...and Men and Romeo and Juliet “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.” This was said by Muhammad Ali talking about how being in relationships, romantic or not, are not something that is black or white. There are no rules that state what is right or wrong, or what can and cannot be done. The main characters in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men represent the love found in a friendship. George and Lennie are best friends who travel together to find work in order to earn enough money to make their dream of owning their own land come true. In Soledad, California,...
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...Explore how Shakespeare and Orwell present forbidden love in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘1984’. Introduction What is love? What are the main similarities and differences between the presentation of forbidden love in 1984 and Romeo and Juliet? Relate briefly to the contexts of both texts. Paragraph 1 Why does Romeo love Juliet? Why does Winston love Julia? Look at how Romeo is attracted to Juliet for being beautiful and compare it to how Winston loves Julia for her lack of purity. Explore this idea. You could use the quotes: ‘The brightness of cheek would shame those stars’ – Romeo about Juliet, page 53, Romeo and Juliet “Listen. The more men you’ve had, the more I love you. Do you understand?” “Yes, perfectly.” “I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.” – Winston and Julia, page 144, 1984 (part 2, chapter 2 end) Paragraph 2 What is the connection between hate and love? What similarities do you notice between the two texts? Look hatred has become an important element of each relationship. You could use the quotes: ‘My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself’ –Romeo, page 55, Romeo and Juliet “As soon as I saw you, I knew you were against them.” Julia says this about Winston, page 140, 1984. Paragraph 3 How is sex presented in both texts? Is sex a natural or unnatural act? Look at how sex is shown to be unnatural in 1984 – birds singing, etc. Effect is...
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...Relationships are the basis of human interaction and by far the most important in one’s life is friendship. The importance of friendship in one’s life is comparable by no other relationship. Friendship is pure, forgiving and devout. This idea of friendship is undoubtedly illustrated in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. In the novel, George and Lennie tirelessly work to have a piece of land to call their own, traveling across the country for work. They are both truly devoted to one another and unwaveringly care for one another, and have proven so multiple times throughout the novel. Another relationship that exhibits devotion is that of the main characters in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet are two faithful star-crossed...
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...Meeting someone, claiming them to be your true love, and then four days later committing suicide to be with them is/can be considered psychotic. This second is an example straight from of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. George and Lennie, from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are two friends who met during their childhood and who grew up together; some would simply call them brothers. Romeo and Juliet, on the other hand, are two star-crossed lovers from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. They meet each other, get married,...
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...English Essay- Evolution of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare’s well-known play, Romeo and Juliet addresses the ill-fated love of two young children from feuding households set in Verona. Even though they are both children and Juliet is younger than Romeo, they both mature at different rates and ways. In addition, they are very different characters. Romeo is withdrawn, whereas Juliet is bold and brave. The differences go on and are made more obvious as the play progresses. This essay will highlight these differences and how they evolve as characters through the course of this play. Both the characters strike us as very different when we meet them for the first time. Romeo is recovering from his unrequited love. He is shown to be pining with love for a woman called Rosaline. He seems very immature in the beginning as he loses track of time and he stays in a dark room throughout the day due to his love-sickness. The play's emphasis on characters' eyes and the act of looking accords with Romeo's role as a blind lover who doesn't believe that there could be another lady more fair than his Rosaline. Romeo denies that he could be deluded by love, the "religion" of his eye. This zeal, combined with his rejection of Benvolio's advice to find another love to replace Rosaline, highlights Romeo's immaturity as a lover. We immediately feel as though his feelings are not real love, it is more of a infatuation. Romeo is in love with the concept of being in love. Juliet on the other hand is more...
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...Romeo and Juliet were born into the feud their families had been fighting for generations. It is much like the countries that have hated each other for as long as anyone can remember. The minor characters even started a brawl at the beginning of the play over a simple little insult. In fact all through the story violence was impacting major events. The best example of this of course is the ending. Violence not only affected the ending to Romeo and Juliet it was the reason for most events leading and including the ending. For some people escaping a life style can be impossible no madder how hard you try. Growing up in the violent families Romeo and Juliet did they gain the means of having lethal weapons like poison and swords. If Romeo wasn’t part of the feud or carry a sword he couldn’t have killed tybalt. Of course then he wouldn’t have gotten in trouble and banished. Also he couldn’t have gotten the poison from Friar Laurence to kill himself. Although carrying a sword would be normal back in the 17th century poison was a touchy subject. As Friar Lawrence put it “every plant, herb, and stone has its own special properties”, The theme of the story was violence. Romeo and Juliet were always connected to passion, whether the passion was love or hate. The connection between hate and violence is obvious but the connection between love and violence isn’t. Love much like hate can make people do things they never would do under normal circumstances. When Romeo and Juliet first...
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...Romeo and Juliet Essay Emily Ma In the wake of a tragedy, people place blame on others from their perspectives. Blame can be placed onto whoever is responsible for the disaster in a situation. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. By making many poor decisions, he ends the lives of two young lovers who believed that their love was stronger than anything else on earth. Friar Laurence’s dedication to his job and optimism for love lead him to make premature, negligent decisions about Romeo and Juliet’s relationship while disregarding the consequences of the family feud. Priest’s aren’t allowed to have love so when Friar Laurence sees Romeo and Juliet’s passion for each other, he puts his hopes about love into their relationship and ignores the inevitable repercussions. Friar Laurence has just married Romeo and Juliet in secret and says, “So smile the heavens upon this holy act/ That after-hours with sorrow chide us not” (II, vi, 1-2) when he has gotten a feeling that this marriage is doomed and something...
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...“Love is the root of death.” This saying, once preached by the famous singer Oscar Wilde, is seen constantly throughout Shakespeare’s plays. Love is a powerful emotion in the world, changing lives for good when practiced properly. However, when used poorly, it is a poison, resulting in the disaster of the user and others involved as portrayed in Romeo and Juliet. The two lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, were immature in both life and love, driven by desire and excitement as well as inexperience, causing them to fail at distinguishing true love from infatuation, which lead them to a fatal path. Even though he had experience in the area of love, Romeo was an immature lover in the way he approached it. Romeo talked of his deep love for Rosaline by saying she is “too fair, too wise” (I, i, 224), but when he saw the more beautiful Juliet at the party, Rosaline was completely forgotten. “Now Romeo is beloved and loves again, Alike bewitched by the charm of looks” (II, i, 5-6). This prologue stated how Romeo’s immaturity influenced his ways as a lover because he only loved according to the feelings of physical attraction. Likewise, Romeo’s first words to Juliet were that of wanting to kiss her: “My lips two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss” (I, v, 95-96). These instances within the play showed the fickle personality of Romeo that created a basis for the star-crossed lovers’ ultimate end. Juliet also lacked the wisdom to make right...
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...120). The Shakespearean tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, was written about two star-crossed lovers whose unfortunate deaths end the feud between their families. In the play, Romeo finds Juliet, and after only having a few meaningful conversations, Romeo has fallen in love. Despite their feuding families, the couple is determined to make their relationship work. Romeo, ready to proclaim his love for Juliet, stands under her balcony and recites the famous speech: “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” (II, ii, ln. 2). Romeo goes through emotional changes throughout the story, similar to the character Ralph from the novel Lord of the Flies. Romeo and Juliet includes strong messages that can be related...
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...Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two young lovers, their romance obstructed by a longstanding family feud. West Side Story retells this narrative with a change in setting. Instead of fair Verona, this musical is set in 1950s New York, and the protagonists come from rival gangs in place of rival families. The original Broadway production of West Side Story was nominated for six Tony awards, winning two (best choreography and best scenic design). By retelling the classics, creators can introduce new themes and perspectives. Each character in Romeo and Juliet has a corresponding character in West Side Story. Romeo and Juliet correspond to Tony and Maria, respectively. Romeo and Tony are very similar. At the beginning of the story, both of...
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...tension to the story. Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean play that displays these qualities. In the play, there were many different types of loyalty that progressed over time and were constantly being tested. When the loyalties were being tested by risks and threats, some characters resisted them while others did not. The Friar remained loyal to Romeo while the nurse betrayed Juliet when the nurse was tested with threats. However, one of the strongest bonds in the play was the relationship of Romeo and Juliet. The Friar was very devoted to Romeo, as he was allegiant to Romeo even after Romeo’s death. The Friar took the role as Romeo’s father, although...
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...Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare between the years 1591-1595, it is and it was one of the most well-known and well-quoted piece of English literature. Audience during Shakespeare times would watch his plays for fun and entertainment because they don’t have anything to do or to play with. The prologue creates tension because it starts to build up the following scene. The main themes of the play are when Romeo and Juliet fall in love and die together, this shows that two enemies fall in love and die together. Their families’ hate each other which makes them fought their lives for each other. ‘A pair of star-crossed lovers takes their life.’ It is a romantic quote which shows they both love each other so badly. It is also a romantic play with a lot of action. Shakespeare wanted to mix these two themes together because he wanted the audience to see how good his plays were. We know that Romeo is a teenager who is trying to find a girl. He wants a girl called Rosaline but she wants to be a nun. He keeps going after her but she is hard to get and to love. Romeo is a keen person and he wants to know what is happening around him. He is quite young to get married. Romeo is only 16 years old. Romeo uses religious words to describe Juliet when he sees her. Juliet is only 14 years old. Romeo is invited to the Capulet’s party and sees Juliet and then he forgets about Rosaline and falls in love with Juliet. Shakespeare starts Act 1 Scene 1 with servants in the kitchen, because he...
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...Four Day or Life Long Relationship? Love or Infatuation? Both are demonstrated by relationships in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and Romeo + Juliet by William Shakespeare. Infatuation is an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something, which is exactly what Romeo and Juliet experience, and love is best defined as an intense feeling of deep affection, and love is what George and Lennie have in their relationship. Since George and Lennie love each other, George and Lennie have a better relationship than Romeo and Juliet because they have been friends for a long time and they know each other better, they are loyal to one another, but not too loyal, and their relationship didn’t hurt anyone around them. George and...
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...English 11.4 20 April 2012 Love Through Hardship Love through hardship is a reoccurring theme seen in many different types of art, whether it’s a movie or a painting. Love through hardship is even seen in everyday life. Tim McGraw’s poem “Don’t Take the Girl” is a prime example of love through hardship. For example, “Stranger came and pulled a gun, grabbed her by the arm said “If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm,” and Johnny said "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards here's the watch that my grandpa gave me, here's the key to my car, mister give it a whirl, but please don't take the girl” (McGraw 1) This song shows that even through adversity love prospers and defeats tribulation. Furthermore, when a man or woman says something like this for their significant other it shows how much they love and care for them. Another example is when Time McGraw says, “Doctor says the baby's fine, but you'll have to leave 'cause his momma's fading fast, and Johnny hit his knees and there he prayed, take the very breath you gave me, take the heart from my chest, I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me, make this my last request, take me out of this world, God, please don't take the girl” (McGraw 1). Love does not fade when things get rough. The man in the poem is willing to sacrifice his life for hers, and that proves that love flourishes through all travail. That’s why “Don’t Take the Girl” by Tim McGraw is a perfect example of love through hardship. In...
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...Themes of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet 1 Themes of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a play about two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction from the beginning because of the hatred between the two families, Montagues and Capulets. Therefore, the themes of love and hate are very important in the play as the plot is driven by these two themes. Shakespeare brings out the love between the two rivals through Romeo and Juliet and their relationships with the Friar and the Nurse. I want to argue that in the play, the themes of love and hate are closely linked. To show this, I have selected some of the most important scenes in the play, which illustrate the idea that love and hate are closely bound together. The first example is the chorus, which is found at the beginning of the play, in the prologue. It is a short summary of what the play is about. The chorus is in the form of a sonnet and sonnets were often associated with love in the time of Shakespeare. However, the words of the chorus seem to emphasize the idea of hate although there are some words about love. “From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” (Prologue, 3-4) These two lines are about the feud between the families. It shows that it is a feud, which has been brewing for many years. By repeating the words civil, Shakespeare is stressing the fact that they are all civilians...
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