Exemplar Essay: Tragedy
How does Shakespeare present tragedy?
In this extract from Act 5 Scene 3 the Prince and the parents of the Montague and Capulet families arrive at the Capulet tomb to discover Juliet and Romeo’s bodies. Friar Laurence has just revealed everything he knew about Romeo and Juliet.
PRINCE
We still have known thee for a holy man.
Where's Romeo's man? what can he say in this?
BALTHASAR
I brought my master news of Juliet's death;
And then in post he came from Mantua
To this same place, to this same monument.
This letter he early bid me give his father,
And threatened me with death, going in the vault,
I departed not and left him there.
PRINCE
Give me the letter; I will look on it.
Where is the county's page, that raised the watch?
Sirrah, what made your master in this place?
PAGE
He came with flowers to strew his lady's grave;
And bid me stand aloof, and so I did:
Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb;
And by and by my master drew on him;
And then I ran away to call the watch.
PRINCE
This letter doth make good the friar's words,
Their course of love, the tidings of her death:
And here he writes that he did buy a poison
Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague!
See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.
And I for winking at your discords too
Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd.
CAPULET
O brother Montague, give me thy hand:
This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
Can I demand.
MONTAGUE
But I can give thee more:
For I will raise her statue in pure gold;
That while Verona by that name is known,
There shall no figure at such rate be set
As that of true and faithful Juliet.
CAPULET
As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie;
Poor sacrifices of our enmity!
PRINCE
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 pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
How does Shakespeare present tragedy in Romeo and Juliet?
- Explore how Shakespeare presents tragedy in the extract
- Explore how Shakespeare presents tragedy in the play as a whole
[30 marks]
- 4 SPAG
Romeo and Juliet is about how strong emotions have tragic consequences. Shakespeare explores how strong, uncontrollable anger can lead to tragedy. Through the Capulet family and the tragedy of Juliet’s death he also challenges traditional attitudes to arranged marriage, implying that a parent’s choice to ignore their child’s strong feelings of love when choosing a husband can have tragic consequences.
In the extract, Shakespeare makes clear that the characters are suffering as a result of the play’s tragic deaths. In line 26, Shakespeare has Prince Escalus state that ‘all are punished’. In other words, he suggests that tragedy has befallen many people in Verona due to the number of deaths: Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Lady Montague, Romeo and Juliet. Both families plus Prince Escalus himself have lost someone to the feud. Shakespeare’s use of the word ‘all’ demonstrates the scale of the tragedy; great destruction has been caused by the violent, uncontrollable actions taken by the characters, many of which stemmed from the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. Through Prince Escalus’s acknowledgement of the impact of the tragic deaths in the play, Shakespeare heightens the sense of tragedy and despair in the play’s final scene.
Also in the extract, Shakespeare uses the character of Prince Escalus to restore order. Shakespeare has Prince Escalus blame Lord Capulet and Lord Montague for the tragedy when he states: ‘See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love’. It is clear that Prince Escalus intends to shame the heads of the two families for encouraging the feud and contributing to the deaths of their children. The prince’s words prompt Lord Capulet and Lord Montague to bring the feud to an end, finally restoring peace in Verona. Additionally, Shakespeare has Prince Escalus accept responsibility for his role in the tragedy through ‘winking’ at their ‘discords’. In other words, Prince Escalus recognises that he turned a blind eye to the feud and allowed it to continue for far too long. A typical feature of tragedy is that order is restored in the final scene, but in a new way. It is clear that Shakespeare draws upon this feature of tragedy through bringing Prince Escalus, a character who is absent for much of the play, back in this final scene to insist on the families ending the feud, and acknowledge his own mistakes. This brings some form of hope and resolution, in spite of the fact that both families have suffered terrible tragedy, as the audience is left hoping that Verona will not be affected by conflict in this way again.
In the play as a whole, Shakespeare uses the character of Tybalt to explore the danger of anger and violence. In the opening scene of the play, Shakesepeare has Tybalt join in the fight with the Montague and Capulet servants, responding to Benvolio’s call for peace with the words ‘Peace! I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee’. Shakespeare’s repetition of the word ‘hate’ within this quotation emphasises the strength of Tybalt’s hatred towards the Montagues. This is further emphasised through the way he associates his hatred for the Montagues with his feelings about ‘hell’, something that would have affirmed his hatred with a religious Elizabethan audience. Shakespeare’s decision to introduce Tybalt to the audience in this way foreshadows the tragedy in Act Three; it is Tybalt’s inability to control his hatred and anger that leads him to seek revenge on Romeo, bringing about the first two tragic deaths in the play.
In the play as a whole, Shakespeare also presents Romeo as the tragic hero, whose impulsive nature contributes to his own downfall. The moment he meets Juliet, Romeo forgets Rosaline, his previous love, and asks ‘did my heart love till now?’. This surprising and impulsive change of mind is a stark example of the tragic flaw that leads Romeo towards his death, and is just the first of many similar actions: Romeo marries Juliet the day after meeting her; he murders Tybalt without thinking of the consequence threatened by Prince Escalus; he rushes to Verona with poison and takes it before Juliet wakes. Shakespeare’s presentation of Romeo in this way indicates that Romeo’s depth of passion and emotion are partly to blame for the speed at which he and Juliet are catapulted towards their deaths. If Romeo had been able to think more clearly and rationally rather than rushing to action before considering the consequences, perhaps some of the tragedy could have been avoided.
In the play as a whole, Shakespeare also presents Juliet’s arranged marriage as a vehicle for her tragic death. Before the audience meets Juliet in person, we witness a discussion about her between Lord Capulet and Paris. Although Lord Capulet is protective over Juliet, urging Paris to wait for two more years as Juliet is still a ‘stranger in the world’, he does consent to Paris wooing Juliet before asking Juliet’s views. It is clear, therefore, that Juliet has limited say in her future. The audience cannot help but wonder how the marriage between Romeo and Juliet can end happily, given that she has chosen her own suitor and has gone as far as to choose the son of her father’s arch-enemy. Later in the play, when Lord Capulet decides to speed up the marriage, Juliet is pressured to take action. Knowing that she will ‘hang, beg, starve, die in the streets’ if she refuses to marry Paris, Juliet feels she has no option but to consent, and plan an escape. Perhaps if Lord Capulet had not chosen to bring the marriage forward by two years, Juliet may have had an opportunity to be reunited with Romeo. Shakespeare could therefore be challenging traditional patriarchal attitudes to marriage, in which the daughter has limited say over her husband, because this is arguably a contributing factor in Juliet’s death.
In conclusion, it is clear that multiple factors contribute to the tragedy in the play: Tybalt and Romeo’s inability to regulate their emotions; the long-standing feud that is encouraged by all generations in the Montague and Capulet family; and Lord Capulet’s unwillingness to listen to his daughter’s views about marriage. Shakespeare’s tragic play not only teaches the audience a hard lesson about acting impulsively upon emotion, but also challenges his audience to reconsider the consequences of patriarchal values and arranged marriage.