Alfie W's English Journal

Fate is used by Shakespeare throughout Romeo and Juliet it is used to give an idea of the end without revealing how it happens. In this essay i will analyse some examples of fate in Romeo and Juliet

A example of fate in Romeo and Juliet is how Romeo only met Juliet because the illiterate servant  asked him to read the party invitation list and Romeo saw Rosealine on the list so he decided to go to the party and met Juliet, this eventually led to his premature death.

Shakespeare liked the whole idea of people life’s being planed and how they couldn’t change them this is expressed in Romeo and Juliet through metaphors, for example when Romeo says “But he that hath the steerage of my course direct my sail!” By this he means only god can decide what happens to him and that he will just also long with it. Another metaphor that expresses the idea of fate Romeo and Juliet is when Romeo says “some consequence yet hanging in the stars” this shows that Shakespeare has given the characters in Romeo and Juliet a almost super natural ability to predict the future this helps give away the ending without revealing exactly how it happens.

Another example of fate in Romeo and Juliet (only in the film) is how the weather changes to stormy and lightning when mercutio is killed and Romeo is angry, this is called pathetic falicy I think the reason baz luhrmann did this is to help create a atmosphere in the film and help show the characters emotions.

Dramatic irony is when the audience know something the characters do not know. An example of dramatic irony is when Juliet is on the balcony taking to her self and Romeo is listening to what she is saying. This is dramatic irony because the audience know Romeo is there listening but Juliet does not. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to add realism too his plays. another big example of dramatic irony is when we know that Juliet isn’t actually dead but Romeo thinks she is so he kills himself this also relates to fate because if Juliet did not fake her death Romeo would not have died.

The film Romeo and Juliet by baz luhrmann the play is modernized this means he had to interpret things from romeo and Juliet into there modern counterparts for example swords are substituted for guns and the prince is substituted for the police officer.

In conclusion, Shakespeare used fate as a way to tell you what happens in the end without revealing how this made Romeo and Juliet a much more interesting and exiting play.

Your task is to identify the metaphor present in the following excerpt and then write a paragraph that explains the metaphor and its effect on the meaning of the passage it is embedded in.

MERCUTIO

True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air
And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes
Even now the frozen bosom of the north,
And, being anger’d, puffs away from thence,
Turning his face to the dew-dropping south.

Feel free to watch the presentation again from this lesson to remind you of how to approach a passage that contains a metaphor:

Year 9 English – Shakespearian Language from Edutronic.net on Vimeo.

My groups interpretation is about the change between swords and guns in the modernised version in the film Romeo And Juliet[statement/point]. They change the sword fights to gun fights which make it more modern. At the start of Romeo and Juliet when the capulets fight the montagues they they draw there swords in the film this is interpreted holding each other at gun point at a petrol station. Instead of the prince coming to the scene in the film they are taken to a police station[examples]. this is all done to make it fit with the modern theme of the film[explenation].

Essays allows to communicate complex idea in a precise and structured way

the most important part oSan essay is the body (the middle) this is made up of paragraphs

all paragraphs have: 1. a statement/point  2. example 3. explenation

conclusion: 1. your thoughts 2. summary of your main points

1. Analytic essays

2. Run a class activity

3. Film a scene from Romeo and Juliet

My groups interpretation is about the change between swords and guns in the modernised version in the film Romeo And Juliet. They change the sword fights to gun fights which make it more modern. At the start of Romeo and Juliet when the capulets fight the montagues they they draw there swords in the film this is interpreted holding each other at gun point at a petrol station. Instead of the prince coming to the scene in the film they are taken to a police station

“some consequence yet hanging in the stars” this is a clue to the fate of romeo and Juliet, Romeo says this meaning he has a bad feeling about something that is going to happen in the future, by “hanging in the stars” he is suggesting that only god is in control of what happens which is a concept that Shakespeare uses throughout Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare gives his characters a almost supernatural ability to predict the future. Shakespeare does this to help reveal the ending but not tell you how it happens this helps build suspense in Romeo and Juliet.

The first Queen Elizabeth, whose name has become a synonym for the era which she dominated (1558-1603), was born in 1533 to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Called “Gloriana” by Edmund Spenser in “The Faerie Queene”, Elizabeth’s deft political skills and strong personal character were directly responsible for putting England (at the time of her accession in 1558 a weak, divided backwater far outside the mainstream of European power and cultural development) on the road to becoming a true world economic and political power and restoring the country’s lost sense of national pride. Her legacy is such that students today earning a masters in political science or especially an international MBA study her 400 year old actions. Although she entertained many marriage proposals and flirted incessantly (her closest brush with marriage came with Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester), she never married or had children.

Elizabeth inherited a tattered realm: dissension between Catholics and Protestants tore at the very foundation of society; the royal treasury had been bled dry by Mary and her advisors, Mary’s loss of Calais left England with no continental possessions for the first time since the arrival of the Normans in 1066 and many (mainly Catholics) doubted Elizabeth’s claim to the throne. Continental affairs added to her problems – France had a strong foothold in Scotland, and Spain, the strongest European nation at the time, posed a threat to the security of the realm. Elizabeth proved most calm and calculating (even though she had a horrendous temper), employing capable and distinguished men to carrying out royal prerogative.

Elizabeth was a master of political science. She inherited her father’s supremacist view of the monarchy, but showed great wisdom by refusing to directly antagonize Parliament. She acquired undying devotion from her advisement council, who were constantly perplexed by her habit of waiting to the last minute to make decisions (this was not a deficiency in her makeup, but a tactic that she used to advantage). She used the various factions (instead of being used by them), playing one off another until the exhausted combatants came to her for resolution of their grievances. Few English monarchs enjoyed such political power, while still maintaining the devotion of the whole of English society.

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