Thank you for your thoughtful comments and questions about the article! I appreciate how many of you were able to see parallels between Shakespeare's time and our own. Furthermore, I was inspired by the many comments that recognized how important it is to respond to such strange days with positive action (e.g., self-reflection; reaching out to those in need; learning new things).
I feel like the attitude in the room at the scene of Juliet’s death was not very grieving. It might just be the language they are using, but it also seems like they aren’t very saddened but the loss. I think it could be because they realize that this is what both Romeo and Juliet desired, and so they took it as a choice Romeo and Juliet both made.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to picture the grief and mourning here, but consider the shock everyone is in. Everyone already believed Juliet was dead. Lord Montague reports that Lady Montague has died because "Grief of my son's exile hath stopped her breath" (V.iii.219). The Prince discovers that another of his kinsmen is dead.
ReplyDelete“A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence to have more talk of these sad things. Some shall be pardoned, and some punished. For never was a story more woe. Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (243). Shakespeare’s decision to have the Prince, a character who barely appears in the play compared to others, deliver the last line is interesting because the Prince is one of the few people in the play whom are not affiliated with either family. The Prince’s neutrality allows him to deliver an unbiased narration and address the other characters present as well as the audience.
ReplyDeleteIt acts as if that montague and capulet very quickly are over years of conflict. I would have thought that it would have taken a little more time. Was quite abrupt.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing! I think it was a bit too rushed, but that might have been a way to show how chaotic it was. And, even though Friar’s plan to marry Romeo and Juliet (in order to stop the family feud) didn’t go smoothly, it still worked, which I think is Shakespeare’s way of telling readers that no matter what, there is a plan, and that they should keep persisting.
DeleteI wonder how the prince is feeling, it doesn't look like he is mourning. I also wonder how the rest of the citizens feel. I think that they would have mixed feelings because they are happy that there will be no more fighting, but sad because 3 people just died.
ReplyDeleteI think that throughout the whole play, the Prince acts as peacemaker. He is not at all partial to one family, and has a duty to Verona to maintain calm. He clearly would not show mourning the way the families of Romeo and Juliet do, as he is not related to either, nor did he know them particularly well. Overall, the Prince serves his purpose in this scene, which is to act as a blocker between the two families and their explosive tendencies.
DeleteThe ending seemed pretty out of the normal since their families have killed each other over this conflict, but now they've made up instantly which Shakespeare uses to express the spontaneousness of people, and how unreliable we can be sometimes. It's an oddly calm scene that juxtaposes the earlier scene where the prince threatens the families with death.
ReplyDeleteIt thought the same thing. Shakespeare uses it as a technique to convey his message. It is so severe and as you said, spontaneous, that it becomes obvious to the reader what he is trying to convey. He is trying to tell us that people can change, and sometimes it takes the most extreme of things to get to.
DeleteI think when Romeo was describing her beauty in the tomb be could have been slightly confused be the warmth in her cheeks and her beauty. I think that’s ironic because she really wasn’t dead.
ReplyDeleteYes! This scene is one of literature's most famous examples of dramatic irony.
DeleteThis scene definitely felt a bit rushed. The families barely reacted to their children dying and seemed to care more about their feud. Also if they’ve been fighting for so many years, you’d think that they’d be less quick to announce a solution. Based on their characters, I would have thought they’d be angry with one another, blaming the deaths on the other family.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliets deaths make the families understand how stupid their feud was. They're able to get over it because they realize that their feud caused the death of two innocent young people, and anything they could fight over kind of pales in comparison. Learning that their children were married and didn't care about the feud could also help them see that in the end, it didn't really ever matter.
Delete-Anya M
I didn’t think that the capsules and the montage are gonna get over their rivalries, I thought they were going to fight even more after the death of. Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteTrue- it would have been very easy for them to fall into a cycle of blame, which member(s) of which house was more responsible for the tragedies that led to their deaths, and the fact that they chose to end the rivalry rather than add more fuel to it made it a more hopeful ending than it could have been.
DeleteI think it's interesting how Romeo and Juliet don't fear death because they are with each other in the end, which was their main goal, but it is still interesting when Romeo says, "Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavory guide... thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." He seems like he is almost grateful to die
ReplyDeleteI think it felt like that because Romeo truly did feel like his life was pointless without Juliet, leaving him with no reason to hesitate before committing suicide. If you add that with the already rushed manner of the play, it seems like Romeo put little to no thought into taking his own life.
DeleteI would think after the death of both Romeo and Juliet, the Capulets and the Montagues are going to try to halt their rivalries. After all, it did cause the death of multiple people and I don't think even they want death to be involved between their families.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the Friar could have prevented juliet's death, because he said that he was scared away from the tomb by a noise. But he was there before Juliet killed herself, so if he had not been scared away he may have been able to enter the tomb and save juliet. ALthough she may have done it anyway, because romeo was dead.
ReplyDeleteThe entire play is based off the feud between family’s but so quickly at the end it gets completely resolved. How can so many years of fighting end in just minutes, I would’ve thought that the deaths of their loved ones would only make it worst because they would blame each other for what happened.
ReplyDeleteI agree it did seem abrupt, but I feel in the end they realized they are to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because their family’s feuding is what caused all the secrecy and plotting of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship.
DeleteI think Shakespeare was trying to resolve the plot of the the story. After both families find out their children are dead, they realize they were the reason behind their deaths. I think the family feud ends because both families realize how much the family feud has hurt each other.
DeleteI was actually having the same mindset as Eva, where I feel this story has been so long drawn out (since the plot was over only a few days?) and once they find their children are dead they make up immediately. I guess maybe I was just being pessimistic when I didn’t expect Shakespeare to show that people are always good in the end since it was already a tragedy (but I guess the tragedy was used to make a point, and not to create a totally hopeless play). And like Eva said, naturally I feel like it would make more sense for their deaths to do more harm than good. But I guess I was just a little surprised, I thought he would go to show how selfish people are selfish and usually stuck in their ways, but I guess that doesn’t make for a good story ending.
DeletePersonally, my favorite character in Romeo and Juliet was Friar Lawrence. He tried very hard to get both Romeo and Juliet together and happy, and even thought it wasn’t directly his fault, both ended up dead. Even though he does play a large part in what happens to them, it does feel that he’s just watching all the chaos happen and going along with it. I can relate to that.
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised that the Capulets were fine that Juliet was married to Romeo - just a few scenes ago, they were about to disown her.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's true that people always speak better of the dead--it feels disrespectful to be angry or speak rudely about someone deceased, especially so suddenly and recently like Juliet. But I also do see what you mean; both families really did a total 180 from their previous characterizations in this scene. I suppose this could be chalked up to how crazy these events must have been: juliet was dead, but then it turns out she was dead again but for real, but also married to romeo, who was also dead and had killed tybalt and Paris. I can't imagine what that must have felt like for both families, and sometimes things like that DO inspire change in people. Character development, I guess.
DeleteThere is a LOT of dramatic irony in this scene. We know about Juliet's fake death, Romeo's suicide plans, and Paris' grief over Juliet and plan to visit her tomb. I think the large amount of information we know, that could have been easily shared, emphasizes the miscommunication in the story. This was caused by the haste with which everything happened (further shown by the fact that the play takes place over just three days), illustrating the impulsivity of the characters, especially, but not only, the young ones (Romeo & Juliet in particular, but also Tybalt, Paris and Mercutio). I think Shakespeare's message was that love and loyalty, especially that of young people (but also older people, shown through Montague/Capulet feud), is very powerful and can thus also be very dangerous, as shown through the immense tragedy caused by impulsivity (due to love & loyalty) in the play.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why Romeo and Juliet didn’t care about death too much because since they’re with each other, they probably thought that everything would be fine.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that after such a terrible situation, there was one good outcome: the feud between the Montagues and Capulets ended. This is shown when Capulet says, "O brother Montague, give me thy hand"(V.iii.306). I think this shows readers a little bit of Shakespeare's outlook on life because even after so much tragedy, he is able to find a positive outcome.
ReplyDeleteStella I agree I think it shows some hope which I now have realized is kind of an underlying theme of Shakespeare’s work because even in the tragedies there were happy parts through out the story.
DeleteI thinks it’s interesting to see that Juliet’s one decision can affect so many people and things around her and I think this connects to a universal idea that when making decisions you have to consider the people you are surrounded by and who it will affect.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very interesting (and ironic?) the way that the Friar was involved. He agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet in order to bring peace to Verona. He thought that their love and marriage would bring their families to agreement. And, it did, but only after they died did Lord Capulet say, "O brother Montague, give me thy hand. / This is my daughter's jointure..." So, it wasn't at all what the Friar had intended, but in the end, Friar Lawrence's ultimate dream was still achieved, at the expense of Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDelete-Anya C.
DeleteI find it interesting that it took Romeo and Juliet to die for the Capulets and Montagues to finally see eye to eye with each other and end this hatred between the two. This scene as well really shows how strong the love was between them since Juliet wanted to be with Romeo so bad that she joined him in killing herself.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting to see how Firar Lawrence and the Prince almost act like middlemen, since they take neither side between the capsule two and montagues. However it took these two people (who had unbiased opinions) to end the feud between these two families. Almost showing how in between either side of a fight there is always reason in the middle.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think we have seen this from the beginning monologues from the Prince, and I think it carries through until the end. Even though it is a tragedy, in some ways it turns out well. By this I mean the middle voice of reason comes out a bit at the end, as the two families come to terms. As a reader, I feel as though ths is what I wanted all along.
DeleteI am glad that the story was revealed to all the characters truthfully at the end. It is satisfying to know that they all know the truth and didn’t end up blaming each other for the deaths. Despite the abruptness of the Capulets and Montagues’ reconciliation, I think it shows how they realized that they had much and common and further conflict will not fix anything, and I feel it is a good ending.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how Romeo chose to die and be buried in the Capulet tomb (at least for now) instead of his own family's tomb. It really shows how much he cared about Juliet and how little he cared about the rivalry between the families. He was willing to spend eternity with people who had greatly "wronged" his family in order to be with Juliet forever.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree! This is one of the many examples that shows Romeos true love for Juliet. Many people could not understand their love for each other and this just proves how much Romeo cares about Juliet. Romeo didn’t care about what people were going to think of him being buried in his families rivals tomb he just wanted to be with Juliet.
DeleteI wonder why the feeling in the room as everyone found out Juiliet was dead, not sad. No one was really grieving either.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder because children are meant to be what parent’s most value in life yet there was little care for the fact that their children were dead and this was a way to add fuel to the feud. Montague even blamed Romeo for dying without knowing the underlying issue.
DeleteI think that maybe they were really shocked in the moment and that prevented them from feeling as much sadness and more confusion.
DeleteThe feud between the Montagues and the Capulets drags on for a very long period of time. But I ponder on the fact that it took so little time for their conflict to resolve. Everyone was in shock about the whole situation. I also very much respect the loyalty Romeo displays towards Juliet by choosing to be buried in the Capulets family section, and not his own. That action that was made says a lot about his character.
ReplyDeleteI was also suprised at the fact that they resolved their conflict so quickly. I would have thought that this event would cause even more conflict between them and they would have blamed each other.
DeleteI think that since they resolved their conflict so quickly, it probably stemmed from a small reason and grew over the generations because of the families pride and pettiness. Or perhaps the families now don’t even remember clearly why they had a conflict in the first place. By having Romeo and Juliet die, it gives them something that they could connect over and mutually grieve over, as well as humble them. They probably realized that if it weren’t for the conflicts between the families, both Romeo and Juliet would still be alive and happy.
DeleteAfter completing the last scene I wonder what the purpose was? There are so many questions about life and perspective answers the book provided from impulsivity to fate but what was Shakespeare’s main goal? He chose for the book to end w/ out a happy ending so what came out of it? I feel like maybe he was trying to show how small and petty disputes combined with un forgiveness isn’t worth anything because long term wise it only sacrifices more! The feud was something the families held against each other for so long but maybe Shakespeare’s trying to raise the question that if the fued was so small and petty that they couldn’t re-tell its origin or reason once throughout the story was it worth the death of there children? I don’t think the focus is on Romeo and Juliet b/c at the end of the day the audience new the ending! So maybe since the book ends with the new respect each family has for eachother maybe that gives us an idea.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me how Friar Lawrence did achieve his goal of ending the feud between the families likely better than he ever could have simply through the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Not just due to the marriage but also do to all the death caused by the conflicts and miscommunication arising from the marriage and the feud.
ReplyDeleteI agree. In the end Romeo and Juliet’s love ended the feud like Friar Lawrence had hoped. The feud was the main cause of all of these deaths and it was finally over in the end.
DeleteI think its interesting how blinded the capulets and montages were that it took the death of their children to realize theres no reason to hate each other.
ReplyDeleteI was sort of confused on how Romeo kissed Juliet and still thought she was dead. Because if she was dead she would been very cold but alive people would not be cool to the touch. That means she would have been warm when he kissed her which is not corpse like. He even said that she still looked alive. So why did he not investigate into these two things a little?
ReplyDeleteYeah this was a big thing for me as well - but you can also assume that Romeo really wasn't thinking rationally at that point, because he killed himself right after. When Juliet was pronounced dead, nobody questioned it, and neither did Romeo.
DeleteThe price says "see what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love...all are punished"(V.iii.302-305). It's interesting how everyone is grieving over this tragedy and yet that grief is exactly what brings the family rivalry to an end. Also, I wonder what the Prince's beliefs on fate are because he seems to think that heaven controlled Romeo and Juliet's end.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Juliet awakens just minutes after Romeo's death leaves the audience wondering "what if..." The story ends with a cruel twist of fate and the Prince delivering the moral of the story, your actions have consequences, and your choices can hurt not only yourself, but those around you as well.
ReplyDeleteRomeo didn’t take any time to see if Juliet was still alive, despite saying she looked alive. This seems to me like another example of his immaturity and impulsiveness. Perhaps Shakespeare is warning his audience to check before assuming something?
ReplyDeleteI think the families reconciling makes sense because Romeo and Juliet were both children of the heads of their families. And since they both lost their children (heirs?), they realize that they are in the same situation and are finally able to empathize with one another. This empathy allows them to realize that they have to stop the feud for the next generation.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how this one event ended a feud that had lasted for years? Many deaths have occurred because of this feud that tore it apart, so why is this more significant?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the feud ended so quickly after Romeo and Juliet died, since it had gone on for so long. Why would their deaths make the feud end? Are they more important to their families than the feud? Also, it seems like the Capulets and the Montagues would blame each other for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths instead of making up with them and ending the feud.
ReplyDeleteI would feel like their deaths would have fueled their feud more. As if they would have taken it as a sign that the two families are never ment to be anything other than enemies. I feel like after their feud had gone on for so long they would have blamed the other family for the death of their child.
ReplyDelete