Romeo and Juliet Coursework 2009:
How does Shakespeare create dramatic effect in Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet?
What is the background of the play?
Unfortunately, we actually know very little about the great man himself save a few signed legal documents and a handful of secondary material relating to his whereabouts on just a few dates throughout his enigmatic life. It is strange to think that one Englands most beloved and internationally recognised writers should exisit in such obscurity, but sadly this is the case.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written sometime during the early part of Shakespeare’s career. In essence it is a tale of the teenage son and daughter of two feuding (fighting) families, and how their deaths end the fighting. It has been and remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, with the two main characters now regarded as archetypal teenage lovers.
It is believed that the original story of R&J is based on an Italian story The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet which was translated into English poetic verse by Arthur Brooke in 1562. It is story that Shakespeare would have undoubtedly heard, and the similarity of the titles and context does suggest that Shakespeare used the plot as the basis for his play. Like so much of Shakespeare’s plays we don’t know exactly when it was written, but experts believe it was probably written between 1591 and 1595 early in Shakespeare’s career and was published in a quarto version and later included in the First Folio (1623) a collection of Shakespeare’s works published some 7 years after his death.
In Romeo and Juliet we also see the beginnings of Shakespeare’s mastery of dramatic structure, techniques which would, in time, mark him out as a writer of singular ability. Shakespeare uses comedy to break-up sequences of intense drama (comic relief) and to heighten tension. The interruptions of the nurse in Act 2 Scene 2 not only add an element of comedy to this intense romantic meeting, but also reminds the audience that these are two young people still very much under the control of their families and that both are risking a great deal in their meeting. Shakespeare also introduces a variety of minor characters and lesser roles to add more realism to the plot and a sense of a larger community. He allows the audience to grow attached to minor characters before using their misfortunes and deaths to build dramatic tension and emphasise themes such as duty, honour and trust. Shakespeare also uses setting to introduce tension by way of surroundings, such as the orchard in Act 2 Scene 2 which is laden with symbols and imagery relating to the Fall of Man, natural chaos and the reproductive forces of nature, lest we forget the significance of the wood or forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
What is a tragedy
Greek Theory of Tragedy: Aristotle's Poetics
The classic discussion of Greek tragedy is Aristotle's Poetics. He defines tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude, complete in itself." He continues, "Tragedy is a form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its action should be single and complete, presenting a reversal of fortune, involving persons renowned and of superior attainments,and it should be written in poetry embellished with every kind of artistic expression." The writer presents "incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to interpet its catharsis of such of such emotions" (by catharsis, Aristotle means a purging or sweeping away of the pity and fear aroused by the tragic action).
The basic difference Aristotle draws between tragedy and other genres, such as comedy and the epic, is the "tragic pleasure of pity and fear" the audience feel watching a tragedy. In order for the tragic hero to arouse these feelings in the audience, he cannot be either all good or all evil but must be someone the audience can identify with; however, if he is superior in some way(s), the tragic pleasure is intensified. His disastrous end results from a mistaken action, which in turn arises from a tragic flaw or from a tragic error in judgment. Often the tragic flaw is hubris, an excessive pride that causes the hero to ignore a divine warning or to break a moral law. It has been suggested that because the tragic hero's suffering is greater than his offense, the audience feels pity; because the audience members perceive that they could behave similarly, they feel pity. Click here for excerpts from Aristotle's Poetics.
Medieval Tragedy and The Wheel of Fortune
The medieval tagedy is a prose or poetic narrative, not a drama. Tragedy was perceived as a reversal of fortune, a fall from a high position. This view of tragedy derives from the Medieval concept of fortune, which was personified as Dame Fortune, a blindfolded woman who turned a wheel at whim; men were stationed at various places on the wheel--the top of the wheel represented the best fortune, being under the wheel the worst fortune. However, the wheel could turn suddenly and the man on top could suddenly be under the wheel, without warning.
Elizabethan and Shakespearean Tragedy
A distinctly English form of tragedy begins with the Elizabethans. The translation of Seneca and the reading of Aristotle's Poetics were major influences. Many critics and playwrights, such as Ben Jonson, insisted on observing the classical unities of action, time and place (the action should be one whole and take place in one day and in one place). However, it was romantic tragedy, which Shakespeare wrote in Richard II, Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear, which prevailed. Romantic tragedy disregarded the unities (as in the use of subplots), mixed tragedy and comedy, and emphasized action, spectacle, and--increasingly--sensation. Shakespeare violated the the unities in these ways and also in mixing poetry and prose and using the device of a play-within-a-play, as in Hamlet. The Elizabethans and their Jacobean successsors acted on stage the violence that the Greek dramatists reported. The Elizabethan and later the Jacobean playwright had a diverse audience to please, ranging from Queen Elizabeth and King James I and their courtiers to the lowest classes.
Christopher Marlowe's tragedies showed the resources of the English language with his magnificent blank verse, as in the Tragedy of Dr. Faustus, and the powerful effects that could be achieved by focusing on a towering protagonist, as in Tamburlaine. In Elizabethan tragedy, the individual leads to violence and conflict. A distinctly non-Aristotelian form of tragedy developed during this period was the tragicomedy. In a tragicomedy, the action and subject matter seem to require a tragic ending, but it is avoided by a reversal which leads to a happy ending; sometimes the tragicomedy alternates serious and comic actions throughout the play. Because it blends tragedy and comedy, the tragicomedy is sometimes referred to as a "mixed" kind.
The Problem Play or Drama of Ideas
The problem play or play of ideas usually has a tragic ending. The driving force behind the play is the exploration of some social problem, like alcoholism or prostitution; the characters are used as examples of the general problem. Frequently the playwright views the problem and its solution in a way that defies or rejects the conventional view; not surprisingly, some problem plays have aroused anger and controversy in audiences and critics. Henrik Ibsen, who helped to revive tragedy from its artistic decline in the nineteenth century, wrote problem plays. A Doll's House, for example, shows the exploitation and denigration of middle class women by society and in marriage. The tragedy frequently springs from the individual's conflict with the laws, values, traditions, and representatives of society.
Adapted from A Guide to the Study of Literature: A Companion Text for Core Studies 6, Landmarks of Literature, ©English Department, Brooklyn College.
