Romeo’s response to the concept of love in Act 1 demonstrates his ingenuous and grandiose nature. Initially, we see him perplexed and almost angered by love, when he says “misshapen chaos… well-seeming forms!”. However, by Scene 5 we see that his earlier opinion has changed completely, and his response to his first meeting with Juliet shows this. His language is referenced from a Christian lexicon and puts the Elizabethan audience of the time period it was performed in at ease. His feelings about love can be summed up by the quotation “A choking gall…preserving sweet.”.
Romeo’s view of love is initially confusing, and we can see this from lines 170 and onwards in Act 1 Scene 1 where he uses extensive oxymoron to describe his unrequited feelings …show more content…
It’s also a contrast, as Romeo uses the word “love”, something that is meant to comfort and evoke fondness, but Romeo uses it to express his pain and further bolster his point that he is blind and lost, hence the terms “smoke” and “fume,”. Metaphysical conceit is also used in the first stanza, and also used again later on in the same scene. Shakespeare uses this technique to combine the ideas of love and hate in Scene 1, and this runs throughout the rest of the play, for example when Juliet finds out that Romeo is a Montague at the end of Scene 5 “My only love sprung from my only hate!”. This combination gives the audience a feeling of deeper understanding to Romeo— perhaps we know Romeo better through his musings and the technique used may put the audience in Romeo’s mind-set; which is one of …show more content…
His use of religious imagery completely transmutates from debasing and vituperative to reverent and ecclesiastical. We can see this in his continuous description of Juliet being a “saint” amid their conversation, written in Shakespearean sonnet form. During this scene, Shakespeare has switched from using Classical religious imagery to Christian. This tells the Elizabethan audience that Juliet is more saintly than the blaspheming Rosaline. Romeo uses words such as “holy shrine” and “devotion” to further elevate Juliet to that of a goddess. Romeo is infatuated with Juliet-- but not to the point that it’s poisonous toward him, as it was with Rosaline, but more so that we begin to see the phrase “star-crossed lovers” from the prologue beginning to take effect. The couple’s interaction with each other, for example how they finish each other’s sentences in a mating dance of words-- Juliet taking Romeo’s ideas of saints and “pilgrims” and making them her own, while interlocking Biblical imagery shows the audience just how “star-crossed” these future lovers are. This sonnet itself links back to and heavily contrasts with the prologue, as that is a sonnet too. The prologue speaks more so of violence, loss and death, whereas this sonnet speaks solely of love and life, hence the Biblical
Romeo’s view of love is initially confusing, and we can see this from lines 170 and onwards in Act 1 Scene 1 where he uses extensive oxymoron to describe his unrequited feelings …show more content…
It’s also a contrast, as Romeo uses the word “love”, something that is meant to comfort and evoke fondness, but Romeo uses it to express his pain and further bolster his point that he is blind and lost, hence the terms “smoke” and “fume,”. Metaphysical conceit is also used in the first stanza, and also used again later on in the same scene. Shakespeare uses this technique to combine the ideas of love and hate in Scene 1, and this runs throughout the rest of the play, for example when Juliet finds out that Romeo is a Montague at the end of Scene 5 “My only love sprung from my only hate!”. This combination gives the audience a feeling of deeper understanding to Romeo— perhaps we know Romeo better through his musings and the technique used may put the audience in Romeo’s mind-set; which is one of …show more content…
His use of religious imagery completely transmutates from debasing and vituperative to reverent and ecclesiastical. We can see this in his continuous description of Juliet being a “saint” amid their conversation, written in Shakespearean sonnet form. During this scene, Shakespeare has switched from using Classical religious imagery to Christian. This tells the Elizabethan audience that Juliet is more saintly than the blaspheming Rosaline. Romeo uses words such as “holy shrine” and “devotion” to further elevate Juliet to that of a goddess. Romeo is infatuated with Juliet-- but not to the point that it’s poisonous toward him, as it was with Rosaline, but more so that we begin to see the phrase “star-crossed lovers” from the prologue beginning to take effect. The couple’s interaction with each other, for example how they finish each other’s sentences in a mating dance of words-- Juliet taking Romeo’s ideas of saints and “pilgrims” and making them her own, while interlocking Biblical imagery shows the audience just how “star-crossed” these future lovers are. This sonnet itself links back to and heavily contrasts with the prologue, as that is a sonnet too. The prologue speaks more so of violence, loss and death, whereas this sonnet speaks solely of love and life, hence the Biblical