Textuality » 4BLS Interacting
MCasola- Shakespeare's Language of Love
by 2013-11-17)
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William Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet ACT II. SCENE II. Capulet's orchard. We are going to analyse an extract from act II scene II of Romeo and Juliet, the most famous work of William Shakespeare. This is opera theatre composed by poetic dialogues. Rome and Juliet are two lovers whose love is prohibited by their family, Montague and Capulet. In considering layout the intelligent reader can understand that the poem is a dialogue between Romeo and Juliet, organized in free verse. With the first reading the reader can understand that the first part of this extract is a Romeo�s monologue where he compares Juliet to the sun and he says that Juliet shines more than the moon and describes her beauty comparing Juliet's cheek to the brightness of a light of day. Romeo is standing under Juliet�s window and Juliet, who is looking at the window, can hear what Romeo says but she does not understand who is talking. So she exclaims �Ay me!� and Romeo can realize that Juliet was there and she had hear his monologue. Then he compares her to a bright angel. Juliet pronounces the name of Romeo and the intelligent reader can understand that she recognised that the stranger was Romeo. After that there is a dialogue between the two lovers where Juliet tells him to deny his father and refuse his name and she will never be a Capulet. Romeo is agree with her lover and he says that she can call him only love and he will never be Romeo. Shakespeare uses a lots of figures of speech as metaphor and hyperbole to express Romeo and Juliet�s passion. Thanks to the presence of lots of rhetoric figures, the language of this opera is refined but it is also clear and fascinating.