Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare often uses contrast in characters, setting, and even mood. Shakespeare uses contrast in characters such as the main two, Romeo and Juliet. Contrast in setting could be not only Verona and Mantua, but smaller settings such as the Capulet’s and Montague’s home and also the streets of Verona. Shakespeare uses contrast in mood, for example, with his light and dark comparisons during the play which changes the mood significantly. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare repeatedly contrasts different elements of the play to get the reader more interested.

Romeo and Juliet are very similar characters; but if you think about it, they have just as many differences as similarities. For example, they belong to the two biggest families in town who hate each other. Considering the two are getting married, we see Juliet wishing Romeo would change his name to be able to get married without having their families fight over it. Juliet says “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love; And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (2.2.33-36). This shows that Juliet wants Romeo to change his name so that he’s not a Montague and they could get married. We also see differences between the two characters in their view of love; Romeo is more about physical appearance than anything because he “fell in love” with her the second he laid eyes on her, and Juliet does base it off of appearance first, but throughout the play she realizes that it all might be happening to fast. From these examples we see how Shakespeare uses contrast within characters during the play.

Shakespeare not only contrasts characters, but also contrasts setting during the play. For example, the whole play is mainly set in Verona, Italy, but changes to Mantua when the prince banishes Romeo from Verona. Aside from the larger settings, there are many other settings in the play. One of them would be from the balcony scene where Romeo visits Juliet in the Capulet compounds, This is an example of contrast because a Montague is on the Capulets property.