“Here’s much to do with hate, but more to do with love.”
To what extent is love the cause of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?
Widely considered William Shakespeare’s most famous play begins with a prologue, which is written in a sonnet form. This refers to later on in the play where Romeo and Juliet share a sonnet for their first conversation. However there are many other factors that contribute towards the death of Romeo and Juliet such as the fate mentioned also in the prologue. The line “star crossed lovers take their lives” and “death marked love” shows fate appearing in two forms. The first is the mention of the stars which links in with beliefs such as ‘Horoscopes’ or that your life has been mapped out for you in the heavens. The second is the continuous mention of death and Romeo and Juliet taking their lives and the way that the whole play repeatedly refers back to those lines, as if fate is giving the lovers warning signs. There is also the conflict between the two families, which is also plays a large part in their deaths. Again, referring to the prologue, there is a line which mentions this part later on in the play “from ancient grudge break to new mutiny.” This gives the audience a clue that there are certain tensions between two families; somewhere in the duration of the play and the line “doth with their death bury their parents’ strife” indicates that this grudge could play a part in Romeo and Juliet’s ending. Lastly “Civil blood makes civil hands unclean”, hints that there will be murders later on in the play.
Poetry plays a very important role in Shakespeare’s play of Romeo and Juliet and the ties that link to their death. This is mainly because of the prologue and the continued sonnets throughout the play. There are also sonnets at the beginning of most of the acts, in addition to the fact that Romeo and Juliet’s first conversation is a sonnet too. This shows that love is a pivotal element and the reference to a love poem throughout the...