themes in romeo and juliet

i brought this from the internet. The Theme of LightScholar Caroline Spurgen once wrote, "The dominating image [in Romeo and Juliet] is light, every form and manifestation of it" (Shakespeare's Imagery, 310). When Romeo initially sees Juliet, he compares her immediately to the brilliant light of the torches and tapers that illuminate Capulet's great hall: " O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" (I.V.46). Juliet is the light that frees him from the darkness of his perpetual melancholia. In the famous balcony scene Romeo associates Juliet with sunlight, "It is the east and Juliet is the sun!" (II.ii.3), daylight, "The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars/As daylight doth a lamp" (II.ii.20-1), and the light emanating from angels, "O speak again bright angel" (II.ii.26). In turn, Juliet compares their new-found love to lightening (II.ii.120), primarily to stress the speed at which their romance is moving, but also to suggest that, as the lightening is a glorious break in the blackness of the night sky, so too is their love a flash of wondrous luminance in an otherwise dark world -- a world where her every action is controlled by those around her. When the Nurse does not arrive fast enough with news about Romeo, Juliet laments that love's heralds should be thoughts "Which ten times faster glides than the sun's beams/Driving back shadows over lowering hills" (II.v.4-5). Here, the heralds of love that will bring comforting news about her darling are compared to the magical and reassuring rays of sun that drive away unwanted shadows. Juliet also equates Romeo and the bond that they share with radiant light. In a common play on words, she begs Romeo to "not impute this yielding to light love/Which the dark night hath so discovered" (II.ii.105-6), again comparing their mutual feelings of love to bright and comforting light . Having no fear of the darkness, Juliet proclaims that night can
Take [Romeo] and cut him out into little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garrish sun. (III.ii.23-6)Here Romeo, transformed into shimmering immortality, becomes the very definition of light, outshining the sun itself. However, despite all the aforementioned positive references to light in the play, it ultimately takes on a negative role, forcing the lovers to part at dawn:
Romeo. It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east.
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountaintops.
I must be gone and live, or stay and die. (III.V.6-11)From this point on, darkness becomes the central motif. Romeo exclaims: "More light and light: more dark and dark our woes!" (III.v.36). And, as Peter Quennell writes, "...the beauty and brevity of love itself -- that 'brief light', doomed to quick extinction, celebrated in Catullus' famous lyric -- are set off by the 'perpetual darkness' of ancient Capulets' sepulchral vault" (Shakespeare: A Biography,150). The final indication that darkness has triumphed over light comes from The Prince: "A glooming peace this morning with it brings/The sun for sorrow will not show his head" (V.III.304-5). There are several other examples one could cite, and, despite Shakespeare's masterful poetic styling, many critics argue that these continual references to light are overkill, illustrative of Shakespeare at his most immature stage of writing.
The Theme of TimeEarly in the play, Romeo is painfully aware of the passage of time as he pines for Rosaline: "sad hours seem long" (I.I.159). Mercutio is the first to address the problem of "wasted time", and after his complaint, a sudden shift occurs and time quickens to rapid movement. Capulet laments that the years are passing too fast, and Juliet cautions that her love for Romeo is "too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden...too like the lightening" (2.2.120). Soon time begins to aid in the destruction of the lovers. Capulet rushes ahead the marriage date, insisting Juliet wed Paris a day early, and thus forcing her into swift and, ultimately, fatal action. "The fast-paced world that Shakespeare builds up around his characters allows little possibility for adherence to Friar Lawrence's counsel of "Wisely and slow." In such a world to stumble tragically is surely no less inevitable than it is for Lear to go mad in the face of human ingratitude." (Cole, 17). As with Shakespeare's manipulation of the theme of light, it can be said that his reliance on time as an increasingly menacing force against the lovers is immature and artificial.
The Theme of DestinyAs critic Bertrand Evans points out: "Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of unawareness" more so than any of Shakespeare's other plays. "Fate, or Heaven, as the Prince calls it, or the "greater power," as the Friar calls it, working out its purpose without the use of either a human villain or a supernatural agent sent to intervene in mortal affairs, operates through the common human condition of not knowing. Participants in the action, some of them in parts that are minor and seem insignificant, contribute one by one the indispensable stitches which make the pattern, and contribute them not knowing; that is to say, they act when they do not know the truth of the situation in which they act, this truth being known, however, to us who are spectators." (The Brevity of Friar Laurence, 850) The idea that Fortune dictates the course of mankind dates back to ancient times. Those writers of the medieval world incorporated the goddess Fortune into Christianity and made her God's servant, responsible for adding challenges to our lives so that we would see the importance of giving up our tumultuous earthly lives to God. The most influential treatise on the theme of Fate was The Consolation of Philosophy, written by the scholar Boethius (c.A.D. 475-525). Written while he awaited execution, it is a dialogue between himself and his guide 'Philosophy', who explores with him the true nature of happiness and fate, and leads him to hope and enlightenment. Here is an excerpt from Book IV
To human acts alone denied
Thy fit control as Lord of all.
Why else does slippery Fortune change
So much, and punishment more fit
For crime oppress the innocent?
Corrupted men sit throned on high;
By strange reversal evilness
Downtreads the necks of holy men.
Bright virtue lies in dark eclipse
By clouds obscured, and unjust men
Heap condemnation on the just...
Look down on all earth's wretchedness;
Of this great work is man so mean
A part, by Fortune to be tossed?
Lord...Make stable all the land's of the earth. (Book I)Boethius' work, specifically his concept of "Fortune's wheel", made an enormous impact on the work of Chaucer and Dante and, less directly, Shakespeare. Fate's impact on Romeo and Juliet is made clear from the outset of the play. The Chorus tells us that the lovers are "star-cross'd", and thus hindered by the influence of malignant planets (note that Renaissance astrologers used the planets to predict plagues and other such calamities, in addition to predicting the outcome and quality of individual's lives) . Throughout the play Fate's role is reaffirmed as the lovers sense its interference. Romeo, just before he attends Capulet's ball, has a premonition:
My mind misgives
Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin thisd fearful date
With this night's revels, and expire the term
Of a dispised life, clos'd in my breast,
By some vile forfeit of untimely death:
But he that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail! (I.IV.106)Romeo later cries that he is "fortune's fool" (III.i.141), and Juliet exclaims that she has an "ill-divining soul" (III.v.52). Moreover, their predictions extend into their dreams, as Romeo says "I dreamt my lady came and found me dead" (V.i.6). So in keeping with tradition set down by the likes of Seneca and Boethius, Fate controls Shakespeare's doomed lovers. And "[t]he intent of this emphasis is clear. The tale will end with the death of two ravishingly attractive young folk; and the dramatist must exonerate himself from all complicity in their murder, lest he be found guilty of pandering to a liking for a human shambles. He disowns responsibility and throws it on Destiny, Fate." (Charlton, Shakespearean Tragedy, 52). This reliance on the motif of Fate in the play is the most representative of Shakespeare's dramatic deficiency. It is not the lovers' flaws that lead them to ruin; the tragedy does not spring from their own weaknesses. As a result, there is little growth of character and no profound analysis of the complexity of human nature. Thus, despite the lyrical beauty of the play and the endearing qualities of Romeo and his Juliet, (which have secured its place as one of the great dramas), it fails to rise to the level of Shakespeare's other tragedies that explore the inner failings of humankind.

quoets from romep and juliet

Is love a tender thing? it is too rough,
Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.
Romeo, Act I, scene iv
If love be rough with you, be rough with love;
Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.
Mercutio, Act I, scene iv
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Romeo, Act II, scene ii
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Juliet, Act II, scene ii
What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other word would smell as sweet.
Juliet, Act II, scene ii
Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books,
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.
Romeo, Act II, scene ii
Good-night, good-night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good-night till it be morrow.
Juliet, Act II, scene ii
For naught so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give;
Nor aught so good but, strain'd from that fair use,
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on the abuse:
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;
And vice sometimes by action dignified.
Friar Lawrence, Act II, scene iii
Come, gentle night, — come, loving black brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo; and when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will 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.
Juliet, Act III, scene ii
Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague!
See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
And I, for winking at your discords too,
Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd.
Prince, Act III, scene iii
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
Prince, Act V, scene iii

romeo and juliet

here are the characters and the role . Escalus: The Prince of Verona, his continued annoyance with the ongoing feud between the Capulet and Montague families leads him to warn both families that further fighting between the two will be punished by death. Escalus is also responsible for banishing Romeo from Verona after Romeo killed Tybalt, an act of mercy on the Prince's part. At the end of the play when both Romeo and Juliet are dead, Escalus tells the two grieving families they are largely to blame for this tragedy in addition to his own lack of intervention to stop the Capulet / Montague feud... (Lines 281-295)
Paris: A young nobleman, Kinsman to the Prince. Introduced to us in Act I, Scene II, it is Capulet's desire that the young Paris marry his daughter Juliet. Juliet later reveals her reluctance to be married so early in life rather than a dislike of Paris personally. When Juliet falls in love with Romeo, Paris is increasingly ignored by Juliet but remains polite, perhaps ignorant that Juliet does not want to marry him nor that she does not love him. At the end of the play (Act V, Scene III), he is killed by Romeo, but has his death wish of being placed near Juliet whom he loved, granted by Romeo. (Lines 73 & 74)
Montague and Capulet: The heads of two houses opposed to each other. Their feud has been going on for some time, described in the Prologue as an "ancient grudge" (Line 3). We never learn the cause of it, only that it continues to this day. Montague's son is Romeo, Capulet's daughter is Juliet. The two heads of their respective households never fight, only it appears do their servants, nephews and children. At the end of the play each man loses their beloved child. Montague's role in the play appears to be limited to concern for his son, and his last act in the play in Act V, Scene III is to raise a gold statue of his former enemy's daughter Juliet. Capulet's role, however is much greater. First we see him as the wise and charismatic, charming man who prevents Tybalt fighting Romeo at his party and graciously talks with various guests, then later as the firm, ruthless father who would see his daughter marry against her will rather than have his rule questioned...
Romeo: The son of Montague, Romeo is first introduced to us as a sad, melancholic, apathetic youth. His reason for sadness is universal; Rosaline his love will not return his affections. Not initially daring, it is his friends Mercutio and Benvolio who suggest he gatecrash or arrive uninvited at the Capulet party to see Rosaline. There he meets Juliet falling instantly in love. From this point on, Romeo no longer is melancholic, but dynamic and courageous, risking his life at the Capulet's house to be near Juliet and later breaking a banishment order which threatens death for him, to see his Juliet again. Well regarded even by Capulet, his enemy, Romeo is a thoughtful man, unwilling to provoke fighting unlike the hot-blooded, adversarial Tybalt, whom he kills. Romeo also kills Paris but in both encounters sought to avoid fighting, winning only to defend his life. At the end of the play, he commits suicide, rather than live without Juliet, the ultimate display of loyalty for his love Juliet since his life obviously no longer had meaning without her...
Mercutio: Kinsman to the Prince, Mercutio displays a fine if disrespectful tongue, especially towards Juliet's nurse. An unlikely source of wisdom, he tells a depressed Romeo to, "Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down" meaning Romeo should be rough with love if it is rough with him, and to regain his enthusiasm for love (Act I, Scene IV, Line 28) . Mercutio meets his death in Act III, Scene I when he rashly draws his sword on Tybalt who had been trying unsuccessfully to provoke Romeo into fighting. Famous for the words, "a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough" which describe his fatal wound by Tybalt, Mercutio's death results in Tybalt's death when Romeo avenges the death of his friend (Line 98). It has been argued in some literary circles that Mercutio was "removed" as he was increasingly stealing the show from Romeo, the lead character (with Juliet) in this play...
Benvolio: Nephew to Montague, and friend to Mercutio and Romeo, his role in the play is minor, serving mainly as a friend to Romeo.
Tybalt: Nephew to Lady Capulet, this rash, hot-blooded young man is adversarial and hateful towards all Montagues, especially Romeo. When he sees Romeo at the Capulet party, his immediate instinct is to fight, but only the increasingly firm warnings from Capulet to hold his peace restrain him. Tybalt is slain by Romeo in Act III, Scene I, after he had killed Romeo's friend, Mercutio. Until this point, Tybalt had failed to provoke Romeo into fighting, but dies when he finally fights Romeo.
Friar Laurence: A Franciscan priest, he plays a crucial role in the play by marrying Romeo and Juliet's in his cell in the hope that the feud between the Montague's and the Capulet's will now end. A friend of Romeo, he initially does not take Romeo's love for Juliet seriously, remembering Romeo's obsession with Rosaline. Later he unwittingly plays a part in the two lover's deaths when he first puts Juliet to sleep with a deathlike potion which fools Romeo into thinking Juliet is dead leading to his suicide by self administered poison followed by Juliet's death after her discovery that Romeo is dead. Friar Laurence's letter to Romeo explaining that Juliet was not really dead never made it to Romeo. At the end of the play, despite his own admission of guilt for Romeo's and Juliet's death, Escalus, The Prince of Verona forgives him.
Friar John: Of the same order as Friar Laurence, this Friar's detainment by quarantine in Verona (Act V, Scene II) leads to Romeo not receiving Friar Laurence's letter of explanation that Juliet was not really dead, leading to Romeo killing himself in despair...
Balthasar: Servant to Romeo, he witnesses the final moments of Romeo's life at the churchyard from a hiding place. He later backs up Friar Laurence's explanation of events to Escalus, Prince of Verona.
Sampson and Gregory: Servants to Capulet, these two men initially try to pick a fight with their opposites from the Montague family, Abraham and Balthasar in Act I, Scene I, establishing the feud that exists between Capulet and Montague families by showing that their mutual hatred even extends to their servants. This fight in a civic space leads Escalus to warn both families that further fighting will be punished by death...
Peter: Servant to Juliet's nurse.
Abraham: Servant to the Montague family, he is involved in the fight in Act I, Scene I.
An Apothecary: A minor character, he supplies the poison that Romeo uses to end his life. At first he is unwilling to sell poison to Romeo but later sells it out of necessity against his conscience.
Lady Montague: The wife of Montague, she worries about her son's happiness in Act I, Scene I. Later she dies, grief stricken that her son was banished from Verona. "Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her breath" Montague later explains (Act V, Scene III, Line 211).
Wife to Capulet: Juliet's mother, we see her as a distant figure in Juliet's life; Juliet's nurse remembers more about Juliet's childhood than Lady Capulet, suggesting a distance between mother and daughter. Nonetheless she appears close to her daughter, assisting her husband to convince Juliet into marrying Paris. When Capulet orders Juliet to marry Paris, Lady Capulet, falls into line, agreeing with Capulet and betraying Juliet.
Nurse to Juliet: In many ways a surrogate mother to Juliet, she cares deeply for Juliet's best interests, even encouraging Juliet's dangerous relationship with Romeo in the hope that it will make Juliet happy. After Tybalt's death, however, Nurse becomes less sympathetic and later when Capulet orders Juliet to marry Paris, she defends Juliet at first but later pragmatically suggests that Paris would not be so bad after all.

be your self

Never be awful to anyone, that person you were awful to may teach you the most.
Always remember...you are a somebody, God didn't take the time to create a nobody.
Always smile, you never know whose day you might be making. Never 'forget' to say hi to anyone, never miss the chance to laugh or smile, never get too caught up in yourself that you forget to help others.Never forget that you aren't the only one with problems, and most of all...never forget that when you feel like you only have one friend, that friend will remind you of all the others.If you forget about all the bad things in life, the good will take over.
If fear is staring you in the face, close your eyes so you don't have to look at it.
Be yourself, you can't be anyone else...The best you can be is you!

FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE

Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear. Don't cry over anyone who won't cry over you. Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.
You can only go as far as you push. Actions speak louder than words. The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love somebody else. Don't let the past hold you back; you're missing the good stuff. Life's short. If you don't look around once in a while, you might miss it. A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have. If you think that the world means nothing, think again. You might mean the world to someone else. When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your best friend will be there
True friendship never ends.
Friends are forever.
Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Don't frown. You never know who is falling in love with your smile.
What do you do when the only person who can make you stop crying is the person who made you cry?
NOBODY IS PERFECT UNTIL YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM. (Isn't that the truth?)
Everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.

follow your heart

this story had happend but i changed the names. Billy loved Katie with all his heart. But he never told a Single soul. Katie secretly loved him too. But she thought she would never have a chance with him. Billy asked his friends what they think of her and his friends thought she was gay. They didn't like her at all. So Billy just went along with them. They all made fun of her and made her feel really bad. Katie was so upset.One day they followed her home from school making fun of her the whole way home. Once she got inside her house she dropped to the floor cringe. She had a crush on Billy since 3rd grade. She didn't know what to do. When Billy got home he felt real bad about what he had done. So he decided to go to Katie's house to tell her he was sorry and that he really loves her.When he got there he knocked on the door no one answered.
The door was open so he walked in. He walked into the living room and found Katie lying dead on the floor. She had slit her wrists. Billy was so up set . He knew it was his fault she killed her self. And now he could never tell her how he really felt.The lesson of this story is: Don't wait to until the last minute to tell someone how you really feel. Because it just might be too late. And don't always go by what your friends say, follow your heart.