Download - Quotation Analysis:. When analysing quotations you must consider the following:

Romeo and Juliet

Quotation Analysis:

On your Final Exam you will be asked to analyze and explain the significance of various quotations from the play Romeo and Juliet.

On your Final Exam you will be asked to analyze and explain the significance of various quotations from the play Romeo and Juliet. Study the quotations that follow in order to do well in this section of the exam.

When analysing quotations you must consider the following:

Who is the speaker?


Who is the speaker? What is the context/circumstances (what is happening)?


Who is the speaker? What is the context/circumstances (what is happening)? What is the significance of the quotation? (How/why is it important?)


Who is the speaker? What is the context/circumstances (what is happening)? What is the significance of the quotation? (How/why is it important?)What literary term is evident? Explain how it is being used.


Literary Terms you must know:

Foreshadowing,


Foreshadowing, Metaphor,


Foreshadowing, Metaphor, Oxymoron,


Foreshadowing, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Personification,


Foreshadowing, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Personification, Simile,


Foreshadowing, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Personification, Simile, Soliloquy,


Foreshadowing, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Personification, Simile, Soliloquy, Dramatic Irony


Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is the presentation in a work of literature of hints and clues that tip the reader off as to what is to come later in the work.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money);

Oxymoron

A combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness)

Personification

The attribution of human characteristics to things, abstract ideas, etc, as for literary or artistic effect

Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like" or "as" – also, but less commonly, "if", or "than". A simile differs from a metaphor in that the latter compares two unlike things by saying that the one thing is the other thing

Soliloquy

A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.

Dramatic Irony

When the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters. This is the result of the reader having a greater knowledge than the characters themselves.

Quotation Practice

Romeo: a) Define oxymoron. b) Explain how oxymoron is

used by Romeo to explain his attitude towards love.

Why, then, O brawling love! / O loving hate! / O anything, of nothing first create/ O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!/ Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms! /Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! Still waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I that feel no love in this.

Oxymoron

Before Romeo meets Juliet, he is supposedly "in love" with Rosalind. When he is speaking to Benvolio, Romeo utters a string of paradoxes about his anguished, unrequited love, starting with, "O brawling love! O loving hate!" (1.1.176).

His speech is a string of oxymorons. Oxymorons are self-contradictory combinations of words, like "jumbo shrimp". They show Romeo's exaggerated lovesickness, which later will later be contrasted to his genuine feelings for Juliet.

Why, then, O brawling love! / O loving hate! / O anything, of nothing first create/ O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!/ Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms! /Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! Still waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I that feel no love in this.

Friar Laurence: a) Define simile. b) Identify the simile in the

above quotation and explain how the Friar is using it to convey an important idea about love and to foreshadow future events.

These violent delights have violent ends,/ And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss consume. Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so; / Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

Simile

"violent delights" refers to the tryst between Romeo and Juliet. The speaker, Fryar Lawrence, is foreshadowing their eventual deaths and the strife between their rival families (the Montagues and Capulets) when he talks of "violent ends".

"in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss consume" is a simile which means that, when Romeo and Juliet get together, they will consume one another with their kiss, and so find their end (eventual dual suicides) -- just as, (simile) when fire touches gunpowder ("fire and powder") the two explode and are used up.

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like" or "as"

These violent delights have violent ends,/ And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss consume. Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so; / Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

Romeo: a) Define personification. b) Explain how

personification is being used in this quotation to reveal Romeo’s state of mind.

Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws open,And, in despite, I’ll cram thee with more food!

Personification

When Romeo first arrives at Juliet's tomb, a house of death, he sees it as a monster.

You hateful belly, you womb of death,Stuffed full with the dearest morsel of the earth,I will force your rotten jaws to open,And, in spite, I'll cram you fuller with more food!

Death consumes its victims and in this case, Romeo's lover. For Romeo, Juliet is the most important (dearest morsel) on earth and death has swallowed her. He presented a similar image in Friar Lawrence's cell while awaiting Juliet. He challenged love-devouring death to try to destroy his joy

Personification is the use of human characteristics to describe things, abstract ideas, etc.

Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws open,And, in despite, I’ll cram thee with more food!

Prince: a) Explain the significance of

the Prince’s declaration on the rest of the play.

If ever you disturb our streets againYour lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.

Foreshadowing

Early in the play a confrontation between servants from the houses of Capulet and Montague leads to a street brawl. The Prince arrives and declares the violence between the two families has gone on for too long, and proclaims a death sentence upon anyone who disturbs the civil peace again.

Shakespeare uses a lot of foreshadowing, and gives the reader hints at what is going to happen next. It makes the reader nervous or excited. In this case it foreshadows the events that will lead to the suicides of Romeo and Juliet.

If ever you disturb our streets againYour lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.

Romeo: a) Define foreshadowing. b) When does Romeo make

this comment? c) Why is it a good example

of foreshadowing?

I fear too early; for my mind misgives / Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,/ Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/ With this night’s revels, and expire the term/ Of a despised life closed in my breast/ By some vile forfeit of untimely death. / But he that hath the steerage of my course/ Direct my sail.

Foreshadowing: providing a hint or clue in a story to indicate an event, usually unpleasant, which will occur later.

At the door of Capulet's house, when his friends are ready to go in, Romeo makes objections. He first says he's too melancholy. Mercutio tries to kid him out of it, but then Romeo says he shouldn't go in because he had a dream. Mercutio, mockingly declares that dreams are illusory wish-fulfillment. Finally, Benvolio (who really wants to go to the party) remarks that this "wind" (that is, Mercutio's windiness) is getting to be a real problem. Supper is over, and if they don't go into Capulet's soon, they will be too late. To this, Romeo replies:

I fear too early; for my mind misgives / Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,/ Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/ With this night’s revels, and expire the term/ Of a despised life closed in my breast/ By some vile forfeit of untimely death. / But he that hath the steerage of my course/ Direct my sail.

This is a foreshadowing of what actually happens in the rest of the play. A fateful chain of events ("consequence") does begin its appointed time ("date") that night, and that chain of events does terminate the duration ("expire the term") of Romeo's life with premature ("untimely") death. But, despite his premonitions, Romeo does go into Capulet's house. How seriously does he take himself? If he really believes what he says, why does he go in? Or is it that he has picked up Mercutio's mocking tone and is now mocking his own melancholy?

Romeo: a) When does Romeo make

this comment and to whom? b) Explain how this

quotation is a good example of dramatic irony.

Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty,

Dramatic Irony

Romeo is speaking to Juliet, who he thinks is dead, in the tomb near the end of the play. He says:

Death has sucked the honey from your breath, but it has not yet ruined your beauty.

This a good example of dramatic irony because the audience knows that the reason why death has not robbed Juliet of her beauty is because she is not really dead. Of course Romeo

Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty,

Juliet: a) Explain the significance

of these lines.

If he be married/ My grave is like to be my wedding bed.

Irony & Foreshadowing

While at her father's masked ball, Juliet falls in a big way for the disguised Romeo, a Montague and thus an enemy of her family. Even though she has nothing personal against the Montagues, Romeo in particular, she can't escape being a Capulet, or escape her family's "hate."

When Juliet said "Go ask his name. “If he be married. My grave is like to be my wedding bed" it meant that she wanted him and would die if she could not have him. However, the statement is ironic because after Romeo does get married to Juliet they die.

If he be married/ My grave is like to be my wedding bed.

Personality Paragraph

On your Final Exam you will be asked to write a well-organized personality paragraph based on either Juliet, Tybalt, or Romeo (choose only one) from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.


You will be given the quotations but not the traits.



Be sure to use a different personality trait for each of your three quotations.



Be sure to use a different personality trait for each of your three quotations.

Set up each quotation and discuss how it supports the personality trait.

Romeo

Quotation SupportCharacter Trait

Moody, melancholy

Romeo

Quotation Support Early in the play Benvolio is speaking

to Romeo’s parents, Lady Montague, and Lord Montague, who are concerned for their son. Lord Montague says:

“Many a morning hath he been seen, With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, Adding to clouds with deep sighs”

This quotation tells us that Romeo is moody and melancholy because he has been sulking and avoiding people after being rejected by Rosaline.

Character Trait

Moody, Melancholy

Romeo


Impulsive, Rash

Romeo

Quotation Support After Mercutio has been killed by Tybalt, Romeo

pursues and kills him in a fit of rage and grief. He says:

“And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. Now, Tybalt, take the “villain” back again that late thou gavest me, for Mercutio’s soul is but a little way above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company. Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”

This quotation tells us that Romeo is impulsive and rash because he acts without considering the consequences. Enraged, Romeo says: “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. (it's time for rage to guide my actions). He then duels and kills Tybalt. This leads to his exile by the Prince.

Character Trait

Impulsive, Rash

Romeo


(Hopelessly) Romantic

Romeo

Quotation Support Act Two, Scene Three is one of the most famous

love scenes in all of theatre: After only just meeting Juliet at the Capulet's masked ball, Romeo bravely enters the Capulet’s orchard by climbing a steep wall. Juliet warns him of the danger of being found there by any of her family. Romeo responds with:

“With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls, For stony limits cannot hold love out and what love can do, that dares love attempt: Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.”

This quotation tells us that Romeo is romantic because he has only just met Juliet, yet he is willing to risk his life to see her. His “love” blinds him to the real danger of being caught there.

Character Trait

(Hopelessly) Romantic

Romeo


Emotionally Immature

Romeo

Quotation Support When Romeo learns from Friar Laurence that he has been

banished for killing Tybalt he completely over-reacts:

“Hadst thou no poison mixed, no sharp-ground knife,No sudden mean of death, though ne'er so mean, But “banishèd” to kill me?—“Banishèd”!

This quotation tells us that Romeo is emotionally immature. When Romeo learns of his bannishment he overreacts and claims that banishment is a penalty far worse than death, since he will have to live without Juliet. The friar tries to counsel Romeo but the youth is so unhappy that he will have none of it. Romeo falls to the floor. Friar Laurence stops him and scolds him for being unmanly. He explains that Romeo has much to be grateful for: he and Juliet are both alive, and after matters have calmed down, Prince Escalus might change his mind.

Character Trait

Emotionally Immature

Download - Quotation Analysis:. When analysing quotations you must consider the following:

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