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| In medias res | in the middle of
things
All of Shakespeare's plays begin "in the middle of things." Romeo and Juliet opens with a brawl between the Capulets and the Montagues. |
| Pun | a play on words
Sampson and Gregory talk using these words: collier, choler, and collar The first word refers to a coal dealer, the second means anger, and the third is part of a shirt (Actually, in this case, it probably is referring to a rope around one's neck.) |
| References to blood | Shakespeare is interested
in keeping the attention of the people in the pit. Violence
is one way he keeps them interested.
The Prince says that the Capulets and the Montagues are beasts who satisfy their revenge with blood - purple fountains flowing out of arteries of the people they have stabbed. |
| Foil | A foil is a minor
character whose purpose is to intensify a quality of a major character
by contrast.
The nurse is unattractive, old, and large. She may have only four teeth. One of her roles is to make Juliet look more beautiful. |
| Foreshadowing | An indication of
something to come, usually bad.
Romeo has a feeling that the events which will lead to his death will begin at the Capulet party. |
| Soliloquy | a dramatic monologue,
one person speaking alone on stage
An example is Friar Laurence in a field just before Romeo comes to ask the friar to marry Romeo to Juliet. Friar Laurence is talking about flowers and how flowers have the potential to be made into medicine or poison. He says that flowers are like people who have the potential to do great good, but who also have the power to destroy. |
| Dramatic Irony | Dramatic irony ocurs
when a character saiys something, but the audience understnds it in a different
way. The reason that they understand differently is that they know
something that the character does not.
When Lady Capulet says, "Romeo slew Tybalt; Romeo must not live," she does not know that Juliet is married to Romeo. She is demanding the death of her son-in-law - and, indirectly, she is also demanding the death of Juliet. The audience know this since they know that the fates of Romeo and Juliet are intertwined. |
| Anachronism | something that is
out of place in time
In scene iii, Romeo says that his name (Montague) is like a gun aimed at Juliet's heart. Guns did not exist in the time of Romeo and Juliet. |
| Reference to Ghosts | The people in Shakespeare's
time tended to be superstitious, and they liked the idea of ghosts.
Just before Juliet takes the potion that will make everyone think she is dead, she sees Tybalt's ghost coming for Romeo. This is also a foreshadowing and is not a good omen for Romeo. Shakespeare presents ghosts in such a way that people who believe in ghosts can take this literally. However, Juliet has been without adequate sleep for at least three days and two nights. She is under extreme stress as well as being traumatized by the death of Tybalt. The audience can easily see the ghost as a figment of Juliet's imagination. Visions of ghosts in other Shakespearean plays occur under similar circumstance. |
| The last person to speak is always the person of highest birth. | The Prince is the
last person to speak.
The royalty were major contributors to theatrical groups. Shakespeare showed respect to them for their patronage by "tipping his hat" to them at the end of each play. |
| Nature is in tune with the deeds of men. | The Prince says, “A gooming peace this morning with it brings, /The sun for sorrow will not show his head.” At the end of the play, it seems that even nature recognizes the sad day that Romeo and Juliet die. It is a cloudy, gloomy day. |