ipl-logo

Masking Identity In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

786 Words4 Pages

Masking Identity On the internet, there is an obsession with being anonymous. A priority of many who log onto their computers or phones wants to keep what they do a secret from the outside world. But how do people stay hidden if you take away the screen? During Shakespeare’s time, people would wear masks at parties, performances, or for pernicious behavior. As a result, in Romeo and Juliet, the idea of a mask is used throughout the play to demonstrate identity and who the people in the play really are. From the prologue, we already know that the Montagues and Capulets do not like each other. If you were a Montague, you were supposed to hate Capulets (and vice versa). The mask is first seen in Act 1, Scene 5 when Romeo goes to the Capulet party wearing a mask. He wears a mask so that he can hide the fact that he is a Montague.Romeo meets Juliet (a Capulet) at the party and this is where their love story starts. At this time, Juliet didn’t know that Romeo was a Montague, and this is important for the rest of the play, as it sets the identity of these two characters. In Act 2, Scene 2 (during the famous balcony scene), the theme of masks and identity …show more content…

He thinks that Romeo is there to harm Juliet, as he is a Montague. He even goes far enough to say “This is that banished haughty Montague, That murdered my love's cousin, with which grief, It is supposed the fair creature died” (5.3 51). Romeo and Paris end up dueling. Romeo wins the duel and buries Paris next to Juliet, as he was supposed to be her fiance. Romeo also kills himself as he believes that Juliet is dead. At the end of the play, the Prince says “Where are these enemies?-Capulet! Montague! See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love” (5.3 303). This shows us that if both families took off their masks, they would have seen that they were both equal. They wouldn’t have fought and caused those

Show More
Related
493 Words | 2 Pages

What’s Montague?¨ Juliet also said, ¨If they do see thee, they will murder thee¨This scene is when Romeo was talking to Juliet on her balcony. They could not see each other at all because of the

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

“We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes-.” This quote is from the poem, “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar which is a poem about the struggle that Paul Laurence Dunbar’s family went through during their lives being enslaved. This quote represents the role that a mask can play in covering up true self. By wearing a mask, a person is covering up their unique features. Also, they are not letting anyone get to know them as well as hiding their persona from the public.

Read More
609 Words | 3 Pages

“Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague!” said Juliet. “Neither, fair maid if either thee dislike” Romeo responds (Act 2, Scene 2, 58-52). Romeo was in love with Juliet, and tried to hide the fact that their families were enemies so they could be together. “By whose direction foundst thou out this place?” Juliet asks.

Read More
628 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the act1, Romeo tries to fulfill his dream, which is to find an ideal girl he loves. He first thinks that Rosaline is a woman that he craves. Accordingly, Romeo rejects the offer to go to the party, as he thinks that Rosaline is the only woman. Furthermore, there is another fact that proves that Romeo is idealistic, which is how he loves Juliet. According to the information from act1, Capulet and Montague families are foes to each other.

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

The Montagues are confused on why the feud is roaring again. It happened so long ago they don’t even remember what it’s about all they know is they hate each other. The families fight makes it so the two young teens can’t be honest about their feelings. It also makes it so they have to hide their feelings towards each other from their parents. Romeo sneaks into the Capulet ball and Tybalt sees him which restarts the feud between the families “Uncle this is a Montague, our foe, a villain that is wither come in spite to scorn at our solemnity this night.”

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

Whether the child’s intentions are good or bad, this mask of innocence helps the wearer get what he/she needs which is not to get caught. Even though we many not know it, we all wear masks to meet our needs such as to gain acceptance, for protection, and even for money. Even if the wearer 's intentions are good or bad, masks always are useful and help the wearer get what he or she needs. One of the important needs people have is to protect themselves. Wearing a mask is one way people do this.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

The oldest found mask is from 7000 BC, and experts believe it was used for rituals and ceremonies. Masks have an important cultural context in history, and as the use of masks has progressed, humans have adopted masks into other forms of entertainment and festivities. In present times, with better understanding of human psychology, society has come to understand that people wear emotional “masks” as well. Masks have a somewhat important context in both Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”. Both works describe masks as a way to hide one’s true self from everyone; Dunbar, however, depicts masks as an emotional barrier to cover up one’s true emotions or feelings, while Golding uses masks as a physical object to hide behind.

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

Hiding behind a mask Have you ever had a day when you are too embarrassed of yourself that you wanted to hide by wearing a mask? Masks are used in various ways, they can be used for a Halloween costume or a stage play. The astonishing thing is that those masks are visible to others. In the Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters such as Myrtle Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan use masks that cannot be seen with the naked eye, they used them as a way to hide their flaws to others. Jay Gatsby is one of the major characters of the novel, Gatsby is a tremendously rich young guy living in a mansion located known as West Egg.

Read More
1192 Words | 5 Pages

After Juliet's fake death, Paris is grieving at her tomb when he hears Romeo. Thinking that Romeo has come to do "villainous shame to the dead bodies" (5.3.52-53), Paris confronts Romeo, willing to fight on behalf of the Capulet name. His actions make his filial piety obvious and demonstrate his loyalty to Juliet and the Capulet family. Romeo's behavior is a dramatic contrast, for he is overwhelmingly desperate to be buried next to Juliet, even though being buried in the family tomb was massively important to culture back then, for it displayed a sense of dignity and respect for your family, respect that Romeo lacks. He warns Paris to "tempt not a desp'rate man" (5.3.59) for he is willing to do anything to break into the Capulet tomb, even if it means risking the reputation of not only himself but his entire family.

Read More
723 Words | 3 Pages

Do you ever wonder why in every story there are so many problems in the plot? Do you ever wonder why people argue so much? The reason for this is character foil. In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare dated to 1595, we can see these issues happening a lot between the Montagues and Capulets which are the two families in the story. They had a family feud happening that passed down through generations causing many uprises and fights throughout the play.

Read More
737 Words | 3 Pages

Romeo and Juliet Essay “And we mean well in going to this mask; But ‘tis not wit to go” (1.4.50). In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo had a terrible feeling about going to the Capulet’s masquerade ball, but due to his impulsiveness he decides to attend anyways. The play of Romeo and Juliet was Written by WIlliam Shakespeare in the 1400’s or also known as the renaissance era.

Read More
1038 Words | 5 Pages

They pressured their children into things they did not want and only cared for themselves. According to the prologue, the Capulets and Montagues were blinded by their hatred for one another. Several individuals, including Romeo and Juliet, were killed as a result of this. The two families agreed to settle their feud after discovering how many problems it had brought. According to Shakespeare, " In the beautiful city of Verona, where our story takes place, a long-standing hatred between two families erupts into new violence, and citizens stain their hands with the blood of their fellow citizens."

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

This well-known quote from Romeo expresses his disdain for the families’ feud when family cares about is being with Juliet. When he says this, it is also a bad idea on his part, showing up uninvited to the Capulet ball, even though it is clearly stated that Montagues are not to be present at the event. The second showing of this cause of tragedy is when Juliet says, “Tis but thy name is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague?

Read More
890 Words | 4 Pages

Act 2 scene 2 line 70 “ If they see you they’ll murder you”. This shows that because they fight so much they will murder him. This forces them to be secretive and not tell anyone therefore leading to more pressure on Juliet to not marry Paris. “three times now riots have broken out in this city all casual word from you old capulet and Montague” Act 1 scene 1 line 83-86. This shows that they fight with each other so much and this makes it hard for Romeo and Juliet to make their marriage public so they must keep it a secret since the families are mortal foes.

Read More
1734 Words | 7 Pages

The use of masks in theatre, both functionally and symbolically can be dated back to hundreds of decades ago, along with speculations that the earliest masks came from the Neolithic period. While it is yet unknown which civilization first created or developed masks, it is clear that the existence of these masks are not without justifications. The non-theatrical use of the word “mask” is often referred to as the concealing of “something from view”, usually the human face (Oxford Dictionary Online). However, in many different types of theatre, masks do not solely function for the purpose of concealing. The function of masks differs for different forms of theatre, and is dependent on the relevant attributing background factors.

Read More

More about Masking Identity In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Related Topics

Open Document