Abdullah Mustapha English 9H Langford 16 May 2023 Romeo and Juliet: A Thrilling Irony Horror movies are a perfect example of how the audience knows something is about to happen, but the character does not. Despite how oblivious the characters are, audiences love horror movies because the irony creates a thrill like no other. That thill makes the audience more involved and makes the play more interesting. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in a plentiful amount to make the play more thought-provoking and advanced. Dramatic irony plays a role in shaping the plot and the audience’s experience by creating conflict and suspense. Dramatic irony plays a role in shaping the plot and the audience’s experience by creating …show more content…
The creation of suspense through dramatic irony is shown during the sonnet of the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet. Romeo describes Juliet as a “holy shrine” (1.5.99). The personification in the sonnet shows how fair she looks to him. Romeo does not know she is a Capulet and Juliet does not know he is a Montague. The suspense in the sonnet makes the audience wonder what will happen when they found out about each other’s families and if they will end up meeting each other again. The sonnet paved the way for the play as it starts the journey of the two and how they fell in love without knowing each other’s families and after they found out they continued to love each other dearly. During Juliet’s actions to carry out her plan, a part of what the friar told her to do was to tell her parents she will marry Paris. She tells her father “[she] gave him what becomed love [she] might,” (4.2.27). The audience knows her actions are part of Friar Lawrence’s plan and the audience also knows she is already married to Romeo. The audience now wonders if Capulet and the rest of her family will believe her and if the plan will work. The audience could also think about whether the plan could all be meaningless because Juliet does not know that Romeo did not receive the letter yet. Romeo receiving the letter is a huge part of the plan. This unfortunate occurrence could shape the plot as