Rollercoaster In Romeo And Juliet

Picture a rollercoaster. With so many ups and downs, there is never a point in the ride where the rollercoaster is at a constant level. This is the same effect that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet plays on the audience’s emotions. There is just never a break in the emotional ride; however, that is the reason for why Romeo and Juliet is famed in the first place. From the beginning of the play, the audience is already set off to the top of the ride by the prologue which tells the entire plot of the story. As the plot progresses, Shakespeare stirs more emotions into the audience and ends the play in one of the most dramatic ways known to literature: death. More specifically, Romeo’s and Juliet’s death; however, it was not the death that made the

This buildup in tension was shown when Capulet was browbeating Juliet into marrying Paris and says “an you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend./ An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,/ For, by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee”(3. 5. 203-205). In their dialogue, Capulet threatens to disown Juliet, his own daughter, if she chooses to not obey his will and marry Paris. Additionally, earlier in their argument, Capulet says, “My fingers itch.--Wife, we scarce thought us blessed/ That god had lent us but this only child/ But now I see this one is one too much/ And that we have a curse in having her”(3. 5. 170- 174). Both of these passages add on to the sadness of their death because they happened moments before Juliet died and they are words that sound like curses coming from a parent's mouth. When Juliet dies, the audience is left with wondering how Lord Capulet felt as he mourned for Juliet, especially after he disowned, disparaged, and deprecated his daughter, which just fueled the dramatic effect of Romeo’s and Juliet’s death. Shortly after, Shakespeare created another conflict in the family, except this time, it was with Juliet and her caretaker. Throughout the play, it has become apparent that Juliet loves Romeo greatly, which is why when the nurse says “I think it best you married with[Paris]./ O, he’s a lovely gentleman!/ Romeo’s a dishclout to him”, Juliet rushed to leave to the Friar. Before Romeo’s banishment, the nurse, who is the person that Juliet sees as her mother, sided with Juliet and even aided in their marriage; however, once Romeo was gone, her opinion of him changed, and to Juliet, it feels as if the nurse betrayed her. Again, Shakespeare's tearing their relationships apart made the play more dramatic in the end; however, with the nurse siding with Juliet’s parents in the marriage, it also seemed that