Monday, April 25, 2016

[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

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