Umberto Eco once quoted, “Never affirm, always allude: allusions are made to test the spirit and probe the heart.” The use of allusions in Shakespeare's literature helps the reader grasp a deeper, more in depth understanding of what love truly is and what it is capable of. Allusions are key features of literary works including one of Shakespeare's most famous pieces, Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, he uses allusions to connect his writing to several related myths and legends including the Greek gods, Phoebus and Phaeton, the goddess Diana, and Cupid. The use of Shakespeare’s allusions helps the reader to glance into the mind of the characters, as well as providing a spotlight on their yearnful personas. Throughout the tragic tale of …show more content…
After Romeo finds out that Rosaline has no interest in him, he becomes very depressed and in a very dark mood. Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend, tries giving advice to him by adding, “You are a lover. Borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them above a common bound.” (I.iv.17-18). Mercutio uses this allusion as a way of telling Romeo that he needs to look beyond Rosaline because there are many other people in the world that he could fall in love with. Mercutio tries to explain to Romeo that he needs to find someone that loves him as much as he loves the other person back. Romeo replies, “ I am too sore enpierced with his shaft to soar with his light feathers, and so bound I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe. Under love’s heavy burden I do sink.” (I.iv.19-22). It’s obvious to Mercutio that Romeo isn’t able to get Rosaline off his mind, so Mercutio tries to suggest going to the Capulet’s party in hope of finding a new lover. Although Romeo deeply loves Rosaline, he’s in the process of being taught what true love is even though he doesn’t know
Romeo’s lovesick moping for Rosaline sparks a need for a wild rant within Mercutio. Mercutio taunts and mocks Romeo, for his dream which tells him they should not crash the Capulet’s party. This, in the end, all falls back on the theme of fate. As a result, Mercutio’s rant persuades Romeo to attend the party because after all, dreams are ridiculous and not always truthful. Additionally, Mercutio is suggesting that, like Queen Mab, dreams (specifically Romeo’s) are petty and insignificant. All of this takes place in Act once Scene four. The purpose of this speech is to add comic relief amongst the tragic events, whilst foreshadowing what’s to come. Romeo is constructed as a juvenile character with a dreamy nature, who is romantic and lovesick , in comparison to his best friend, Mercutio, who takes on the role as a comedic, volatile, pessimistic and sharp-witted personality.
17-18), “You are a lover, borrow Cupids wings & soar with them above a common bound.” Mercutio is gently taunting Romeo about his mood and ideas of love. From Mercutio taunting Romeo, it pushes Romeo to attend the party by telling him to meet other girls. Seeing other girls would make him forget about Rosaline. In addition, there are still two other reasons why Mercutio is to blame for the couple’s deaths.
Romeo seems to be miserable as he is in love with Rosaline yet Rosaline is not in love with him. Once Romeo learns that the Capulet’s are holding a party at which Rosaline is attending he risks his life just to be with the one he loves. Romeo is passionate for love.
Romeo learns to accept that Rosaline will never love him back, which results in him feeling gloomy and heartbroken. Mercutio wishes for the normal Romeo to return, so Mercutio insists on helping him by encouraging him to attend the Capulet party. As Mercutio motivates Romeo to visit the party, he advises him to “borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them above a common bound” (1.IV.17-18). Telling Romeo to borrow Cupid’s wings means to find someone else to love and get over Rosaline. Recovering from heartbreak takes time, and Mercutio is essentially forcing Romeo to love someone else who will feel the same way.
In the play Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio serves as a foil to Romeo. When discussing love, we can see how Mercutio's lighthearted and silly comments emphasize Romeo's melancholy personality and serious opinions on love. Romeo tells Mercutio he “[has] a soul of lead [that] stakes [him] to the ground [so he] cannot move”. Clearly, Romeo is being a bit dramatic when describing how sad he feels, such as when he says “Under love's heavy burden do I sink”. Mercutio’s response is almost like a joke, as he tells Romeo to “borrow Cupid's wings, and soar with them above a common bound”, basically telling Romeo to find love elsewhere and be happy.
When Romeo arrives, he meets Juliet from the Capulet family. They talk, kiss, and fall in love. Romeo is more content than ever, and Mercutio mocks Romeo’s vision of love saying “Romeo, Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh, Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied.” (A2SI) While Romeo is caught up in his romantic love, Mercutio mocks love and views love as merely a sexual
During some of part one, and two, we slowly learn about Romeo and his dilemma. He has fallen in love with beautiful Rosaline and all of his heart is crying out to her. He vows to never see a beauty as fair as her, and complains about the rudeness and pain of love. He allows himself to go to the party with Mercutio and his friends, but remarks he won't have a good time. "I'll go along, no such sight to be shown, But to rejoice in a splendor of mine own." That is until he sees Juliet. Instantly he forgets all of his lamenting for Rosaline love, and proclaims Juliet is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. "O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright. It seems she hangs on the cheek of night, like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
Romeo was in love with Rosaline a couple days before which he barely knew. And now he fell in love with Juliet in 1 day which he was with for only about a hour and a hour isn’t enough time to know someone a lot and to even love them. In Romeo and Juliet it also says “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear, Beauty too rich for use , for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows The measure done, I’ll watch her of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now?forswear it, sight.” This is part when Romeo crashes the Capulet party and see Juliet for the first time. Romeo in this piece of verse , Romeo was saying that he never saw anything more beautiful and he ask himself if he just fell in love which he was but he only fell in love for seeing her beauty not her personality. The two lovers would have to know each other more other than beauty and might now love each other and be happy because they would've found out who they actually were and how they act as individuals.
At the beginning of the play, Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline. When Montague’s nephew, Benvolio, comes home from a fight with the Capulets’ servants, his aunt Lady Montague tells him about how her son Romeo, has been in a melancholic mood, walking alone in the gardens. Benvolio promises Lady Montague that he would find out what is troubling his cousin, Romeo. Not one who is interested in fighting, Romeo is preoccupied by what he thinks is love and begins to confide in Benvolio that he is madly in love
The relationship that Mercutio has with Romeo is sturdy in all areas except love. This opposition can clearly be seen when Montague talks about Romeo’s depression over Roseline. “And private in his chamber pens himself, shuts up his windows,
To start off, Romeo should not have even gone to the Capulet party in the first place, even if it was to spy on Rosaline. As soon as he saw Juliet, he completely forgot about Rosaline. This proves he knows as much about love as Juliet does. After the party he could have just left, but no. He decides to go spy on Juliet like a creep, then climbs her balcony so they can talk and kiss more. The next day he goes to Friar Lawrence and tells him that he is over Rosaline and now he is in love with Juliet. Romeo asks if he will help them. “ In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; ” said by Friar Lawrence ( DBQ : Project , 2013). Romeo then goes and duals Tybalt, and he dies. Romeo is then banished. When this happened, Romeo had already got married to Juliet. Later on, when Romeo finds Juliet, he thinks that she is dead. He could have just waited another minute and she would have woken up, but he went and killed himself. He was so quick he did not even think. After he did this, Juliet woke up and say he was dead so she killed herself because of Romeo’s death.
In William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the author reveals Romeo's paranoia after Romeo says, "With nimble soles: I have a soul of lead" (I.vi. Line 15). Romeo shows his sadness with the word "lead" and continues with "so stake me to the ground I cannot move" to describe that his heart is so heavy with sadness that he lost hope (I.vi. Line 14-15). Romeo is going to the party to see Rosaline but he knows that he will not be able to get with her because she does not want to marry. He is bothered by being a hopeless romantic that cannot love the person he loves. Mercutio is by his side to tell him that love is nothing and that Romeo should focus on having a good time and forgetting about the woman that he will never get.
He sees it as nothing deeper than the skin and he takes it as a joke. Shakespeare gave Mercutio these character traits in order to represent how most men in the Elizabethan Era saw love. The men seeing the play could relate to Mercutio in his actions and understand that there are other ways of going about things. “You are a lover. Borrow cupid's wings | And soar with them above a common bound” (Act 1 Scene 4 Lines 17 and 18). Here, Mercutio is being sarcastic with Romeo. Romeo feels that he is too heartbroken over Rosaline to go to the party, and Mercutio is mocking him for it. He does not see love as anything greater than physical need. “Throughout lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love” (Act 1 Scene 4 Line 76). Mercutio believes that love is brought on by a fairy called Queen Mab that goes into people's heads as they sleep. Mercutio does not believe in emotional love, simply a physical feeling. Mercutio’s view on love had no attachment, similarly to how men in Shakespeare's time period
Romeo is portrayed as an emotional and reckless character. His friend Mercutio and Fr. Lawrence comment on Romeo’s fickle attitude when he immediately falls in love with Juliet completely forgetting about Rosaline, his first love. Romeo quotes,” Did my heart love until now? Foreswear it sight, for I never saw true beauty until this night”. His love for Rosaline was superficial. Juliet transforms Romeo’s immature and erotic infatuation to true and constant love. After meeting Juliet he matures very quickly. Maybe Romeo’s love for Juliet is so intense because unlike Rosaline, Juliet reciprocates his
Romeo is shown to be poetic and romantic. He and his friends are on their way to the Capulet party when his friends encourage him to dance, but he refuses. He is still sad about Rosaline, the woman he loves. She doesn’t love him back as she has plans to become a nun. Romeo says, “Is love really