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Analysis Of Romeo And Juliet Act 1 Scene 5

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Romeo and Juliet is written by William Shakespeare and involves two “star-cross’d” lovers from feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues. Act 1 Scene 5 in Romeo and Juliet is of immense importance as it involves the meeting of Romeo and Juliet at the masquerade. This scene uses many language syntax to express Romeo’s feelings and woo Juliet which can be analysed like below. In act 1 scene 5 as Romeo breaks out into a rhyming sonnet that are often well known in Shakespeare’s plays as a way to empathize any important situations of love or any arguments. During this sonnet, there is use of light lexis. First of all, Romeo describes Juliet as a source of light, as he states in an oxymoron, “o she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” By using …show more content…

Romeo approaches Juliet with the metaphor, “"If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: / My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." Romeo acknowledges Juliet as a “shrine” stating that she is heavenly and holy and that he pays homage to Juliet revealing that his feelings are not only physical but spiritual as well. Juliet rejects Romeo’s advances by stating ‘palm to palm is holy palmer’s kiss’ implying that his touch is all that is required and that there is no need for him to kiss her hand. There is also use of the word “holy” which is mentioned often in their conversation indicating to the reader that during the time that Shakespeare wrote about, religious beliefs were valued immensely. There is mention of the word “sinful” in comparison to love. Whilst the word is not only used as a use of persuading Juliet to kiss Romeo, “sinful” can also be uses as a consideration of the feuding families. This helps the reader to acknowledge that both Romeo and Juliet do not know the consequences of their “sin” yet which again references to the prologue where the pair of lovers are stated to be “star-crossed”. Therefore, by using religious lexis, Shakespeare makes the reader aware of the emphasis of the spiritual and pure love. To conclude, the use of language is very important

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