ipl-logo

How Does Shakespeare Create Humor In Romeo And Juliet

432 Words2 Pages

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is widely known as a horrible tragedy about two teen lovers whose death bring their feuding families together. While there may be a dramatic ending to the play, it starts off as a funny and delightful comedy. To divert the audience’s attention from the cruel reality of the play, Shakespeare focuses on the parts that make it entertaining for the audience. If humor was not added, Romeo and Juliet would have been a very tiresome romance about love and death.

Many of the puns in the play are put in frequently for humor, with one main goal of making the audience laugh. In the opening scene of Act One, two capulet servants named Gregory and Sampson, boast about what they will do if they run into a Montague. Sampson: …show more content…

In Act Three Scene One, Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt and makes a pun about his impending death. Ask for me tomorrow, and you’ll find me a grave man.(3.1.65-66)
Mercutio knew he was going to die from the wound caused by Tybalt. By trying to cover up the sorrowful setting, he makes a fitting pun thinking he will be dead soon and in his “grave”. The others, who witnessed the stabbing, think he was referring to a “grave” situation and not that he was talking about his own death. Another scene is in Act One Scene One, when Romeo makes a pun on the idea of love.
Benvolio: In love? Romeo: Out- Benvolio: Of love? Benvolio: Out of her favor. (1.1.163-166)
In the play, Romeo was experiencing a one sided love, and to protect his heart, Benvolio told Romeo to look for a new companion. Though this may be a heartfelt and sad scene, Shakespeare used the pun to inject humor.

Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet, humor plays a huge role in entertaining the audience and bringing comedy to otherwise tragic scenes. Although many main characters die, the use of word play turns these heavy moments into

Show More
Related
781 Words | 4 Pages

Shakespeare uses situational irony throughout the play to progress the story, develop the theme of fate, and create conflicts between the Capulets and Montagues. First, the prologue of Romeo and Juliet uses situational irony

Read More
816 Words | 4 Pages

Elijah Golden Mrs. Gump English 9-2 honors 15 May 2023 Title of the essay William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a tragic love story that has captivated readers and audiences for centuries. The play is filled with literary devices that contribute to its emotional power, but one stands out above the rest: dramatic irony. This device is crucial to the play's impact, as it creates a sense of tension and foreboding that fills the entire story. Using dramatic irony, Shakespeare fills his characters' actions and dialogue with a deeper meaning, forcing the audience to confront the inevitability of the tragic ending.

Read More
496 Words | 2 Pages

Literary devices help in such a way that need them to survive; they help by showing what are the meanings of sentences and how they work. They usually make the sentence that make more powerful and more vibrant to the reader and show that sentences can be more stunning in a way. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, are many different foils in the play. The two families, the Capulets and the Montagues, they differ from just how do not like each other, and on how they battle most of the time. These fights usually happen from one person getting mad at a person from a different family, some might fight from one liking a person and the person might have person that wants to be with them but they are not letting that happen.

Read More
553 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio is one of the main and most interesting characters in Romeo and Juliet. There are three word that I think best describe Mercutio, those words are kind, smart, and brave. This is why those words describe him. The first word I would use to describe Mercutio is smart.

Read More
471 Words | 2 Pages

Make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out. Mercutio is saying that he was going to fight Tybalt because Romeo didn’t want to fight Tybalt. If Tybalt never fought Mercutio and killed him, he would have not been killed and got Romeo banished.

Read More
614 Words | 3 Pages

After disputing over the fact Romeo is envious and has to quit whining Benvolio convinces Romeo to tag along. Shakespeare uses a series of hinting to the final result. For example, Romeo announces, “I fear too early, for my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars” (act 1, scene 4, lines 113-118), meaning he feels something is destined to happen. Shakespeare showing again the idea of an unchangeable fate when Romeo falls in love

Read More
627 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio stands his ground and has a very strong sense of honor in his vision or beliefs. He calls Romeo “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 71) after Romeo wants to step back from facing Tybalt. Even when Mercutio dies, he is making jokes, “No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ‘tis enough” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line

Read More
1192 Words | 5 Pages

Before crashing the Capulet's party, Romeo has a dream where he is warned about a "consequence [that is] hanging in the stars" (1.4.114). However, he declares that he is going to ignore it and hope for the best, rashly deciding that he is willing to leave his safety and livelihood up to fate. The sharp, dramatic contrast between Romeo and his foil, Benvolio helps to develop the plot and both of the characters by highlighting how their differences lead to their respective endings in the play. Specifically, it emphasizes Romeo's impulsivity

Read More
476 Words | 2 Pages

The most known play written by William Shakespeare is called Romeo and Juliet. This play demonstrates how love and hate can cloud your judgement when making decisions. For various of people around the world, they believe that the tragic and heartbreaking romance shouldn’t be taught in school. Despite the negative and crucial result coming out of it, there is an important lesson to be taught in high school. I believe that it should be taught throughout freshman year and be reevaluated throughout high school.

Read More
593 Words | 3 Pages

“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare entertains the audience through use of character, language and drama. The plot focuses on the theme of conflict and consequences, using deep characterisation, descriptive language and high drama to entertain. Act 3 Scene 1 focuses on a brutal feud between two enemies and Act 3 Scene 5 follows the patriarchal society’s approach to women marriage and societal expectations. Shakespeare forces the audience to engage with the idea of conflict and what it must have been like to live through this time. Shakespeare cleverly utilises a changing atmosphere in Act 3 Scene 1 to expertly entertain his audience.

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

Romeo and Juliet: Avoiding Tragic Mistakes Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is considered to be his masterpiece; it is known all over the world and is perhaps the most famous play in history. The play tells the tragic story of two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who are trapped in a feud between their families. In the end, their actions lead to the deaths of six people including themselves. The key to understanding the actions of Romeo and Juliet is through science.

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the use of multiple literary devices makes the play interesting. Dramatic irony, which is when the audience knows more than the characters, occurs numerous times throughout the play and grabs the attention of the audience. Soliloquies, which are lengthy speeches by a character to project their thoughts and emotions to the audience, this allows the audience to be more attentive. Allusions are references by characters to well-known places, events from myths or other literature that cause the audience to be absorbed into the play. After reading this marvelous play, it is obvious that Shakespeare uses dramatic irony, allusions, and soliloquies all written in blank verse to grasp the undivided attention of the audience.

Read More
790 Words | 4 Pages

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare has toyed with the emotions of its audience members for centuries. The play’s main characters, Romeo and Juliet, love one another in spite of the feud between their families and later on, in the wallows of grief, each take their own life. While the characters both meet their end tragically, it was their choices that realistically led them down that path. The cause of the two “star-crossed lovers” final end is not due to fate or destiny, but by their own foolish hands.

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

After receiving their help the serving man invites them to the Capulet’s party, “and, if you be not / of the house of Montague’s, I pray come and crush a / cup of wine”. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in this line as the audience, unlike the other characters are aware of the fact that Romeo is a Montague. The use of this technique to is to put the audience above the other characters and forces them to anticipate the moment when the other characters will find out the truth. It was by fate that the serving man chose Romeo and Benvolio out of all people to assist him in reading an invite to the Capulet’s party. From the beginning play, Romeo is shown to have a special relationship with fate, which is illustrated by the several visions he as of his unfortunate death.

Read More
639 Words | 3 Pages

One literary device that is utilised is pun. In ACT 3, scene 1, lines 94 and 95, Mercutio makes a pun out of his death, saying, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” There is a play on the meaning of the word grave, grave meaning serious, but in this case, it can be an allusive term for death and a place where the dead are buried. This technique emphasises the tragedy of the situation. Oxymoron is another literary device expertly employed to accentuate the pending tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

Read More

More about How Does Shakespeare Create Humor In Romeo And Juliet

Related Topics

Open Document