All Are Punished...

At the end of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet both turn up dead and their families lives are changed forever. We never know what happened to Nurse, Friar Lawrence, or Lord Capulet. These are my own versions of their fate.

Nurse:

Since Nurse, didn't have her own children she though of Juliet as her daughter.  Nurse was one of the closest people to Juliet; Juliet often confided in her. When Nurse discovered Juliet when she staged her fake death she moaned, "O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day! That ever, ever, I did yet behold! O day! O day! O day! O hateful day! Never was seen so black a day as this. O woeful day, O woeful day!" (Shakespeare 256).  Nurse is so upset after Juliet's real death, that she dies of shock that Juliet would deceive her and not confide in her of her plans.

 Friar Lawrence:

Friar Lawrence is ready to take the blaim for his actions and rightly so.  When found, at the site of Romeo, Juliet, and Paris's death he readily admits to his part in the plot saying,"...if aught in this miscarried by my fault, let my old life be sacrific'd, some hour before his time, unto the rigour of the strictest laws" (Shakespeare 300). Prince Escalus demotes Friar Lawrence of his status as a friar and  he is now a commoner.  He is exiled for a year because of his part in the secret marriage plans. 

Lord Capulet:

Lord Capulet doesn't show affection for Juliet throughout the book and before her death disowns her and yells at her because of her unwillingness to marry Paris. When Juliet fakes her death, he feels guilt over his last words to her. He says, "O child! O child! My soul , and not my child! Dead art thou! Alack! My child is dead; and with my child my joys are buried" (Shakespeare 256).  In response to her real death, he feels guilt about the feud and does erect the statue to Romeo. However, he soon forgets about the recent events and gets into a fight with one of the Capulets and is killed.

VOCABULARY:

Apprehend: to take into custody; arrest by legal warrant or authority
Canopy: a covering, usually of fabric, supported on poles or suspended above a bed, throne, exalted personage, or sacred object.
Contempt: the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.
Disperse: to drive or send off in various directions; scatter
Inexorable: unyielding; unalterable
Interred: buried; shut in
Penury: poverty; destitution
Remnants: remains; leftovers
Righteous:virtuous; moral

Sympathy, Sorrow, and Condolences

Of all the characters in Act IV, I feel the most sympathy for Juliet.  For a few short days she has been happy; She was able to marry Romeo. But tragedy hits. Romeo's friend, Mercuito, is killed and Romeo kills the killer, Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, in return.  While mourning Tybalt's death, Juliet grieves more for her exiled husband. She says, "Indeed, I never shall be satisfied with Romeo, till I behold him--dead--is my poor hear, so for a kinsman vex'd" (Shakespeare 210).

 When Mercuito, Tybalt and Romeo cross swords, Juliet"s days of happiness have ended.  Now she is burdened with worry for Romeo who was banished to Mantua.



Also, Juliet has to hide her love for Romeo. Her mother, Lady Capulet, understands her grief to be for Tybalt but really it's for Romeo. She relies on Nurse and Friar Lawrence for advise until Nurse starts to belief that she should marry Paris and forget Romeo. Juliet has to figure out how far she will go to see Romeo and who she can trust.

Vocabulary:

Arbitrating: deciding; judging
Distraught: upset; distressed
Immoderately:  wastefully; extravagantly
Inundation:  flood; outpouring
Resolution: solution to a problem
Spited: acted maliciously or with ill will
Supple: flexible; pliant

Dear Diary...

My Secret Adviser,

I am filled with conflicting emotions about the present events.  My agreement to marry Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet was done with good intentions.  I had hoped that it would end the feud between their families.  Evidently, it has not.

I was aghast to learn of the fighting that broke out in the streets just a day ago between Tybalt, Mercuito, and eventually Romeo!  Because Tybalt slew Mercuito, Romeo responded rashly by killing Tybalt. Romeo is exiled to Mantua and Juliet is hysteric. She sent Nurse to arrange a way for them to meet. I fear for both of their safeties.  Yet, I am confident that Romeo will do anything to see Juliet, even if it results in his death.  I am unsure of how to proceed in the current circumstances.  I feel obligated to help Romeo escape death but look on with some apprehension.  I am constantly seeking out ways to remain hidden and for no one to discover my part in this.

My hope is that Romeo and Juliet will be able to see each other no matter what the circumstances.  Somehow, though, I don't think this will be that easy.


Friar Lawrence

Approve or Disapprove?

I do approve of Friar Lawrence's and Nurse's actions in helping with the secret wedding.  Because of their understanding that the marriage would end the feud by bringing the two families together, their actions seem reasonable.  The Friar says, "In one respect I'll thy assistant be;  For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households' rancour to pure love." He and Nurse both believe that the feud will cease because of this alliance. Otherwise, I think they would have been inclined to say no to helping them get married.  Also, I believe that you should have a say in who you marry.  Juliet wants to marry Romeo, not Paris so by Nurse and Friar Lawrence helping them get married in secret they get to pick their spouse.  Eventually, the marriage does result in the ending of the feud, but both Romeo and Juliet end of dead. 

The doves represent Romeo and Juliet "flying" away to get married in secret.  The wedding bands represent them being joined together in marriage.  The doves also represent the peace that this marriage alliance might bring between their two feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues.

VOCABULARY:

chided:  to express disapproval of; scorn; reproach
confounds:  to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse
driveling:  childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle
exposition:  the act of presenting to view; display
idolatry:  excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.
lamentable:  wretched or distressing 
perjuries:  the willful giving of a false testimony under oath before a competent tribunal upon a point material to a legal inquiry

Conflict, Struggle, and Foils

In Act I, Scene V, conflicts are set into motion by fast-paced events.  Servants of Capulet and Montague fight in the street.  Each party thinks they work for a better master and because of the long standing feud between the two families they openly acknowledge this whenever possible. Although Prince Escalus eventually demands peace, these families are still restless and suspicious of one another.

Another conflict that appears in Act I, is the conflict between Tybalt and Romeo.  Tybalt is the first to recognize Romeo during the Capulet party that Romeo sneaked into.  Tybalt wishes to harm Romeo and although they engage in a heated argument he is prevented from doing so.

Finally, the last conflict presented is the challenge of Romeo, a Montague, falling in love with Juliet, a Capulet.  This is a problem because since they are from two feuding families marriages is virtually impossible.  This conflict is not yet resolved and will continue to occur throughout the book.

In Romeo and Juliet,  Mercuito is a foil, a character that has qualities in sharp contrast with another character, to Romeo.  Where Mercuito is outgoing and light-hearted, Romeo is burdened by love sickness
and is stuck with his head in the clouds.  As Romeo tells Mercuito, "I cannot leap even an inch above dull
sorrow.  I'm sinking under love's heavy burden." Mercuito on the other hand is filled with excitement for the party and carelessness for the situation at hand. These two contrasting characters, although different, complement each other by bring out the traits of the other.

Vocabulary:

ADVERSARY:  a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks; opponent, enemy

DISPARAGEMENT: something that derogates or casts in a bad light

PERNICIOUS: causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful

POSTERITY: all future generations

PROPAGATE: to cause to increase in number or amount

Fate: Can you change your destiny or is it set in stone forever?

Have you ever wanted to change the future? Or the past? Do you believe in fate? Fate has been argued over for centuries.  Some people say that your actions can change your future while others argue that your life is set in stone.  I think that fate may well exist but that you can change your fate.  I think that fate exists in the form that you can chose your own path to follow.  Fate reminds me of the roots of a tree in the sense that there are many paths to choose from and you can pick one of them to follow.  I think fate is how your actions lead you through your life and not a course of action to which you must stick to.



In the prologue of Romeo & Juliet, it suggests that the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is doomed from the start.  To me, that is like the doctor telling you that you're going to live for only three more months and you end of living for 3 more years.  So is that fate?  Maybe so, but even if it is you have altered your fate by living for 3 more years.  Since we know that Romeo and Juliet are from two feuding families, their relationship might seem impossible and unrealistic.  In the end, they both commit suicide for each other.  So some may say they were doomed and fate has acted.  But I might argue that fate had nothing to do with it and that committing suicide was the result of events that had taken place and not something that couldn't be avoided.

Fate is abstract.  We can't see it so therefore we will never be able to prove its existence or non-existence.  We will contine to debate this controversial topic for decades to come.