1. ACT 5, Scene i: As R & J draws near its resolution, Shakespeare implies more strongly than ever that things are not what they seem or should be. In scene i, he conveys this impression not only though plot events, but also connotatively and subtly in character's speech, through tow distinct literary devices: personification, the attribution of human characteristics to inhuman things, and the use of metaphor. What particularly relevant or symbolic examples of these devices can you find, and how do they contribute to the overall atmosphere of the play at this point?
2. ACT 5, Scene ii: Throughout the play, Shakespeare has implied, if not outright stated, that Romeo and Juliet's inevitably tragic end will be a result of fate, fortune, destiny, supernatural improvidence, and so on. How does scene ii, although only 30 lines long, apparently confirm that opinion, providing proof that the stars really may be "crossed" against these lovers?
3. Act 5 Scene iii: Performances of plays on Elizabethan stages, like Shakespeare's own Globe Theatre, were almost universal devoid of set decorations. Thus, stage directions and props were important during dramatic productions for ways for actors, directors, and stage managers to imply the settings of particular scenes without actually having to pay for and construct them. The final scene of R & J is an excellent example of Shakespeare's incorporation of props and stage directions to this effect. What examples of such utilization can you find, and what aspects of the scene hypothetical set to they imply?
1. "My dreams presage some joyful news at hand..."(Shakespeare 212) Shakespeare uses personification here because he is saying that Romeo wants his dreams to bring him good news about Juliet. "Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes..."(Shakespeare 215) This is when Romeo is asking for the poison the the Apothecary. He doesn't actually mean that there is need and oppression in his eyes, it's just a figure of speech. These two examples show that the characters are now getting desperate for love, and that they need it or else they don't have a will to live.
ReplyDelete2.The evidence that Shakespeare is giving us that Romeo and Juliet are bound to die is when Friar John couldn't tell Romeo that Juliet is just faking her death, because there was a plague and he was in quarantine."Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, so fearful were they of infection."(Shakespeare 219) Shakespeare is just throwing curve balls at them, and it shows the audience that they are going to die no matter what, almost like it's their fate.
3."Here in the churchyard. Yet I will adventure."(Shakespeare 221) Paris says this to set the scene, without the actually having to be a set. "Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew..."(Shakespeare 221) Paris is now telling the audience that he is spreading flowers on Juliet's tomb, and if it were in a play he wouldn't even need flowers to let them know. It's like the guy saying, "I am a wall" in MSND, it lets the audience know what's happening, without needing any props or set pieces.
I like your example of the flowers in the tomb. I think that's a good example because the actor could just do the motion of throwing something but they wouldn't actually need flower petals.
Delete-Hannah
1. "If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, my dreams presage some joyful news at hand." This is an example of personification because he's saying that he trusts his dreams and they bring joy, even though dreams can't talk and don't tell lies or truths or deliver joyful news.
ReplyDelete2. "I could not send it—here it is again" this gives you that feeling like ohh crap the letter wasn't delivered and that was the key part of the plan so now so many things could go wrong, like Romeo killing himself or Juliet freaking out when she wakes up alone in the tomb. But also its such an elaborate plan that you'd have to expect something to go wrong.
3. "wrenching iron.
(takes them from BALTHASAR)"
"Give me thy torch, boy. Hence, and stand aloof.Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.Under yon yew trees lay thee all along."
So they use props like the crowbars that they use to get Juliet out of the grave with and they also use a torch to make it seem like they're in a dimly lit area that requires a torch. Shakespeare writes it so that the character clearly asks for the item and makes it obvious to the audience what the prop is supposed to represent.
-Hannah Blankenship
I agree with number 3, because they did use a few props but they couldn't use props like lighting and setting, only a couple they could hold or the like. We often don't remember that, so I like that you pointed that out.
DeleteI didn't think about the fact that a signal from Shakespeare about how they were going to die was that the plan was too elaborate from the start. I like that idea, other than just everything goes wrong because "fate" decides it.
Delete1. I see a lot of metaphors and personification; making Juliet's soul alive with angels (last line on 211), comparing Romeo's heart to a lord sitting on the edge of his throne ("My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne," Shakespeare 211), etc.; and I also saw a hyperbole, too. "For nothing can be ill if she be well." (Shakespeare 211) Romeo says that if she is healthy and alive and happy, then nothing in the whole world is wrong. They show how dramatic Romeo is (and cheesy) when he is in love. It's the whole "Nothing else matters but my love!! Oh, Juliet! My whole world revolves around you, my perfect wife!" kind of stuff.
ReplyDelete2. Shakespeare uses the fact that the letter Friar Lawrence tried to write isn't getting through to Romeo, so as the author, he throws in all these obstacles to make it more dramatic and show how true their love is, like the plot of [insert any John Green novel here]. It's what makes it a tragedy, other than the deaths.
3. I found a lot, for example:
-When the page whistles, and Paris says "The boy gives warning something doth approach." (Shakespeare 221)
-When Romeo says "Thus with a kiss I die." making it clear he's dying.
-Juliet says "I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them." She's saying what her intentions are so the audience in the back can hear her (or would it be him...)
These are like when the Mechanicals are saying, "Whoa! Bottom's got a donkey head and we're trying to make it extremely obvious! I'm a wall, guys! I am the moon. The moon! Did I mention that I am the moon?"
I didn't see that (how it is like the Mechanicals MSND).
Delete-Grace
I like how you found the hidden figurative language but you also pointed out where Shaekspeare was bein obvious when his characters speak.
Delete-Ashlyn
1. "I dreamt my lady came and found me dead," pg. 211. I think this is foreshadowing him finding Juliet "Dead". This makes the tone a little darker then the happy go lucky love scenes at the beginning.
ReplyDelete2. In scene two the way that Friar couldn't tell ROmeo about the plan and that since he doesn't know Juliet might die. "Romeo hath had no notice of these accidents."
3. When Paris keeps asking for all the stuff from his man servant it portrays all these different things but in reality it's probably just a stick. It gives more of a realistic feel to the story when the people actually have things instead of just talk.
-Haley
Completely agree with #2, since it seemed everything in nature opposed Romeo and Juliet's love.
Delete-Aissa
1. Some obvious examples of irony like when Romeo says "If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, My dreams presage some joyful news at hand." (Shakespeare R&J At 5 Scene 1) When he is just about to find out that his love is "dead". Also when Romeo personifies the stars, saying "Is it e'en so? Then I defy you, stars! Thou know’st my lodging. Get me ink and paper, And hire post horses. I will hence tonight." (Shakespeare R&J Act 5 Scene 1) It shows that these two may really be star-crossed lovers.
ReplyDelete2. He confirms this opinion by having the letter not sent to Romeo. Shakespeare makes it seem that there is every single obstacle against Romeo and Juliet's love, and this might just be the biggest one of them all. "Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood, the letter was not just a nice greeting. It was full of very important information. It’s very dangerous that it hasn’t been sent."(Shakespeare R&J Act 5 Scene 2)
3. Like when Paris instructs Page to put out the torch, so that he (and the flowers) cannot be seen.
-Aissa
"Doing more murder in this loathsome world,than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell." Romeo was saying that money is worse than poison because it kills far more people than poison could ever (Personification). This brings out this idea that he could be doing something worse than poisoning himself. It almost makes him sound heroic in a way.
ReplyDeleteScene 2 explains and gives evidence of why there almost perfect plan end up in a monstrous mess: the letter was not received. "I could not send it—here it is again—"Shakespeare's whole dramatic use of star crossed lovers is extremely played off well when we find out that Juliet isn't dead and Romeo doesn't know it.
All of the stage directions probably made the audience able to imagine that this really could have happened it wasn't just some made up story.PAGE extinguishes torch, gives PARIS flowers.
-Grace
The lovers 'doomed' marriage is so frustrating. I agree with number two. If only Romeo would have gotten the letter..
Delete1. "O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men" (213) is an example of personification. This foreshadows Romeo's plan. The vivid description of the apothecary sets a dark, grim tone for the rest of the act.
ReplyDelete2. The lovers seem to meet tragedy at every turn. Coincidences and poor communication create intense drama and irony for the audience. Friar John is delayed and can't get the letter to Romeo about Friar Lawrence's plan.
3. Daggers, swords, vials of 'poison', flowers, spades, lanterns, and a 'tomb door' (the inner stages curtain?) are used in the scene. If they just stood and talked the whole time it would be boring, but they move around, use props. Directions and props make the play come to life.
1) "But love's shadows are so rich in joy" p. 211 This is personifying love however it is also foreshadowing the death Juliet. I interpret this as you have "shadows" in relationships where you don't know exactly what is going on. Especially at such a young age. But when Romeo says through the shadow's comes joy. In this case that didn't happen, it came to death.
ReplyDelete2) Shakespeare basically leads the death on in scene 2 when Frair's letter to Romeo never made it to him. This shows us that from the start this relationship was shaky and Romeo not knowing the plan for Juliet's fake death was a big mistake that lead readers to thinking of all the possibilities of what is going to happen to Romeo and Juliet. "I could not send it-here it is again-" (returning the letter) p.219
3)"Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew" p. 221 This is Paris throwing down the bridal flowers like what a flower girl is supposed to do at a wedding but instead he has to throw them at Juliet's death bed. "Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron" p.221 This is when Romeo first comes to the grave sight and has to be prepared in case anything is around. "A cup closed in my true love's hand?" Juliet point out many times that Romeo poisoned himself. She must have had to do this because people on the bottom level of the Globe probably couldn't see or tell what the bottle in Romeo's hand was supposed to represent.
-Ashlyn
1. in a way he sets a dark tone by fortelling romeo's plan in this quote "O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men". I think he intensifies the mood and tone by using personification. I also found it Ironic when romeo said his dreams predict joyful news is about to be delivered. having the foreknowledge of the deaths in the beginning makes you look at the play form an entirely different perspective.
ReplyDelete2. the fact that the plague prevented friar from telling romeo about the plan is just adding to the "doomed" factor. another thing that adds, not in this scene, but through the book is the whole family feud thing. Romeo having to jump through hoops to be with Juliet romanticizes the whole thing even more.
3. Though he can't really turn the scene into a churchyard he still manages to incorporate that into the play like they did with a Midsummer Night's dream with the moon and the wall. The fact that Paris states " im in the churchyard" gives the audience a sense of the scene by use of imagery. I think that if the globe theater didn't have the balcony area used for those types of scenes then shakespeare would have had romeo say something to provide knowledge that Juliet was on a balcony.