Seminar 2 answers

1. Search for some key quotations by Shakespeare. Relate them to the play they
belong to and comment on the passages you have chosen as descriptive of the
speaker’s situation in the play or of the main themes in the play.
First of all, I would like to point out why I think Shakespeare is a genius and why
I love his art. I may say that I saw a movie called “Anonymous”, which made me
doubt about how on earth a person could write such great and legendary writings. I
have read Julius Caesar and Hamlet. From my point of view, the best thing which
has been beautifully portrayed is its soliloquy section (a speech in the play where
the character speaks to himself/herself or to people watching them). I also admire
him because he was basically a businessman over an artist and the curious fact is
that he was clever enough to slide in his personal remarks and comments in a very
subtle manner because if it weren’t for the implementation of these techniques,
people wouldn’t have liked it. His way of ridiculing subjects as racism and society
issues was truly magnificent. His plays were very famous and popular because of
the wonderfully designed simple plot and humour. Moreover, the people loved to
see the objectification of women and their transition to rise to glory, family feuds,
love stories, romance and action. I personally think that one cannot judge his plays
from a fair point of view because Shakespeare is modelled according to the past and
we judge him through the present. But I must say that culture-wise he was an
intelligent man and master at his job.
Now, we shall move on with the question. I must say that I have a lot of favourites
and all of his quotations are masterpieces, but I would like to name five quotations,
from which two have already been read by me in the past. All of these quotations
are included or appear in plays and are related to various themes. Firstly, I would
like to mention a quotation from Romeo and Juliet and this one in particular is found
in the second scene of the second act. It goes like this: “What's in a name? That
which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo Montague
and Juliet meet and fall in love in Shakespeare's lyrical tale of "star-cross'd" lovers.
They are doomed from the start. Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial
and very meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called
"Romeo Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo,
passionate for Juliet, rejects his family name, as Juliet asks to deny his father and
instead be converted into Juliet's lover. This one short line encapsulates the central
struggle and tragedy of the play. Moreover, I will mention two quotations that are
related to themes such as anger and fate. For fate we have got the line: “Let us sit
and mock the good housewife Fortune from her wheel, that her gifts may henceforth
be bestowed equally.” and this belongs to the following pastoral comedy: As You
Like It. In this line the Roman goddess Fortuna was responsible for bestowing the
items of luck (good or bad) on humans. She was popularly shown as being blind.
She represented the sudden and unpredictable changes of life. She was also known
as the goddess of fate. In the Middle Ages, Fortuna came to be associated with the
Wheel of Fortune. In spite of talking about fate, we shall also name a quotation that
talks about anger in a scene in Othello and it goes like this: “I understand a fury in
your words. But not the words.”. Othello is ranting at her about how she has been
unfaithful to him, and she doesn't know what he is talking about. She knows he is
 angry, and she can read his emotion, but she doesn't know why he is saying it or
what he is saying. I have saved my personal favourites for last and the first one is:
“To be, or not to be”. This was the opening line in the first scene of the third act of
Shakespeare's play called Hamlet. The prince, Hamlet, is confused over death and
suicide. He's kind of sure about the pain, sorrow and unfairness of life, but thinks
that suicide is not the answer to end all the pains. And, after-life or consequences
of a suicide can be worse. What he meant was, "to live or not to live", "to die or not
to die" or "to commit suicide or not to commit suicide". People often use this phrase
when they are uncertain and confused over anything. Finally, I am mentioning my
favourite line and it belongs to Julius Caesar. The line is: “Not that I loved Caesar
less, but I loved Rome more”. This line was told by Brutus, a friend of Caesar. This
shows that Brutus is very patriotic, to the point where nationalism is more important
to him than his friends and therefore, Brutus killed Caesar because he thought that
this would help his city, Rome. Brutus stands against the idea of one-man rule, since
Caesar was showing signs of becoming king and thinks that Rome would do better
under a democracy and not a kingship. We can see how Shakespeare portrays a lot
of subjects such as lust, love, action, patriotism, fate and a lot of other mundane
themes in his writings.

2. This scene takes place at night in a garden. How does it affect the content of the
speeches?
From my point of view, it affects the whole scene in a ginormous and interesting
way because the speech and positioning of the characters seem to change and are
given the special taste that it needs. I would like to point out that this scene, also
known vulgarly as the balcony scene in “Romeo and Juliet”, stands alone as one of
literature's best and most poetic and romantic exchanges between two extreme
lovers because Shakespeare reveals their passionate and truthful love through the
use of the iambic pentameter (the number of syllables in the line and the emphasis
placed on those syllables) and a great amount of metaphors. If we analyse it in a
more specific way, we might find out that due to its state, the interest and curiosity
to meet each other grows because Juliet is in the balcony and Romeo is down at the
garden, which prevents him to observe her neatly. So, speech and talking is the main
goal here to achieve what they want. A kind of secretism is born between these two
characters because their love is impossible due to differences and fights between
their families. Mythical references are also included and themes such as sad love,
darkness, loneliness are included too. We have to keep in mind that he is standing
in the Capulet’s Garden (the surname of Juliet’s family is Capulet) and that is why
they whisper and are talking quite carefully in order to survive.

3. What are the comparisons or metaphors in this scene? Point out the vocabulary
related to the semantic field of nature and the senses.
A lot of metaphors related to nature, colours, shades and certain adjectives related
to body parts are used in this scene. These comparisons are used to describe in a
very poetic and magical way Juliet’s physical appearance and in some cases her
personality too. These characteristics show the appreciation and mad love Romeo
has got for Juliet. The moon is personified because it is envious and has emotions
or feelings attached to it. However, the main metaphors are used for Juliet. First of
 all, the line: “He jests at scars that never felt a wound”, this is a very special way or
technique to refer to the pain the heart has suffered through this impossible love and
awaiting. Because there is no possible way to have scars without wounds and it
means interior or internal pain, where physical wounds or scars don’t exist.
Secondly, he also compares Juliet to a light to describe her and that implies that she
has enlightened him and brought light back into his life. She has brought back joy
and finished with the darkness that Romeo was surrounded with due to great despair
he had felt by Rosaline. That is why light breaks through glass or window and
defeats darkness. The metaphor is extended because the light rises from the east,
therefore indicating sunrise. His life was being introduced with a new chapter and
his life was experiencing a new birth or start. The sun is compared with Juliet too
and it means that she is the bringer of life and energy that has revitalized him. The
envious moon is described as darkness and the sun is going to help him defeat it.
Furthermore, Juliet’s eyes are compared with the fairest stars in the sky and this
means that her eyes are light coloured, gorgeous and sincere. He also talks about
twinkling in their spheres (eyes) as if he was the dust or glowing light alongside her
or it could also have a similar meaning to the rotation Saturn’s ring has. That planet
is totally unrecognizable without it, such as Romeo without Juliet. We also have a
comparison between her cheeks and stars, where her cheeks are lighter and whiter
than those stars. She was so bright that even the daylight created her as the lamp of
nature. She was so bright that even birds would be confused what time of the day it
was and sing as if it were morning time. Juliet is compared to an angel or messenger
of heaven because she is perfect in the eyes of Romeo. In addition, he also treats
his surname as her enemy because that is the reason why they cannot be together
even though Juliet loves him for who he is and not for where he comes from. We
have an interesting line here: “My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words”, where
we can notice an unusual attribute used for ears and instead should be used for
mouth. This is why we talk about Shakespeare being a genius. Besides that, we also
have moments in which Romeo vows their love to a moon and this gesture isn’t
liked by Juliet because she wants their love to be eternal and live on forever. Their
love is also portrayed as lightning because it is happening all of a sudden. He feels
like a prisoner because he has no freedom. On the other hand, we do have many
more metaphors but concentrating on the words and vocabulary related to nature
and senses we find light, sun, moon, air, clouds, sea, night, etc. are used in this
scene to compare and for senses we can mention eyes, ears, tongue, etc. Many of
them have been mentioned earlier in the answer. Finally, I would like to summarize
by saying that Shakespeare’s plays were based on doubting and finding a deeper
view or meaning in certain elements.

4. How would you describe the relationship between Romeo and Juliet at this point:
what is happening?
Romeo and Juliet are crazy in love, the balcony scene solidifies the bond of love
for both characters. In the scene, Romeo and Juliet are completely alone for the first
time. There is tension because of the danger that they may be discovered, but that
simply adds to the mere excitement of the scene. The balcony scene is and will be
critically important to the development of the plot because it is during this scene
when the lovers' secret marriage is decided. Juliet will not give up her honour. She
 insists on marriage, or no relationship at all. Romeo is happy to pursue a wedding
too. Romeo’s life is being refreshed and a new chapter or life is being born due to
Juliet’s light and warmth.

5. Do we get a sense of tragedy or of joy in this scene? Explain where and why.
From my point of view, we do get a very positive and joyful vibe rather than a
very tragic moment because this meeting is the first proper alone unity between
both of them. Romeo has had tough moments lately because he has been very sad
and completely devastated because of dark and lonely moments. Juliet has brought
and driven light and positive energy into Romeo’s life in order to start a new and
fresh life. Juliet is the bringer of life and energy that has revitalized him. Juliet is
kind of a warrior who helps Romeo defeat the darkness and live together forever.
We can see this this throughout the whole scene, and specially when the light breaks
through the window in order to defeat the darkness and when he compares her to
the sun and light, who defeats the moon. This belongs to the first Romeo dialogue
and page 107 in our blue book. A lot of examples are portrayed here in which she
is compared to an angel, heavens messenger, stars, etc. in pages 108 and 110. These
are examples of joy and the only tragedy I find in this scene is when he struggles to
climb the orchard walls in page 109 or at the end of the scene when they farewell
and wait for something else to happen. In summary, the play of Romeo and Juliet
does not make a specific moral statement about the relationships between love and
society, religion, and family, it rather portrays the chaos and passion of being in
love, violence, death, religion, and family in an impressionistic rush leading to the
play’s tragic conclusion.

6. How does Shakespeare create suspense and dynamism in the dialogue?

Shakespeare was a true master at his art and I have no doubt that he is the father
of English literature and one of the best writers in humanity. The opening scene in
the second act places us very close to Juliet, who is talking about Romeo, because
she is in the balcony. Both the characters are situated in a great distance and she is
displaying her feelings. At first glance this view of Juliet seems to be hidden from
Romeo’s perspective and after that moment, we are seeing the dialogues happen in
between these two lovers. Perspective is a huge issue used by Shakespeare because
both of them can’t see the others face or body clearly. Shakespeare has just created
an immense sense of suspense and dynamism because he adds a lot of comparations
or metaphors alongside personifications in this play. In conclusion, suspense grows
and is added due to the darkness of the night and because of this sometimes Romeo
and Juliet feel quite alone and lost in between the dialogues. They aren’t certainly
sure if they are talking to each other or another person. Confusion is drawn, but they
still go with it because they hadn’t talked or met for a long time.
7. Can you think of any love scene in literature or film that resembles this one?
I must say that a lot of movies have been made on the idea of Romeo and Juliet
and their impossible love. Romeo and Juliet the movie, the Notebook, the fault in
our stars, etc. are pretty good examples, but I would like to point out Titanic as my
favourite movie in this genre and they have a lot of differences, but they do have
many things in common too. Romeo and Juliet were kept apart by their families.
However, they were of the same social class and status. Although, Jack and Rose
could not be together because they came from very different social classes. Romeo
kills Tybalt as an act of revenge and this decision makes Romeo and Juliet's happy
ending less probable. On the other side, Jack is framed by Cal for the theft of Rose's
diamond necklace, which was given to her by Cal. He does this because he finds
Jack's nude drawing of Rose. This also makes Rose and Jack's happy ending less
probable. The icing on the cake is the simple fact that both ended in a sad and crying
way because an unpreventable death occurred.

8. Do we get the feeling that they are sincere in their love?

From my point of view, the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is genuine and
sincere love and not an immature obsession. I believe this because Romeo and Juliet
are young children or youngsters and they actually die for one another even though
they could have found love elsewhere, after all the world was big and they are very
young. Without hesitation Romeo takes poison as he cannot bear to exist without
Juliet and Juliet takes her own life too by placing a dagger through heart without
any hesitation whatsoever as she cannot exist or lead a normal life without Romeo.
I believe this is one of the many reasons I believe Shakespeare's play Romeo and
Juliet is based on true love for one another. I knew the ending because I have already
read Romeo and Juliet, and I must admit their lives went through a huge transition
in which childish love was converted into suffering and mature love throughout the
course of time. I would like to end my answer with this quote: “I guess that’s just
part of loving people. You have to give things up. Sometimes you even have to give
them up.”