Romeo & Juliet

By: Marikken Sofie Riis

Perhaps one the world's most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, is written by the famous and glorious William Shakespeare, in London in the middle of 1590s. The play is divided into 5 Acts, with 3-6 scenes in each, and it’s written in present tense. The play is categorized as a tragic drama, due to is heartbreaking ending. The setting takes place in Verona in Italy and in a typical Renaissance setting.

Romeo and Juliet by Francesco Hayez, 1823

As a summary, the story is mainly about the two star-crossed lovers and their feuding families. Romeo, the son of Montague, falls in love with the lovely and young Juliet. While falling in love, he’s uncertain of that she’s the daughter of Capulet, his family’s great enemy! However, they fall into a passionate love despite their hostiles families, and because of their forbidden love - their takes their lives.

The plays protagonist is Romeo and Juliet, which also shares
the plays point of view. The climax, in my opinion, is in act 5
and scene 3 when Romeo finds Juliet and kill himself with poison. Thereby the falling action also takes place, in my opinion, in Act 5 and at the end of scene 3, when the Prince and the parents discover the bodies of Romeo and Juliet, and agree to put aside their feud in the interest of peace.

One of the central themes in the play is love. In the play, you can find themes like the forcefulness of love, love as a cause of violence, forbidden love, love between friends and love between nurses and child. There’s also themes of the society as children versus adult, the individual versus society, the inevitability of fate. They play also enlighten the importance to have freedom. Personally, the play gave me a clear message about the importance to have and to give freedom. Freedom to be who you want to be, love who you want and do what you want.

It’s interesting that still, after all these years, the play is still essential and representative of today's society. Romeo and Juliet show us still how fragile love is, so we must grasp and accept it when we have it.

Sources: Shakespeare, William. (1982) Romeo & Juliet. Glasgow: Oxford University press