Soliloquy's in Romeo & Juliet

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Explore the soliloquies of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ throughout the play. What do they tell us about their state of mind? Throughout this play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, there are many soliloquies that contain the themes of lightness and darkness, time, allusions, foreshadowing and fate. In this essay, I will study how Shakespeare has used these themes to inform the audience about Romeo and Juliet’s state of mind. The soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 5 lines 42-51 is given to us by Romeo. Prior to this soliloquy, Benvolio tells Romeo to go to the party and to realise that there are better women than Rosaline as Romeo thought he was in love with Rosaline. Romeo arrives at the party at the Capulet house to see Rosaline. However, Romeo sees Juliet instead. This is the very first time that Romeo sees Juliet and they both fall in love. Then, they find out they have fallen in love with the enemy. Romeo starts his soliloquy with the theme of light as he says ‘O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright.’ Firstly, we can see that Romeo is surprised due to the use of ‘O.’ Romeo has never seen anyone as beautiful as Juliet and therefore is amazed at her beauty. Romeo is also lost for words. ‘Teach the torches to burn bright,’ explains that Juliet is so bright and is in fact brighter than the torches. Juliet’s beauty gives off more light than such torches, in fact, Juliet gives off so much light that the torches shall learn from her. ‘It seems she hangs upon the cheeks of night.’ Juliet stands out from the rest of the crowd as she is so bright. There is a continuation of the theme when Romeo compares Juliet to a jewel. ‘As rich as a jewel in an Ethiop’s ear.’ This shows that Juliet sparkles hence her beauty and brightness. The skin of an Ethiop’s ear is dark, and what Romeo is revealing is that the way a jewel sparkles on a dark person is brighter than a jewel on a light
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