Macbeth and R+J
Finnian Shardlow
Shakespeare Controlled Assessment
Shakespeare communicates many moods in Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet; the main moods are love, and hate fuelled betrayal, and in my work these are the themes I will analyse.
In Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, vital characters have had to betray in order to achieve love, for example;
In Romeo and Juliet; Juliet has to betray the authority of her father in order to fulfil her affection for Romeo. In terms of love this would mean that: The Storge (unconditional love, shared amongst family) that Juliet once felt for her father was met by misogyny (Hatred for Women) upon his realisation of Juliet’s Eros (love between two people) towards Romeo. Despite her subdued character, Juliet is adamant on not marrying Paris and betraying her family for Romeo.
A quote to support this is;
"If all else fail, myself have power to die" - This signifies that Juliet would rather die than enter something that it not right.
A quote from Juliet’s Father;
“How now, how now, chop-logic! What is this?” – His use of repetition emphasises his fury in response to Juliet’s new found aggression in character, and his rhetorical question presents his dominance and highlights the hierarchy that was in place at the time to allocate superiority to male’s in a family, in this scene; the breakdown of Juliet’s Father and Mother’s relationship is most apparent. Furthermore this is a point where Juliet is most isolated from her family and becomes closer to Romeo.
My alternate interpretation is that Juliet did not betray her family, but her family were betrayed by there own pride, Pride was the cataclysmic barrier between acceptance and condemnation. The most potent character development is Juliet’s, throughout the play she matures and becomes a lot more retaliant to authority and starts to become herself rather than obedient to others, this process is strengthened because of the speed she has had to become responsible; due to the mandatory pressures she is
Shakespeare Controlled Assessment
Shakespeare communicates many moods in Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet; the main moods are love, and hate fuelled betrayal, and in my work these are the themes I will analyse.
In Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, vital characters have had to betray in order to achieve love, for example;
In Romeo and Juliet; Juliet has to betray the authority of her father in order to fulfil her affection for Romeo. In terms of love this would mean that: The Storge (unconditional love, shared amongst family) that Juliet once felt for her father was met by misogyny (Hatred for Women) upon his realisation of Juliet’s Eros (love between two people) towards Romeo. Despite her subdued character, Juliet is adamant on not marrying Paris and betraying her family for Romeo.
A quote to support this is;
"If all else fail, myself have power to die" - This signifies that Juliet would rather die than enter something that it not right.
A quote from Juliet’s Father;
“How now, how now, chop-logic! What is this?” – His use of repetition emphasises his fury in response to Juliet’s new found aggression in character, and his rhetorical question presents his dominance and highlights the hierarchy that was in place at the time to allocate superiority to male’s in a family, in this scene; the breakdown of Juliet’s Father and Mother’s relationship is most apparent. Furthermore this is a point where Juliet is most isolated from her family and becomes closer to Romeo.
My alternate interpretation is that Juliet did not betray her family, but her family were betrayed by there own pride, Pride was the cataclysmic barrier between acceptance and condemnation. The most potent character development is Juliet’s, throughout the play she matures and becomes a lot more retaliant to authority and starts to become herself rather than obedient to others, this process is strengthened because of the speed she has had to become responsible; due to the mandatory pressures she is