The Theme of Sacrifice in 'Romeo and Juliet'
Choose a drama in which sacrifice is a theme, show how the dramatist introduces this theme and its significance to the play as a whole.
Romeo and Juliet
The theme of sacrifice plays a large part in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is a story of “star cross’d lovers” entangled in a love story destined in tragedy. Set in the Italian city of Verona, the streets are ablaze with conflict and terror. Right from the beginning we are shown this when members of the Capulet and Montague family are fighting:
“Part fools. Put up your swords, you know not what to do.”
This shows the violence and distaste between these two families. This is why Romeo and Juliet must sacrifice so much for their love, because they are members of opposing families. The dramatist shows this through many dramatic techniques and uses their sacrifices to make this apparent to the audience.
Juliet asks Romeo to sacrifice his family name and his identity for their love. Romeo is not keen on the idea:
“Deny thy father, and refuse they name”
This shows Juliet’s degree of love for Romeo. She loves him so much that she is willing to make him change his name and deny his whole family name and inheritance. Upon hearing that he will not forget his name, Juliet agrees to partake in a secret marriage. This causes her to sacrifice a lot in the process.
A wedding is usually an exciting event that is shared with family and friends and most women would involve their parents deeply with the wedding, like picking dresses and such. Juliet sacrificed all this through agreeing to a secret marriage with Romeo:
“Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,”
Through agreeing to this secret marriage it shows how much Juliet is willing to risk and sacrifice for Romeo and for them to be together. In the process of doing so she is losing the family support from her mother and father, to help her through such a thing as marriage. If they were to find out that she had married a Montague
Romeo and Juliet
The theme of sacrifice plays a large part in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is a story of “star cross’d lovers” entangled in a love story destined in tragedy. Set in the Italian city of Verona, the streets are ablaze with conflict and terror. Right from the beginning we are shown this when members of the Capulet and Montague family are fighting:
“Part fools. Put up your swords, you know not what to do.”
This shows the violence and distaste between these two families. This is why Romeo and Juliet must sacrifice so much for their love, because they are members of opposing families. The dramatist shows this through many dramatic techniques and uses their sacrifices to make this apparent to the audience.
Juliet asks Romeo to sacrifice his family name and his identity for their love. Romeo is not keen on the idea:
“Deny thy father, and refuse they name”
This shows Juliet’s degree of love for Romeo. She loves him so much that she is willing to make him change his name and deny his whole family name and inheritance. Upon hearing that he will not forget his name, Juliet agrees to partake in a secret marriage. This causes her to sacrifice a lot in the process.
A wedding is usually an exciting event that is shared with family and friends and most women would involve their parents deeply with the wedding, like picking dresses and such. Juliet sacrificed all this through agreeing to a secret marriage with Romeo:
“Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,”
Through agreeing to this secret marriage it shows how much Juliet is willing to risk and sacrifice for Romeo and for them to be together. In the process of doing so she is losing the family support from her mother and father, to help her through such a thing as marriage. If they were to find out that she had married a Montague