiculous and worthless - interrogative emphasizes his infuriation that another fight broke out despite warnings – he degrades the men into “beasts” = connotations of animalistic, savage, wild, bloodthirsty behavior – metaphor – exclamative highlights his vexation

“See what scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!”

Relays the moral of the story in the final scene – by laying the blame on Lords Capulet and Montague for many deaths – uncontrolled, violent, overly-passionate emotions create destruction – “scourge” = punishment and penance by God for their hatred – summing up the moral that vehement emotions bring about ill fate and ultimately death

“Never was there a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

Concludes story and emphasizes theme of tragedy – hyperbole “never” “of more woe” again stressing the tragedy and ill-fated nature of the tale

[CHARACTER] Explore the significance of Friar Lawrence in the play

“Within the infant rind of this weak flower, poison hath residence and medicine power.”

Pivotal character - his belief in balance foreshadows the effect of his actions against his intentions – Friar Lawrence is a man who believes in virtue and vice – wants to heal the rift – dual nature within his plants suggest coexistence of good and evil – strong undercurrent – his intentions of ending the feud are good but his plans lead the two lovers awry and precipitate the tragic ending

“For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancour to pure love”

Friar Lawrence believes that this holy marriage would bring the Capulet family and Montague family closer together, for he anticipates that the families will stop hating each other and be peaceful - antithesis between rancor and love show his awareness of the extremity of the feud – this serves as justification for his reasons for being so desperate to end it - admirable but poorly planned and executed attempts to reconcile the rivalling families – good intentions but short-sighted

“A cold and drowsy humor” “shall free thee from thy present shame”

Driven by his overeagerness to pacify the two rival families – perilous and risky plan and manipulates Juliet into doing so – through verbal sleight – by presenting the situation as an imprisoning, shameful one then presenting his solution of “death” as sleepy, tranquil, peaceful – liberating “free” – subliminally ease Juliet to agree to his plan – catalyst – “shall” = imperative – highlights sense of finality

“If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear should abate thy valour in the acting it”

Unnecessary nature of this remark – manipulative side – direct contrast to the devout, righteous and holy characters that readers would expect a priest or religious figure to posses – provoke Juliet – elicits a defiant response – “O tell me not of fear” – cunning and desperate to resolve the feud