Romeo and Juliet suffer a number of emotional traumas in the play Essay Example

Romeo and Juliet suffer a number of emotional traumas in the play Essay Romeo and Juliet suffer a number of emotional traumas in the play. Shakespeare uses dramatic devices to increase the audiences sympathy with their suffering and to underline the plays themes. Shakespeare highlights the poor treatment and lack of respect for women in the 16th century. He also points out that there is very little point to human conflict and that violence is not the right answer. I think the most traumatizing event and one which Shakespeare created most sympathy from the audience for Romeo and Juliet was their deaths. Romeo was banished to another Town when a word came to him about the death of Juliet. Friar Lawrence and Juliet had planned for Juliet to fake her death so that she could leave Verona with Romeo. Romeo was not aware of this plan so Friar Lawrence sent a letter to Romeo in the town he was banished to only to find out a few days later the letter could not be sent due to an outbreak of plague in Romeos town. Romeo then receiving the message of Juliets death was distraught and stormed back into Verona causing havoc just to be with Juliet on her death bed. Romeo had bought some deadly poison on entry to Verona as he did not feel he could go on in life without Juliet. Romeo ran into the chapel to be where Juliet lay, the place where he would kill himself. We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet suffer a number of emotional traumas in the play specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet suffer a number of emotional traumas in the play specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Romeo and Juliet suffer a number of emotional traumas in the play specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer He lay by her side and drank the poison only for Juliet to cruelly wake up as he lay on the floor dead with a face of agony. Juliet then purposely takes her own life, a dagger to the stomach with Romeos blade. I think Shakespeare creates the ultimate sympathy for the two characters as they die in front of each other. Juliet describes the dagger as O happy dagger telling the audience that she is pleased it will kill her. Juliet believes that if she is dead she will be closer to Romeo so is happy that the dagger can kill her. Juliet also says to Friar Lawrence where is my Lord referring to Romeo which shows the love she had towards him. Shakespeare has also used dramatic irony here to create sympathy as Juliet does not know Romeo is dead but the Friar and the audience do. This is also a use of religious language which Shakespeare uses through out the play. Another major tool that Shakespeare uses is the prologue of the play where he tells the audience that Romeo and Juliet are going to die which creates sympathy towards Romeo and Juliet before the play even begins. It says The fearful passage of their death marked lovers and A pair of star crossed lovers both take their life. These two sentences tell us that they Romeo and Juliet fall deeply in love but are destined to die, already Shakespeare has used this to create sympathy for Romeo and Juliet. I think the sympathy increases the longer the play continues as the audience watch the pair fall madly in love and they dont know that their going to die. This is also a good example of dramatic as the audience knows Romeo and Juliet are going to die but Romeo and Juliet do not know this. The feud between Juliets family (Capulet) and Romeos family (Montague) also creates sympathy for Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare mentions the families feud in the prologue saying Two households both alike in dignity From an ancient grudge break new mutiny. These two lines tell us that they are two powerful house holds but they will be betrayed. This already creates lots of sympathy for Romeo and Juliet; because if there was no conflict between the two families none of the events leading up to their deaths would have taken place, Romeo and Juliets relationship would have not had to be a secret. The play begins with a battle between the two houses and eventually later on in the play members of the families are killed which result in disastrous consequences. By starting the play with a fight Shakespeare immediately excites the audience and grabs their attention. This is in a way another dramatic device used by Shakespeare because Romeo and Juliet are aware of their families dislike for ea ch other but do not know what sort of problems this will cause in the future. Tybalts death is another important event in the play which creates sympathy for Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare creates a dramatic battle between the Montagues and Capulets ending in the death of Mercutio and Tybalt. The two gangs of men meet in a public place and Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight and eventually Mercutio is killed. In a fit of anger Romeo battles with Tybalt and Kills him enraged. Romeo says And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now which tell the audience just how angry Romeo is with Tybalt.The audience feels sympathy towards Romeo as his best friend has died. When Romeo kills Tybalt he is banished and Juliet is very upset that Romeo is gone. Juliet pretends that she is weeping for Tybalts death; she says to her mother I am not well. This makes us feel sympathy for Juliet as she has to hide her sadness behind her cousins death. Shakespeare has used dramatic irony here because Juliets family does not know why she is crying and think its because Tybalt has died. Juliet is deeply unhappy because she does not know when she will see Romeo and her wedding has been cancelled. Shakespeare has proved a point here about the treatment of women in the 16th century because Juliet is forced to hide her own true feelings and can have no opinion on Romeo banishment. This creates further sympathy for Juliet. The letter that Friar Lawrence sent but did not reach Romeo was also a major part in the play which increased pity towards Romeo and Juliet. This creates sympathy for Romeo and Juliet as Romeo has know knowledge of Juliets death and this eventually leads to Romeo killing himself. On hearing that his letter could not be sent Friar Lawrence says Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood this tells of his unhappiness that the letter could not be sent and he becomes worried that Romeo does not know of Juliets death. Shakespeare has also ironically used the word fortune as Friar Lawrence has no control over what has happened and is destined to happen to Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare has used dramatic irony here because Romeo does not know that Juliet has faked her death. This creates lots of sympathy for Romeo as he is dreadfully upset about the death of Juliet and eventually leads to Romeo killing himself. Romeo says Well Juliet I will lie with thee tonight telling the audiences that he is goin g to kill himself, creating sympathy for Juliet. In act III scene 1 comedy takes a dramatic turn to tragedy which makes the audience remember what is destined to happen to Romeo and Juliet and creates more sympathy. When Tybalt and Mercutio die, this sets the scene for the rest of the play and the audience knows that eventually Romeo and Juliet are going to die. This makes even more sympathy for them as the audience realizes they will soon die. This is a major turning point in the play as it takes a serious turn and after this very little comedy is used by Shakespeare. He does this so theres such a big comparison between tragedy and comedy. In conclusion to all the events I studied in the play I found the following things. Shakespeare did nothing accidentally and all the themes of the play were purposely put there. He has clearly purposely highlighted that women were not respected well in the 16th century and had very little say in matters. He has cleverly shown that conflict can lead to needless death and that violence is not the right answer. Overall creating sympathy for Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeares main objective which he completed successfully in this tragic love story. ;