Language In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is an amourous tragedy written by William Shakespeare. The written date of this play can be dated to 1595. Written during The Renaissance period, soon after the deadly plague, this event is reflected on Shakespeare’s choice of language throughout. This woeful play tells the tale of two lovestruck adolescents, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, which takes a fatal turn towards their devastating end. The loss of the children was the only thing which could bring together the families. Peace at a cost. The expectations of the play were to fit Shakespeare’s typical style of tragedies which revolve around death. In context with that, the expectation was met despite the addition of romantic themes throughout. In the play, Shakespeare …show more content…
It shows this in the quote “Some vile forfeit of untimely death. But he hath the steerage of my course”. Through the lexical choice of “vile” the negative tone shows how his fate was decided evilly and unpleasantly. It also sets the scene for further along the play when the themes start to become more and more related to death. “Steerage of my course” is a metaphor for his course of life. This line show us how he is not in control of what will happen. “Steerage” gives the reader the impression of a vehicle of some sort, and for some, it can be interpreted as romeo is just a play toy for ‘fate’ to control. Shakespeare also hinted at the ending throughout the play. It shows this in the quote “My grave is like to be my wedding bed”. This use of a simile compares the event of her death and her marriage. By saying that they are similar infers that they will happen within close time proximity to each other. By using marriage bed is suggests that if she were to get married anyway, she would go to bed, in which she will sleep. This can link to an eternal slumber which was often used to describe death. This foreshadows how Juliet will die soon after her illegal marriage. This line also shows us how fast paced the contents of the play were. This links to the time it was written as it can show how in the past, people’s lives were shorter and …show more content…
Juliet had a wish to die if it meant she could lie with Romeo. It shows this in the quote “Vile Earth, to earth resign” end motion here, and thou and Romeo press one heavy bier”. By saying to earth resign, she means that she wants to quit on her life. It further shows this in end motion here. By using vile Earth she is implicitly blaming the world for her fate. . “Press one heavy bier” means a grave. Heavy is a negative term which for some suggests that the death will have a negative effect. Romeo, at several points in the storyline, was a victim of some form of depression. An example of this is, extracted from Act 1 Scene 4 , reads “I have a soul of lead, so stakes me to the ground”. Romeo says this when he is in love with Rosaline. Through the use of the word “stakes” It shows the reader how he feels dead from the sadness of not being with Rosaline. This gives the reader the impression of a very impulsive character as soon after, he marries Juliet after knowing her for less than a week. A Stake is often used in relation to Vampires, or to say, the living dead. They are believed to be Vampire’s only weakness. This links to the time of writing as vampires started to spread globally during the 1600’s. This can suggests how Romeo is dead already and the stake is killing the already dead, this intensifies the topic of death in this quote.” By using “soul of lead” it suggests that inside Romeo feels stiff like metal.