The tragedy of love in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

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HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH AND MODERN LANGUAGES
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ASSIGNMENT ON English and American
Literature
Title: The tragedy of love in Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet
Hanoi, 2009
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Part a: Introduction
Literature of the Renaissance in the 15
th
_17
th
century’s capitalist
relation began to develop in Europe. The former townspeople became the
bourgeoisie. There was a revival of interest in the ancient culture of Greece
and Rome. The study of the works of ancient philosophers, written, and
artists help the people to widen their outlook, to know the world and man’s
nature. The progressive ideology of the Renaissance was Humanism
.Human life, the happiness of people and the belief in man’s abilities
became the main subjects in file art and literature. In the 16
th
century,
capitalism began to develop in England as well as in other European

countries. There was no work for the peasants and many of them became
homeless beggars lust of rich was typical of the new class of the
bourgeoisie. The most progressive people of the country could not help
seeing the growing power of money, and the injustice caused by it. The
second period which last from the middle of the 16
th
century up to the
beginning of the 17
th
century saw the flourishing of the English drama.
Among the playwrights of the period were John Lily, Robert Greene,
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson and others .The most outstanding
dramatist of the period, as well as of all time, was William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-
Avon to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. It is generally accepted that he
attended the King’s new school known for its classical curriculum because
of his knowledge of Latin classics and written scenes recalling grammar
school experiences such as exercises memories by schoolchildren. He lived
in Stratford -upon-Avon until he was twenty-one. By the time, he was
married and had three children. At twenty-one he left Stratford –upon-Avon
for London where he joined a theatrical company and worked as an actor
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and a playwright. The public acting of women was prohibited in the
England of Shakespeare‘s time and so writers would often emphasize the
femininity of their female characters so as to remove the necessity of an
actual female in the role. Shakespeare was greatly responsible for roles in
which female characters spent much of their time disguised as boys. This
helped to deflect attention from the fact that the part was actual played by a

young boy. A play in that time was often commission by an acting
company, which could then sell it to a publisher at its own discretion
without further compensating the author. Shakespeare did not take part in
the process of publishing his own plays. On April 23, 1616, he died and
buried. He is the author of 2 poems, 37plays and 154 sonnets. His creative
work is usually divides into three periods. The drama The Merchant of
Venice and the two early tragedies Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar also
written in the 90s.
The American Heritage dictionary defines tragedy as “a dramatic or
literary work depicting protagonist engaged in a morally indicant struggle
ending in ruin or profound disappointment”. Tragedy engages our heart and
minds and helps us to understand our world. Tragedies make you thing
about the things that you have and cherish them. Romeo and Juliet by
William Shakespeare is on of his many respected tragedies, play is a youth
romantic novel, where love is defeated by hated, misunderstand, and time.
There are on a death run from the moment they meet reach other. There are
also some elements that foreshadow the fatality of the play final out come,
Romeo and Juliet is a love story. As many people in this world know, true
love knows no limits, and when two lovers become entirely entrapped with
their love, they become oblivions as to what in going on in the rest of their
lives. When Romeo and Juliet first meet, it seems that their falling in love
happens with the blink of an eye. Through out Romeo and Juliet,
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Shakespeare uses timing and the idea of revenge again two families to show
how two star-crossed lovers have a destiny with death. The social tragedy,
the family tragedy and their love_ all of them become love tragedy and they
made them victims of their own fate.

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Part b: Development
Romeo and Juliet, the tragic by William Shakespeare, center on the
love story between Romeo and Juliet the daughter of Capulet. Because of
an on going find between the two families, Romeo and Juliet are force to
keep their love a secret and marry in secret, due to ill fates consequences,
they die together in the tomb of the Capulet.
Fate plays an important role in making Romeo and Juliet a good
tragedy. It was destiny that the Capulet servant was not able to invite to a
party and had to ask a Montague for help. Romeo and Juliet fill in love by
chance, they could not help that their families were feuding. Friar John was
quarantined leaving him no control over the circumstances that make trim
incapable of delivering friar Laurence’s letter, which told Romeo and Juliet
was waiting for him in a grave. Cruel twists of fate helped to determine the
conclusion of Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo traffic flaw of impulsiveness is key part of the story. If he had
not been so hasty in falling out of love with Rosaline and into love with
Juliet, the story worlds not have happened at all. When he decides to marry
Juliet after know her for less than a day. Romeo acted foolishly. He killed
Tyrant when he did not think through and control his feelings. At the
conclusion of the story, Romeo took his own life because he through that
his beloved was dead; most of the disasters that took place in the story
would not have happened if it were not for Romeo reckless decisions. Death
is another final faction of a well-written tragedy. Tybalt got into a brawl
with Mercutio and killed him, which infuriated Romeo to the point that he
revenged his friend’s fatality by murdering Tybalt. After Romeo discovered
that his precious Juliet had been killed, he rushed to her tomb and slows

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