Themes

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for //The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet//

This page was created and edited by: Kareem Elhadidi, Justin Hollimon, and Eric Funk

 Welcome to the K,J & E wikispace page about themes for //The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet//. There are several themes in //The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet// such as Love, Light and Dark, Fate and many subplots beneath those.

**Love** __** Love - **__ The most prevalent theme is love. The love between Romeo and Juliet is so great that they would do anything for each other even die, which ends up happening. One of many problems with their love is that Romeo does not love Juliet, but her face. This means that if he sees a woman he feels is more attractive that Juliet he will simply abandon her as he did with [|Rosaline], the woman who did not love him back and kept him weeping in his room. His love for her is also, as the Friar says, "too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden...too like the lightening" (II.iii.120). There are other examples of love in the play - some very obvious and others not so obvious:


 * Romeo and Juliet** - Love that Romeo and Juliet have for each other that causes them to want to marry, live, and/or die together.


 * The power of love** - The power of love is a recurring theme in //The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet//, love can make lovers do anything. This is portrayed several times in the play such as when Juliet drinks Friar's mystery potion or when Romeo kills himself because he cannot bear living without juliet. Now that is what I call power.

[|Nurse's Love for Juliet]- Love that one has for someone that they have cared for since a child and now that person is growing up and making decisions concerning life and death. The Nurse also cares about the marraige enough not to tell the world but in the end she breaks this love by turning her back on Juliet and telling her to marry Paris. The Nurses love for Juliet is not very real because during many moments she can be vague to her, or simply turn her back on her.

[|Friar]**'s Love for Romeo and Juliet** - Love that a senior elder and confidante has for those who are in need. Although his thoughtless and cowardly actions, caused many of the problems such as Tybalt being slain, Paris being killed and ultimately, Romeo and Juliet's death, he still showed his "attempted" love for the couple by holding their secret.

**Light and Dark** [|Light and Dark]-The theme of light and dark is another one of the major themes. Romeo says to Juliet as he is leaving "More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!" (III.v.36). This means that although dark is usually associated with evil and light is associated with good, Romeo and Juliet have it backwards; they can only be together at night(dark) that is their happy(light) time and morning(light) is sad(dark) for them.

**Fate** [|Fate]- Fate is a major theme in the play, because the whole plot of the play was around fate. In the prologue the chorus says, " A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life." (I.prologue.7). When they speak of stars or heavens they are referring to fate. So hence the relationship of Romeo and Juliet is controlled by fate. Fate brings them together and, in the end, takes them apart. The fates are very cruel to the couple as they try to stay together through all of their hardships.

**Conflicts, Disagreements and Fights** The theme of conflicts, strong disagreements and fights occurs throughout the play. This website devotes extra attention and accounts for the numerous conflicts, disagreements and fights which occurred in each Act. A few examples are included here for easy access, but consult the plot elements for more details.

a)  Fight between the Montague and Capulet servants

b) Argument between Mercutio and Tybalt

c)  Tybalt’s rage against Romeo

d) Extreme anger between Capulet/Lady Capulet and Juliet over her marriage to Paris

e) Romeo and Juliet are constantly fighting the fates, who are tearing them apart

f) Friar Lawrence is fighting a constant struggle with himself to try not reveal the couple's secrets.

g) In one scene Juliet is arguing with herself wether she should be crying for Tybalt's (her kinsman's) death or weather she should cry for the banishment of Romeo(her secret husband).This is the theme of choice which occurs often in the play. This is one of the minor themes in the play, but is very important because every choice you make matters. Big choices like suicide or killing someone can completely change your life.

Sources: Zeffirelli DVD Cover from [|http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/romeo-and-juliet-DVDcover.jpg    Rosaline link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosaline Romeo and Juliet link: [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet Information: [|http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/randj/story/thinkabout.html Romeo and Juliet's Marriage link: http://www.enotes.com/romeo/q-and-a/how-does-romeo-juliet-s-marriage-act-2-scene-6-13867 Nurse for Juiliet link: [|http://pages.towson.edu/quick/romeoandjuliet/nurse.htm Friar link: [|http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/1273/index.php Link for Sparknotes themes page: [|http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/themes.html

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