Prologue why does the play keep its audience enthralled to the end Essay Example For Students

Prologue why does the play keep its audience enthralled to the end? Essay Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is a very tragic play mixed with comedy and romance. The Prologue tells us a brief outline of the story. Some would say it ruins it. In this essay Im going to attempt to explain why the play never fails to keep its audience on the edge of its seat. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny. This part of the prologue tells us that there is an argument that has gone back generations but has recently been caused to flare up again. It doesnt tell us why there is the fall out nor tell us when it started or flared up again. Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. This tells us that they are dragging the local citizens into the fights. As innocent people are being involved, everybody is involved either directly, emotionally, by marriage or by blood. And that many people are being killed there is that many funerals it is becoming unclean From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. This is probably the most important part of the prologue as this is where the play builds up to. It tells us that each family bore a child, one male, one female. The two have been destined to be together and fate causes them to fall in love. It does not tell us yet which belongs to which family. It goes on to say they kill themselves. It does not, as of yet, give any information as to why they do so but it gets the desired effect. The shocked emotion flows from us aside the saddened and angered ones intriguing us as to find out why this has happened. Whose misadventured piteous overthrows, Doth with their death bury their parents strife. This is telling the audience that they had been trying to be together but couldnt. Even though they had tried with their entire power put together to be with each other, their parents were just too powerful causing their attempts to look pathetic in comparison. They are misadventured because the family is just trying to kill each other but all Romeo and Juliet want to do is know the other is safe. This is quite ironic when you consider how they do die. They think the other is dead so kill themselves which is just a deception of their bodies as they are not, so after all they were safe except from themselves. They are deeply in love but their families are so hateful they do not notice or do not care how much they are hurting their children. After the death of the two young lovers, the parents realize how stupid and petty they have been. So they call a truce and become friends sealing the grudge as ancient. As we later find out at the same time they make friar Lawrences hopes when marrying the couple come to fruition. He marries them because he believes it may stop the fighting, and although Romeo and Juliet end up dead the quarrel stops. So evil occurs for the better. There is also a play on words. The prologue says bury the strife, but Romeo and Juliet were buried at the same time. So there is terrible irony written into the prologue. The fearful passage of their death marked love, And the continuance of their parents rage, The lovers created themselves a fearful passage as their emotions took them into dangerous situations. For example, on the balcony scene if the lovers had been caught Romeo would have been killed. Another example is the secret wedding. If the two were found out they would probably have been disowned if not murdered. Although it was all in the name of love, they were constantly living in fear. So although the lovers didnt get to be together long before their unfortunate end, they gave a fearful passage. The death marked love could have a deeper meaning than first meets the eye. The obvious is that they died. This would give death marked love but as they would have been killed if they had been found out and narrowly escaped on frequent occasions, it also gives another perspective to the situation. Throughout the entire play, the parents dont stop arguing and feuding, so that is the co-starring subject of the film. Their parents are too wrapped up in the fight they dont realize how petty the argument is. Until the dramatic and tragic death of their children, they dont care. The quarrelers dont know how much they are hurting their children. Dont know or dont care. When being performed the director can portray them differently but this is how Shakespeare does it as a director. The prologue then goes on to say that this all happens in the next two hours and if we will be patient the actors will try to show us how it really happened. When the audience considers that all this will happen in a matter of hours, they think it must be a pretty intense play. Another reason that after the prologue tells you the story the play keeps you enthralled is the use of extremely powerful and emotion evoking words and phrases. These words capture the imagination and makes you wonder how? Or why? The most evocative words are: Dignity, mutiny, foes, life, misadventured, piteous, overthrows, death, bury, strife, love and continuance. Some emotive phrases are: ancient grudge, civil blood, fatal loins, star-crossed lovers, fearful passage, and parents rage. Romeo and Juliet just on its own is a very complex plot, but upon closer examination the lovers are also trapped in sub-plots. Shakespeare uses this device to keep up suspense in the audience because even though the main plot is intense, he decided to create more tension by having other storylines. The main plot of Romeo and Juliet tells of two youths meeting by chance at a masked ball, fall in love immediately. The twist is that the youths are children of two enemies. They meet again secretly, get married with Romeos servant and Juliets Nurse present. Due to a fight between the famillies they get seperated, they manage, taking phenomenal risks, to see each other again. Alas the time comes when they must leave each other, and due to a very unlucky and untimely mix-up they both commit suicide. Other than Romeo and Juliet only 3 other people know about their love, Frair Laurence, Balthazar, and Nurse Capulet. Then when everything gets out in the open the parents reconcilliate and thats more or less the lot. Romeos subplot starts with the fact he is lusting over Capulets niece. He thinks he is in love with her but shes not interested in males. Romeo secretly thinks the reason the families think they hate each other is because they love each other but are confused by the emotions. His best friend Mercutio invites him to a ball. Next at the ball, he meets Juliet, and falls in love. He meets up with her later and arrange to get married the next day. After the wedding, he goes to his friends to find Mercutio and Tybalt arguing. As he is now married and wishes to cause no trouble with the Capulets he declines the offer of a fight. Mercutio dies in Romeos place. As an act of insane revenge he kills Tybalt. Romeo thus gets banished and cant see his wife anymore. Due to the mix-up Balthazar tells Romeo that Juliet is dead. Romeo buys a very powerful poison and lies next to Juliets comatose body and consumes it. Juliet , on the other hand, has a very different story to tell. Her mother and father wish her to get married to Count Paris. She meets Romeo and the story is the same as Romeos. Then after he is banished her parents try to arrange the marriage. In desperation, she goes to the friar who gives her a sleeping potion, which will make her appear to be dead. She drinks it and wakes to find Romeo dead next to her. She uses his weapon to commit suicide. The novel Things Fall Apart EssayThere is another battle at the end before Romeo sees the apparently dead Juliet. It is between Romeo and Count Paris. Paris goes to lay flowers across Juliets grave but is interrupted by Romeo. As Romeo is a Montague he thinks he has gone to trash the tomb. He hasnt of course but Romeo fights in self defense and Paris dies. There are a lot of misunderstandings in the play which lead to fights that shouldnt occur. This is what life is like in a lot of cases. The feuds would be exiting because they get to see real fight before their eyes which they otherwise wouldnt see. This wold be a major thing because unlike us, they cant turn on the television and watch a fight better than those. Prince Escalus has a lot to say about their fights. He was getting tired of all the fighting and after the fight in act 1 scene 1 says whoever starts the next fight shall die. Alas, when Romeo slays Tybalt, the Prince understands that Romeo did as the law would have done but as he took it into his own hands he must be punished. Banishment. At the end when Romeo and Juliet die it is very touching and gives the audience something to think about. This means although the play has comedy the end is as Shakespeare had planned the entire play very tragic. As Romeo and Juliet are children of two enemies, they must keep their relationship secret. This would create suspense in the audience as they are waiting for them to be caught. This would keep them enthralled. There are lots of things that show this. There is irony with the meeting. They meet at a masked ball, when they meet and fall in love they know they must keep their love masked. Also, Romeo must keep his masked his mask on during the party so concealing his true identity as they must conceal their love. In the famous balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet meet secretly. Even at the beginning of this scene, Romeo is hidden from Juliet. The only person Juliet can trust about their relationship is her nurse who brought her up instead of her mother. The only person Romeo trusts is his servant, Balthasar, who later is his best man at their wedding. So when Juliet needs to find out details of the illicit wedding she sends the nurse. They have to keep the wedding night secret too so the nurs e warns the lovers when lady Capulet is ascending up the stairs to her chamber. The idea of all the secrecy builds tension within the audience. It also constructs fear because if Romeo and Juliet get caught they will be killed because of their association with each other. This is ironic as although they are not found out they die because of the relationship. The fact alone, that Shakespeare explores the theme of love at all would interest the audience. Romeo and Juliet fall in love even though it is against a background of hate. This could be because when they first meet they do not know they are enemies, but a main moral in Romeo and Juliet is you cant help who you fall in the love with. But, one thing a lot of people mistake is the difference between love and hate. They are both extremes of opposite emotions. Romeo realises this from an early age and thinks the feuders love each other but do not know how to handle it. He is right. Love and hate often get confused because the feelings are so strong. They normally form through one another. If you love someone its easy to hate them and vice versa, but love does strange things. For example Juliet is an obedient girl. She shows this when her mother asks her if she could love Paris. She replies, Juliet: Ill look to like if looking liking move But Ill no longer endart mine eye, Than your consent to make it fly. So she is doing the proper thing but when Romeo comes along she doesnt care what her parents say so this shows that love changes your perspective on everything. They say that kids see things as they are without the complications adults would see and thats how the lovers see it they love each other, thats all that matters. Neither Romeo nor Juliet agree with the fighting and then they do the opposite of hating each other. This shows irony. In this play lots of types of love are displayed. Paris loves Juliet courtly. He asks her fathers permission before marrying her and brings her flowers e.t.c. At the beginning Juliet loves Paris dutifully. She excepts his wooing because her mother and father want her to. Both Romeo and Juliet display true love for each other. They want to be married because they love each other not because anybody else wants them to. Mercutio gives lots of references to sexual love especially between Romeo and Rosaline. Mercutio only makes these references to be humerous. It is quite ironic he should talk about Rosaline sexually because she has decided to stay chaste. Lots of Linguistic devices are used throughout the play. Shakespeare shows this by using lots of oxymoron throughout Romeo and Juliet. In act 1 scene 1, Romeo chides Benvolio because of the fray. He says: Romeo: Why then O brawling love O loving hate O anything of nothing first create. It is showing how naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve he is, as this is his impression of love. Others Romeo uses are: Heavy lightness, serious vanity, feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, still-waking sleep. Juliet also uses some: Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical, dove-feathered raven, wolfish-ravening lamb, damned saint and honourable villain. Similes are used often by all characters. Benvolio uses one saying they go like the lightening thats a simile because it contains LIKE in a comparing context. When Benvolio sys things like Steel Points and Fatal Points he is using these as a metaphor for swords. There is a lot of pathos in Romeo and Juliet. For Example, when Capulet tries to force Juliet into marrying Paris, you can feel Juliets frustration. Also you can feel Romeos distress when he finds that Juliet is dead. Shakespeare used sonnets in Romeo and Juliet. A sonnet is a 14 line poem, rhyming every other line for the first 12 then comes a rhyming couplet. Each line contains 10 syllables. Examples of sonnets are the prologue and the end of act one, Romeo and Juliets first meeting, and lady Capulets talk of Paris. There is more poetry throughout the play for example when Romeo and Juliet kiss, their lines finish Purged/Urged and Took/Book. At the end poetry is used too, like this Hand/Demand, Set/Juliet, Brings/Things, Head/Punished and Woe/Romeo. There are more devices used but these are the main ones. All of these devices, would keep the audience enthralled as it is showing how clever Shakespeare is. The Elizabethans probably figured, if he was good with words, he would probably have a good imagination.