Comparing Pyramus And Thisbe And The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

What would you do if you lost the person you love most? That’s the kind of decisions that both Ovid and Shakespeare write about in “Pyramus and Thisbe” and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the stories, Thisbe and Juliet are both faced with the same question, and they both choose the same fate. Although Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is based off of Ovid’s poem, “Pyramus and Thisbe” both portray the scenes differently, and in a way, better than one another. While Ovid writes about the plot, characters, and conflict with very vivid descriptions, Shakespeare portrays them better than Ovid’s words can describe in some of his scenes. Although Shakespeare changed particular details from Ovid's poem regarding the plot, characters, …show more content…
Both pairs of lovers made rash decisions deciding to kill themselves, but in Shakespeare’s play the readers got to know the characters and grew more attached to them, making Romeo and Juliet’s death have more of an emotional effect on the readers. Juliet and Thisbe both killed themselves with their lover’s dagger after they found their companions dead. This was more effective in the poem because Pyramus opened his eyes right when Thisbe stabbed herself, which made her death more dramatic and memorable. The main characters in Ovid’s poem and Shakespeare’s play were similar in the decisions they made, but also very different. Romeo and Juliet had help from other characters such as Friar Lawrence and the Nurse, Pyramus and Thisbe did not. This allowed the readers to get to know Romeo and Juliet's love better than Pyramus and Thisbe’s love. Pyramus died by stabbing himself with his dagger, but Romeo drank poison. This scene was also better in the play because the readers knew Juliet wouldn’t have access to any poison at the moment so her death was more