Theme Of Authority In Romeo And Juliet

536 Words3 Pages
One of the messages of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is that you should never disobey authority. However there are other important themes other than authority such as love and fate. Never disobeying authority is a very important theme in Romeo and Juliet. There are many scenes where we see the characters disobey authority. For example in act two scene 3 Romeo and Juliet get married against their parents’ wishes. The quote 2,3,94 “to turn your households’ rancour to pure love” this hyperbole is exaggerating how the marriage might turn the hatred between the Capulet’s and Montague’s into love. Another example of disobeying authority is act four scene one where Friar Lawrence gives Juliet the potion to make her seem dead even though God is the only one who can decide life and death. The quote 2,1,77 “O bid me leap, rather than marry Paris” is an extreme metaphor is showing how Juliet would rather kill herself then marry Paris as her parents wish for her to do. In…show more content…
During the Elizabethan time they believed their life was planned out by god and their life was planned from the moment they were born. In the prologue Romeo and Juliet are described as “star-crossed lovers”. This metaphor states their love and relationship was predicted and written in the stars. In 1, 4,107 “Some consequence yet hanging in the stars” Romeo is expressing through this metaphor he has a “weird feeling” about what’s going to happen at the Capulet’s ball. Romeo also implies he feels something bad is going to happen which will ultimately end in his death. 5,1,6 “I dreamt my lady came and found me dead” dramatic irony is found in this quote as Shakespeare was trying to hint the audience that something bad is going to happen. In conclusion, disobeying authority or it can have bad results is an important theme of Romeo and Juliet. Nevertheless, authority is not the main message, love and fate are as important as
Open Document