Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a famous play by William Shakespeare concerning the fate of two young lovers.

Commentary

Like most of Shakespeare's plays, the greater part of Romeo and Juliet is written in iambic pentameter. However, the play is also notable for its copious use of rhymed verse, notably in the sonnet contained in Romeo and Juliet's dialogue in the scene where they first meet. This sonnet figures Romeo as a blushing pilgrim (palmer) praying before an image of the Virgin Mary, as many persons in early-sixteenth-century England did at shrines such as the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.http://www.galbithink.org/sense-s5.htm Because of its use of rhyme, its extravagant expressions of love, its Italian theme, and its implausible plot, Romeo and Juliet is considered to belong to Shakespeare's "lyrical period", along with the similarly poetic plays A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard II.

Related Topics:
Iambic pentameter - Rhymed - Sonnet - The Virgin Mary - Our Lady of Walsingham - Lyrical - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Richard II

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Romeo and Juliet is one of the earlier works in the Shakespearean canon, and while it is often classified as a tragedy, it does not bear the hallmarks of the 'great tragedies' like Hamlet and Macbeth. Some argue that Romeo and Juliet's demise does not stem from their own individual flaws, but from the actions of others or from accidents. Unlike the great tragedies, Romeo and Juliet is more a tragedy of mistiming and ill fate. However, others consider rashness and youth to be the tragic flaws of Romeo and Juliet.

Related Topics:
Tragedy - Hamlet - Macbeth - Tragic flaw

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