Themes To Consider

 

For the past few weeks of E.L.A we have been studying the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. We acted out the play in modern day English to better understand the play. These are the themes to consider for Romeo and Juliet.

 

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2.) The Uselessness of Violence

In this play, there is a lot of useless violence. The uselessness of violence means that they are unnecessarily feuding against each other. The Capulets and Montagues have no clear reason to be feuding against each other. An example of uselessness of violence in Romeo and Juliet was when Tybalt approached Mercutio, Benvolio and Romeo in the street. He picked a fight with them and it lead to two unnecessary deaths of both Tybalt and Mercutio and a banishment of Romeo. It was unnecessary violence that took place because all they were fighting about was when Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio arrived at the party. Tybalt should have let it go and none of this would have happened. It was useless to go and cause violence because the outcome and the effect on his family was pointless.

 

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3.) Stubbornness and pride leading to death and heartbreak

Stubbornness and pride comes with consequences. In this case it was both death and heartbreak. Tybalt was so stubborn and because he would not let the party incident go, it lead to his and Mercutio’s death. It also applies to Juliet in a way because she was stubborn to be with Romeo and not Paris. She was so stubborn in fact, that she would rather commit suicide than be without Romeo and with Paris. In the end, they both die and her actions lead her to her actual death and heartbreak for both Romeo and Juliet. Their stubbornness lead them to death and heartbreak.

 

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4.) The Strength of Young Love

The strength of young love means like pretty much how much two people love each other. Romeo and Juliet loved each other so much that they were willing to die for it. This is not always necessarily a good thing. Juliet went against her family’s beliefs in the Montagues and continued to disobey her parents rules to be with Romeo. The strength in their love ended up killing not just one but both of them. They both die in the end because their love is so strong. Juliet faked her death and Romeo truly thought that she was dead so he killed himself just in time for Juliet to wake up, find him dead and kill herself for real. The whole plan of the fake death was to fake the death and write a letter to Romeo so that he knew it was fake so that they could be together in Mantua. The strength of their love killed them both.

 

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5.) The Dangers of Dishonesty

Being  dishonest can be a very bad thing that could lead to dangers and consequences. Juliet was willing to give up her life for Romeo so Friar Lawrence offered to help by faking her death. She drank the vial and fell into a deep sleep. Meanwhile Romeo never got the letter saying that she was only faking her death. Which means they were pretty much lying to him and everyone else. Since he did not receive the letter from Friar Lawrence, he truly thought Juliet was dead so he rode to Verona and killed himself in the Capulet tomb while Juliet was just waking up. Juliet then grabs a dagger and stabs herself to be with Romeo. Juliet and Friar Lawrence’s actions were dishonest and lead to the death of Romeo and Juliet.

 

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6.) Revenge Leads to Destruction

Revenge leads to destruction means that if you try to get revenge something bad will happen whether it’s a death or something else. Tybalt’s revenge on the Montagues for them coming to the party lead to a major destruction. It killed Tybalt and Mercutio and it Banished Romeo because he was the only one left alive to punish. This complicated things for both Romeo and Juliet because now they are separated and desperately want to get back together again. It leads to many other unfortunate event in both the Montague family and the Capulet family with the death of Juliet and Romeo. Tybalt’s revenge lead to destruction in not only the Montague family but also the Capulet family.