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Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet: Then And Now

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Romeo and Juliet, Then and Now Although many people may believe that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is not relevant in the 21st Century, many of its themes are. These themes can be found in movies, everyday life, and books. The Themes being reviewed are love (unrequited and romantic), and rivalry. Movies such as Titanic, West side story and Pretty Woman, are just some of the places where themes from Romeo and Juliet are found. Perhaps the most relevant Romeo and Juliet theme in modern times is romantic love. This theme is shown in many parts of Romeo and Juliet, one such quote is where Romeo states “the girl I love is the beautiful daughter of the rich Capulet” (Act 2, Scene 3). This theme is in countless movies, …show more content…

Unrequited love is often shown in real life when someone loves someone else but the beloved does not love the person loving them .Unrequited love is shown in the beginning of Romeo and Juliet when Romeo states “The one I love doesn’t love me”,(Act 1, Scene 1) referring to his unrequited love for Rosaline. A more modern example of unrequited love is shown in the movie Forrest Gump where he asks Jenny to marry him, but she declines and says “you don’t want to marry me”.( Zemekis, 1994) Unrequited love is a very common theme that can be found in many parts of modern …show more content…

Rivalry can be found in almost anything ranging from sports to entire nations. Rivalry is a very strong theme In Romeo and Juliet and is actually a catalyst for the events that lead to Romeo and Juliet’s death. One example of Rivalry from Romeo and Juliet, is when Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, a Capulet, states “I hate the word peace, like I hate all Montagues”.(Act 1, Scene 1) This rivalry also led to Tybalt and Mercutio’s death. Tybalt and Mercutio had an argument, Romeo tried to intervene, Mercutio was stabbed in the process, Romeo then killed Tybalt in order to get revenge for his friend’s death. A more modern instance of rivalry was the Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier feud. Frazier and Ali’s rivalry masked an ugly feud that was to leave Frazier nursing a grudge for decades.(The Indian Express, 2016) Another modern example of rivalry is shown in the movie Grumpy Old Men. The main characters, John Gustafson and Max Goldman, are enemies and can be frequently seen exchanging offensive comments, as well as pranking each other. It all started when, decades before, John stole Max's childhood sweetheart, May, and married her. Based on the evidence shown, Rivalry is still a pertinent theme in the society of the modern

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I. Timelessness of Romeo and Juliet A. It is a situation that has been going on since the beginning of civilization: young love opposed by circumstances or grownups that makes it turn it into a tragedy. It is a sure-fire subject to engage every human heart. B. Although every great writer throughout the ages has recognized the potential of this and many have taken a shot at it, no one has done it as well, for characterizations of the people involved, for the circumstance that dooms it to a tragedy, for the dialog

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The first reason that the ancient feud is responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet is because they didn’t want Romeo anywhere around the Capulets. In Act 1 scene 5 line 61-63 Tybalt says “Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villian, that is hither come in spite To scorn at our solemnity this night.” This is Tybalt saying he does not want Romeo at the dinner because he is a Montague and they don’t like the Montagues.

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As we are living in the twenty-first century, scientific measurements take parts on almost every aspect of our lives. For example, new technological developments, election polls, and traffic conditions illustrate the use of social science. In A Passion of Fact by Tong Lam, he argues that Chinese adoption of using social science methods in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century completely transform China into a “fact-based society” by using survey as the basis. (Lam 2) However, Lam believes the transformation goes through many barriers because of populations, old traditional views, and internal conflicts (49).

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Imagine what the future may be, there could be new technology, new locations around the world, or even a better economy. But to have a good future, It is best to look at the past, because the past shows what went wrong, as well as what went right. In a story written by an iconic writer, William Shakespeare, in his most renowned play, Romeo and Juliet; This theme of the future shows up quite a bit going up against the past; This theme is shown throughout the play, through emotions, the bonds of characters, and most importantly in the conflicts. Meaning that with all of the times future versus past is brought up, it can definitely be the main theme of this story. The predominant subjection in Romeo and Juliet is a repeating theme of future versus past.

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During the party, Tybalt said, “ A villain that is hither come in spite of scorn at our solemn right ”. Tybalt misunderstood why Romeo was at the party and went to tell Lord Capulet that Romeo was there to start conflict with the other Capulets because Montagues and Capulets have had a feud going on for ages. The theme of Romeo & Juliet continues to be relevant in today’s world, because modern audiences can relate to several social issues such as constant family feuds, marriage, and suicide. According to research by Bartleby Gen Z, teens are saying, “Romeo and Juliet is a relevant work for a person in modern times due to how love overpowers hatred, family can become a hardship in which battle, and being overly prideful can lead to rebellion.” This data reveals that we still continue to have similar problems in today's world like the two lovers had to face back

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William Shakespeare once said, “Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.” Young love in the 18th century is still the same as it is now. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a relevant work for a person in modern times due to its mimicry of attitudes, impulsive actions and pride of young love today. Juliet 's attitude is those of modern times. She talks herself out of a tough situation by diversion.

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The book Romeo and Juliet is comparable in many ways to real life because now a days their are many tenagers that fall in love, and want to be together. There are many themes in Romeo and Juliet but the central idea of the book is falling in love with someone that you can not be with. The three main topics are about are falling in love, fighting for love,and having someone they can tell everything to. The reason why these topics were the top three are because these are the topics seen more used by tennagers. To continue with this idea the first topic is falling in love because it is really common with tenagers these days.

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These two lovers are caught in a whirlwind of romance that leads to a tragedy. This play by Shakespeare has many different themes. One theme is obviously love, demonstrating Romeo and Juliets love for each other. The other theme is fate, demonstrating Romeo and Juliet's fate and death. Shakespeare dives into the complexities of love and fate.

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In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare masterfully employs the key elements of tragedy, such as language, form and features, to explore the themes of extreme obsession and fate versus love. Depicted throughout the play, Shakespeare conveys Romeo’s extreme obsession, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Another theme discussed also includes fate versus love, incorporating the idea of how Romeo and Juliet were predestined to die. In Romeo and Juliet, one of the major themes portrayed is extreme obsession.

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In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the dominant theme is the destructive power of love. Throughout the play, the intense and passionate love between Romeo and Juliet leads to tragic consequences, including the deaths of both young lovers. This theme is evident in several key scenes and motifs, including the balcony scene, the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, and the use of light and dark imagery. One of the most iconic scenes in the play is the balcony scene, where Romeo and Juliet profess their love for each other.

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In Romeo and Juilet, there are many common themes shown through love, hate, fate, family, violence, and death, all of these themes represent the central topic

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Romeo and Juliet is no longer relevant in modern day. Even though there is still miscommunication between parents and children, young love, and family conflict it is not the same as it once was, overall, Romeo and Juliet is no longer relevant in the twenty first century because of the laws and language are outdated also the society and culture is different. In early England laws were very different from the laws of modern day. The laws were much more harsh then they are now, for example: “ If you ever disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” (Act 1 scene 1, lines 89-91)

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The biggest or central theme of Romeo and Juliet is love. The whole story is about love. If you were to go even deeper into the theme, I think the theme would be that love brings many great things but can also bring terrible and tragic things like the death of Romeo and Juliet at the end of the story. Although love is very huge in Romeo and Juliet, it is also very huge in everyone's lives all over the world. Love is a huge part of the world today.

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771 Words | 4 Pages

One example is after Juliet's first encounter with Romeo at the party. When finding out the Romeo is from the enemy’s family, she tells her personal guardian, “ My only love, sprung from my only hate!” (Shakespeare III.v.147). This shows that even Juliet realizes that her true love rose from those who she was supposed to hate. This proves that violence can put an end to problems, because Romeo's problem of finding true love is solved due to the enmity of the families.

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Ultimately, Shakespeare reveals the thematic message that love is uncontrollable, conflicting, and short-lived. The theme is very significant throughout the book, because Romeo forgets about Rosaline completely, and falls in love with Juliet later. Throughout the plot of the story, this theme is constantly

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