Shakespeare’s Literary Devices
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is a play full of tragedy, dramatic irony, and suspense. Act 5 of this play portrayed tragedy by the deaths of Romeo Montague and his wife, Juliet Capulet. Dramatic irony is represented in act 4 when Friar John goes to relay the message that Juliet is not dead to Romeo but gets stopped by an epidemic and unable to deliver the message to Romeo. Suspense is depicted in Romeo and Juliet in act 5 when Juliet can wake up any second in her coffin but also when Shakespeare gives Romeo enough time to kill himself before she wakes up and the audience knows he shouldn’t. Even though Romeo and Juliet is ultimately a love story, it has many literary devices such as dramatic irony, suspense, and tragedy.
Tragedy is displayed in many ways throughout this play, mostly death, in act 5 especially. “....O
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”Where the infectious pestilence did reign, seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth,” states Friar John (act 5 scene 2 Line 11.) This is when Friar John returned to Friar Lawrence and told him that he could not deliver the plans for Juliet to Romeo because he could not get through the gates. This portrays dramatic irony because Romeo was making irrational decisions based on an assumption we knew to be incorrect. In act 4, the literary device of suspense was used when Romeo is about to drink the poison to kill himself and Juliet can wake up any second. “Here’s to my love! O the apothecary! The drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die” says Romeo Montague (act 5 scene 3 line 119.) This quote is said when Romeo is at Juliet’s grave getting ready to drink the poison because he thinks Juliet is dead and he wants to be with his love forever. This kept the audience interested in Shakespeare’s