Amber Richardson, Grace Livingstone Tyler, Schyler Kucera, and Elise Lang Mahan
Movement One: “Risks for Love in Romeo and Juliet,” Amber Richardson
Romeo and Juliet is the story of the forbidden love of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Their love is forbidden because of the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets. One major theme of this play is risk. Risk is seen throughout the entire play and builds up most of the storyline to a story of unconditional love.
The first instance where risk is seen in Romeo and Juliet is when Romeo attends the Capulet masquerade in order to see Rosaline. This is a risk because Romeo is a Montague and the Capulets hate the Montagues. He is risking his well-being and his emotional state, since Rosaline did not return the feelings Romeo had for her. The most obvious risk in this play is Romeo’s and Juliet’s love for each other. Their love is practically forbidden because their families hate each other and would not approve of their actions. In this they risk their families finding out and harming one another.
An earlier risk Romeo takes comes before he goes to the masquerade. Romeo has a feeling the following fateful events will lead him to his undeniable death. He ignores this feeling, though, and continues with plans. This shows a risk because he has a feeling he will lose his life but continues anyway.
Romeo seems to be the person taking the most risks in this play, especially with his relationship with Juliet. When Romeo tells the friar he wants to marry Juliet, the friar warns him of the fickleness of young love. He worries about the fact one day he loves Rosaline and the next Juliet and marriage is a big step for someone who met their lover the night before. Romeo, though, ignores this and insists he marries Juliet anyway. Trying to marry Juliet is probably the biggest risk he takes for their relationship. He has his life and the peace between their families at risk. Disturbing the peace between their families could end in death for members of their families, since the Prince has already warned against their quarrels. Disturbing the peace is something Romeo was successful at. Romeo kills Tybalt, a Capulet, and he is banished from Verona by the Prince. This is a considerably graceful punishment because the Prince’s original punishment for disturbing the peace is death.
Juliet also takes risks as well. A risk she takes is professing her love about Romeo to her nurse and using her a messenger for them. The nurse could choose to tell her parents about their love, and Romeo and Juliet would get into trouble for this. The Nurse is also risking her job by hiding this love. She could lose her job if the Capulet parents find out she didn’t tell them and be accused of helping a Montague. The friar could also lose his position as a friar if the Montagues find out he married Romeo and Juliet without the permission of their parents. The biggest risk Juliet takes is when she hides in the coffin and is surrounded by other dead people.
The play gave a great example of unconditional love. No matter what obstacles were thrown in their way, Romeo and Juliet found a way around them (until the tragic climax, of course). Their love for each other was shown through the risks they took to be with each other. From meeting each other in the middle of the night to risking their own lives, risk can be seen as the major theme of this play.
Movement Two: “Romeo, Juliet, and the Effects of Immaturity,” Grace Livingstone Tyler
In William Shakespeare’s most famous play, Romeo and Juliet, are two families feuding, the Capulets, to whom Juliet belongs, and the Montagues, to whom Romeo belongs. Romeo is madly in love, or so he thinks, with a young lady named Rosaline, who does not reciprocate his feelings. Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin, encourages Romeo to find another woman to love. Romeo and Benvolio attend a ball at the Capulets’, because Benvolio wants Romeo to find someone else. Romeo only agrees to attend because he knows Rosaline will be there. Romeo is immediately captivated by a young woman who is not Rosaline: Juliet. It is what we would call “love at first sight.” They share a kiss, and later that night, Romeo sneaks into the Capulets’ orchard, and the two profess their love for each other, not caring their families are enemies or feuding.
Juliet’s family want her to marry a man named Paris, but Juliet does not love him. Romeo and Juliet go behind their families’ backs and get married, only for Juliet to find out the next day she is to marry Paris in three days. Romeo gets banished from the land for killing Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, in a fight. A plan is constructed to reunite the lovers. Romeo is to return, and Juliet is to drink a potion that makes her appear dead. Juliet will then be delivered to her family’s crypt, where the friar will reunite Romeo and Juliet. However, the plan never gets to Romeo, and he only hears Juliet is dead. Distraught and depressed, he kills himself over her “corpse.” When Juliet awakes and sees her lover dead, she, too, kills herself.
The first glimpse of immaturity and its effects on the characters in the play is at the ball. Romeo is so madly in love with this Rosaline he will do anything just to see her. He agrees to go the ball to get his mind off her, knowing she will be there. However, when he lays eyes on Juliet, he falls in love with her. It takes him about two seconds to fall out of love with one girl and in love with another. This shows a lack of emotional maturity. Romeo is around sixteen, and he doesn’t even know Juliet. He doesn’t even know her name, yet he is madly in love with her. Really, all he knows about her is her beauty, and that is what he is in love with, at least for the time. However, beauty is not something that can sustain a relationship or a marriage. It takes so much more than that, and that is all Romeo knows.
The next time we see the issue of immaturity return is when Romeo and Juliet decide to get married. Romeo is around sixteen and Juliet is not yet fourteen. A thirteen-year-old girl and a sixteen-year-old boy running off behind their parents’ backs to get married because they’re “in love,” when they’ve known each other less than 24 hours, oozes immaturity. You cannot be in love with someone you do not completely know. You can be in love with the idea of them, but not them themselves. There is no possible way Romeo or Juliet truly knew the other when they had only met less than 24 hours before the marriage.
The third and final time we see Romeo and Juliet act immaturely is when they both commit suicide over the idea of being alone. When Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, he is so saddened by the idea of a life without her he thinks he cannot bear it, and he commits suicide. When Juliet wakes up and sees Romeo has killed himself, she, like him, does not think life is worth living because she cannot bear the world without him, and she, too, kills herself. The two “lovers” kill themselves over “love” when they have known each other maybe a week. If Romeo can fall out of love with Rosaline and in love with Juliet in less than a minute, what’s to say he couldn’t fall out of love with Juliet and in love with another girl after Juliet was supposedly “off the table” because he thought she was dead? Romeo makes an immature snap judgment to kill himself because his immaturity fails to let him see all the other things life has to offer. He doesn’t think life will have anything to offer except Juliet. Juliet is also extremely immature because she reacts the exact same way Romeo does. Juliet is only thirteen, and she kills herself over “love.” Most thirteen-year-olds honestly don’t fully understand love and all its implications, as evidenced by Juliet.
These two teens essentially lose their lives due to their closed mindset and immaturity. They have absolutely no control over their emotions, they do not obey their parents, and they commit suicide at the thought of living without one another. Had Romeo not been so immature he could’ve lived the rest of his life with Juliet, although it is highly unlikely their marriage would’ve even lasted because the two hardly knew each other. The effects of their own lack of maturity are seen in their deaths.
Movement Three: “Marriage in the 16th Century Compared to the 21st Century,” Schyler Kucera
Marriage has greatly changed between the 16th century and the 21st century. New Shorter Oxford Dictionary defines marriage in the 16th century as “Legally recognized personal union entered into by a man and a woman usu., with the intention of living together and having sexual relations, and entailing property and inheritance rights.” Merriam-Webster defines marriage in the 21st century as “the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law; the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage.”
Couples in the 16th century did not marry each other out of love, and they were married young. It was believed to be foolish to marry for love. In the 16th century, one you would not choose whom you would marry. Your friends and family sought out a good spouse for you. It was done this way because they believed your friends and family were better set to look for whom you would be a good fit. Because of this, they believed one would have a happier marriage.
People got married because they were ready to have children and run their own home. Wives were property of their husbands and obeyed them because they were the head of the house. In some cases, a husband would abuse their wives. Even if they had an unhappy marriage, the two would stay together. Divorce was not an option.
Same-sex marriage was banned. Guys did not have intimate relations with other men, and women did not have intimate relations with other women (legally). It was not accepted; those who did were cast out and shunned by the society.
Today, in the 21st century, couples are not getting married as young. People want to get their lives together before they start a family. Women are now allowed to do more in society, and their roles are not limited to just being a wife. Because of that, women want to be successful and prove they can succeed without a man.
There are no more arranged marriages in the West; people marry whom they want. Couples also marry for love instead of family or economic reasons. Another big difference between the 21st century and the 16th century is interracial marriages. People can marry between races and not be looked down upon by the entire community.
People marry whom they want. However, divorce is also very common. When a couple isn’t happy together anymore, they just get a divorce. The biggest difference between then and now is same-sex marriage. Today, same-sex marriage is accepted and several states have passed bills allowing same-sex marriages.
In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. Their families do not get along and Montagues and Capulets are not allowed to associate with each other. Since both families are high in society, marriage for their children are arranged by their parents. Wealthy children often would be married into other rich families. One night however, Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love. Going against their families, society, and the rules, the two marry for love.
This play displays a mix between both past marriage customs and today’s marriage customs. Examples of past marriage customs are the expectation of an arranged marriage, being married young, and the expectation for children to obey their parents. The similarity to today’s customs include marrying for love, marrying whom one wants, and doing everything possible to be with that person. The penalty for not following the customs, keeping secrets, and disobeying is their deaths.
Marriage has changed drastically over the years. People have become more involved in doing what they want, marrying whom they want, and if things work out they work out, but if things don’t work out then divorce is an easy opt out. Women also have more rights and opportunities today, which really affects the marriage structure. Marriage customs between the two centuries are significantly different but are both seen in Romeo and Juliet.
Bibliography
Coontz, Stephanie. “Past, Present, Future of Marriage.” The Examiner. 25 Nov. 2005. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
Ros, Maggi. “More Wedding Customs.” Life in Elizabethan England 62. 22 Mar. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
Stritof, Sheri. “The Future of Marriage and Its Past.” About. 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Movement Four: “A Tragic Example in Shakespeare,” Elise Lang Mahan
Containing Kings and noblemen, deceit and rage, and war and love, King Lear is noted for tragic suffering and deception. Regarded by many as “the best written tragedy,” King Lear is considered one of Shakespeare’s “supreme achievements.” Shakespeare drafted King Lear between 1603 with the play’s first performance in 1607. After the Restoration of the English monarchy, beginning in 1660, Shakespeare’s tragedy of the nominal King of Britain was revised. This happened in such a way the play ended with a more appealing, happy event other than the one of suffering and death provided by Shakespeare himself.
The horrid ending portrayed in King Lear is not the only reason as to why the play was placed in the same category as other Tragedies. For four specific elements explored in English class, this widely known play is considered a tragedy.
The first characteristic states there is primarily one hero; it is seen in King Lear Lear himself is this hero. Tragedies typically have the kind of “tragically-flawed hero.” For Lear, there are three noticeable observations allowing him to be considered one of these tragic heroes. The Hero must have flaws, be a victim of others’ greed, and be the cause of the audience’s sympathy. Lear, although a royal protagonist, is prideful, blind, and has the inability to cope. These flaws are noticed in three separate examples in the play.
After deciding to generously divide his kingdom evenly between his three daughters, King Lear demands to be shown, by his daughters, how much, if at all, they love him. This pride of seeking affection and love from others eventually leads to his downfall after the youngest daughter is unable to express, in words, her love and appreciation for her father. It is because of his blindness the King disowns his youngest daughter and forces her to leave. He is unable to see the false affection and praise the eldest daughters shower him with.
Along with pride and blindness, King Lear is unable to cope with his royalty. He wants to possess the title of King but does not wish to have the responsibilities that come with it. Because of this inability to use his authority wisely, the eldest daughters usurp that authority.
King Lear is a victim of the greed of his own daughters through their manipulative effect on him. They manipulate Lear and, as a result, he goes insane and wanders in the heath during a terrible storm. Despite these flaws and manipulations, the audience has slight sympathy for him knowing he was initially a generous and fair ruler by dividing his land into three sections for his daughters. Because King Lear is a victim of others’ greed, he is still considered a hero and from his dramatic downfall, a tragic one.
A second element of a tragedy is the depiction of a troubled part in the hero’s life. King Lear, being the established tragic hero, has noticeably troubling areas of his life. For starters, Lear has “lost” all three of his daughters. He disowns the youngest out of rage and then flees from the two elder daughters, knowing they are betraying him. Lear is eventually captured and brought to Dover, where two armies, the French army fighting to save Lear and the English army trying to prevent that rescue, battle each other. The French army, led by the youngest daughter, is defeated by the English, resulting in the recapturing of King Lear and his daughter. With all this suffering, it is no surprise when Lear, the hero of the play, dies from grief at the passing of his faithful youngest daughter.
Relating to the suffering experienced by King Lear, the third element of the tragedy is the exceptional suffering. Not only does the troubled King experience this pain, but so does the despairing nobleman Gloucester. The quarrel between his two children, illegitimate son Edmund and legitimate son Edgar, is unbearable for the elder as Edmund tricks his father to think Edgar is trying to kill him. After Edgar flees, Gloucester finds King Lear, who is in distress from his daughters. Gloucester offers him help and assistance, but it isn’t to last as the two eldest daughters find this as treason. The unlucky suffering comes to Gloucester when he is blinded and turned out to the countryside to wander alone. All this pain is put to rest when Gloucester dies toward the end of the play. With all this suffering, the tragedy is exceptional as there seems no end to it , and it even is included in the major scenes of the play.
As a final element of Shakespearean tragedy, chance or accidents are able to influence actions of the characters. This is noticed after Edgar flees from his father and disguises himself to avoid the search party trying to locate and kill him. It isn’t until after Gloucester is blinded and thrown to wander by himself that Edgar finds him alone. Being the faithful son he is to his father, Edgar serves as the caretaker of Gloucester, leading him to the city, Dover. Edgar allows this chance, reuniting with his blind father while disguised, to help Gloucester from committing suicide and by taking him to Dover where Lear is also.
There is far too much anguish and deceit among the characters for the play to be considered as anything but a tragedy. Although the other eleven elements we learned of tragedy were not mentioned, enough examples from the play are given to persuade the reader King Lear belongs in the category of Shakespeare Tragedy.
Redeeming Pandora 