This extract, written by William Shakespeare was selected from the book entitled Romeo and Juliet. In no more than forty lines, Shakespeare emphasizes the importance of religion in Elizabethan society and develops the themes of love and identity. The extract is part of the fifth scene of act 1 . Throughout this scene, the author describes when Romeo first meets Juliet, and his surprise when he finds out she belongs to the Capulet, enemies of Romeo’s family.
Until that moment, Romeo had been thinking of Rosaline, the woman he thought was the love of his life. Nevertheless, through this scene and particularly through this extract, we can see that Romeo is a very impetuous character, and it makes the reader doubt whether his sudden love for Juliet is true, or it is just an infatuation . added to this, the extract shows Juliet as a very innocent character, which creates certain doubt because she may actually be religious and innocent, or she may be using religion as a mask for her further behavior. The diction used by Shakespeare when writing this extract can be considered as very particular given the fact that religious words are repeated constantly.
The author usually used repetition to add depth to both characters and feelings or expressions. In the extract, we can see that Juliet repeats Romeo’s words when for example he says in line 15: “ Thus from my lips by yours my sin is purged”, and Juliet answers in line 16: ” Then have my lips the sin that they have took”. When writing the extract, Shakespeare used several times dramatic irony. In the beginning of the extract, Romeo and Juliet aren’t aware of their true identity, but the audience yes. Plus, when Capulet talks to Romeo and Benvolio, he doesn’t know that they belong to the Montague, otherwise he would have reacted in a different way. The use of dramatic irony creates suspense and tension in the public.
Another device used by Shakespeare is the oxymoron. This is used in line 17, when Romeo says: “ Sin from my lips? Trespass sweetly urged!” a trespass is not usually sweet, but in this case it is because the sin is loving themselves and being together. The extract begins with a fourteen-line poem, knows as a sonnet. This type of poem is made up of three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme follows a certain patters, which can be written in the following way: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
The sonnets used by Shakespeare when writing Romeo and Juliet show plenty of influence from the Italian poet named Petrarch. The main theme in Petrarch’s poetry was a young man’s love for an unattainable woman. This idea was used by Shakespeare when describing Romeo’s love for Rosaline. At the beginning of the extract, when Romeo y talking to Juliet, the atmosphere clearly contains a lot of love. Nevertheless, the entrance of the nurse into the conversation creates a change in the mood.
She is the one who informs Romeo that Juliet belongs to the Capulet, which makes Romeo feel fear for their future. After analyzing the extract, we can get to the conclusion that the author used lots of devises and imagery with the sole intention of showing that despite it is the first time the main characters meet, their love was immediate. Although there are other themes as the importance of religion for the society in those days, the most important and the most developed one is love.
