Romeo and Juliet: Themes, Characters

Love: Obviously a key theme of the play, love is presented through religious imagery and the constant conversations between the two main characters as their forbidden love forms the basis of the story.

• “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes;”

• “Under love's heavy burden do I sink.”

• “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.”

• “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand. To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”

• “Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.”

• “This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath/ May prove a beauteous flower when we next meet”

Light and dark: Shakespeare heavily contrasts the light with the dark. Juliet is consistently referred to as the sun in an almost ironic fashion as the relationship only blooms under the cover of darkness. The fact their relationship can not be seen in the day means although light is beautiful it can also be dangerous.

“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,Who is already sick and pale with grief” - could refer to his earlier love Roseline. This could show how quickly Romeo’s love can change and he may be in love with love rather than Juliet.

"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright” - light can often be seen as hope and before he saw her his love for Rosaline wore him down and made him feel hopeless and a little lost whereas his love for Juliet seems to elevate him. This makes his love for Juliet seem more truthful and sincere.

she "hangs upon the cheek of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" - Juliet is the brightest of people. Fire burns brightest in the darkness.

Conflict: The theme of conflict is heavily implied between the two households, Montague and Capulet. The feuding families are the cause for arguments and hate in the play and eventually the deaths of their own children. The end result may be a wake up call to the Capulets and Montagues but also shows that rage can blind us to the point where we excuse heinous actions under the name of justice which is really just a never ending cycle of vicious revenge. This may furthermore be a social comment on the conflict between Catholics and protestants at the time.

• “Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean”

• “Enemies to peace”

• “Peace I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee”

• “That quench the fire of your pernicious rage with purple fountains issuing from your veins”

Fate/Cosmic: In the 16th century many believed our fate was written in the stars. Fate dealt our experiences to different people. This is a consistent motif throughout the play through the use of cosmic imagery and the characters interpretations of their predetermined fate.

“Then I defy you stars!” Romeo feels he is strong enough to fight his predetermined destiny emphasises his love and the Elizabethan audience is then truly able to understand how deep the love is and so the statement would hold more meaning.

“A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life” "O! I am Fortune's fool!" - They are trying to control their own destiny. Controlling fate could link to Christianity and how it is wrong to play God. This would mean a lot to the audience at the time as they would have been very religious.

“Some consequence yet hanging in the stars” - consequences referring to fate having control.

"When he shall die take him and cut him out into stars and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun." “These violent delights have violent endings” highlighting in a society obsessed with death, violence is not uncommon

Romeo: Romeo Montague is one of the main characters, in love with Juliet, and portayed as a Petrarchan lover, eventually going on to die in the Capulet tomb with his love. After marrying Juliet, he seeks friendship with the Capulets, however he ends up killing Tybalt to avenge Mercutio.

“Oh, I am fortune’s fool” implies that Romeo realises that he has done wrong and has lost control of his destiny. “Fortune” is a recurring idea in Romeo and Juliet as the Elizabethan audience would believe that fate controlled people's lives, linking to the prologue: “star-cross’d lovers”, showing Romeo regrets acting rashly and realises that there will be repercussions to his actions, reminding us of the Prince’s Speech in Stave 1.

“O brawling love, O loving hate” portrays Romeo’s love sick state. He is using oxymorons to express to he has unreciprocal love for Rosaline Capulet, one of his ‘enemies’. “O” is repeated through the dialogue, giving a sense that his love is a burden for him. Romeo’s love is fickle, as seeing Juliet causes him to believe he has never seen “true beauty until this night”, causing the modern audience to think that Romeo is mistaking his infatuation with Juliet as love.

Juliet: The daughter of Lord Capulet and the cousin of Tybalt. Betrothed to marry Paris but he was Paul Rudd -no paul rudd is such a bae- so she made the correct choice. She falls in love with Romeo, marries him, consummates the marriage and dies with her love in the tomb.

Lord Capulet: The father of Juliet, he is the top of the hierarchy in the Capulet family and takes full control over Juliet's ventures and even decides who she is to marry. This may make him seem like a poor father in our eyes as women are free to make their own choices in life, although he would have been considered a good father to an Elizabethan audience as women unfortunately did not have the same rights as they do now and therefore the only way to live a successful life was for the father to find a wealthy bachelor for them to marry. This ensured economic safety. Lord capulet originally agrees Juliet is too young to be married telling Paris to wait two more summers although as tensions between the two households rises, he decides the safety of his daughter is more important and it is the right choice for her to marry Paris.

Mercutio: The best friend of Romeo, Mercutio is neither Montague nor Capulet. He is the kinsman to the Prince. He is a fun character in the play and typically joins the sides of the Montagues. He is supportive of Romeo’s love ventures although is wary of his dealings with the Capulets. He has a fierce dislike for Tybalt who eventually causes his demise in which he casts a “plague o both your houses”, foreshadowing the darker tones of the rest of the play and giving a reason for the misfortune of Romeo and Juliet. The Elizabethan audience would have found the curse unsettling as superstitions were common.

Friar Lawrence: The friar is the local priest of Verona who weds Romeo and Juliet. He is close to Romeo and keen in plants with medicinal advantages and those that give off certain poisons. He provides Juliet with a sleeping remedy for the plan he created which of course inevitably goes wrong.