Nov 12, 2009

Romeo and Juliet | Imagery and Language

In this excerpt, E.C. Pettet examines how imagery reinforces two of the central concerns of Romeo and Juliet: the role of fate in determining the lovers' tragedy and the feud between the families. The influence of fate, the critic argues, is developed through the use of star imagery.

E. C. Pettet
[Pettet examines how imagery reinforces two of the central concerns of Romeo and Juliet: the role of fate in determining the lovers' tragedy and the feud between the families. The influence of fate, the critic argues, is developed through the use of star imagery, in which stars serve as a metaphor (an implied analogy which imaginatively identifies one object with another) for destiny, and through the "pilot" imagery which is used to describe Romeo's maturation and attempts to control his own destiny. Pettet also demonstrates how the paradox (a...