Romeo and Juliet | Criticism

  • Overview
    In this broad overview of Romeo and Juliet, Douglas Cole outlines the major elements of the play that have typically generated the most commentary in an attempt to explain both the play's significance and its enduring appeal. The critic discusses the tragedy in relation to Shakespeare's other writings; how the playwright adapted the drama from the sources and traditional dramatic and poetic models available to him; the play's language, structure, and themes; and its adherence to conventional tragic dramaturgy, or theatrical representation.
  • Tragic Design
    In the first excerpt, Franklin Dickey asserts that fate, divine will, and the lovers' passion are inseparably linked in Romeo and Juliet and all of these agents contribute to the catastrophe. In the second excerpt, Lorentz Eckhoff maintains that Romeo's and Juliet's tragic deaths result from their own impulsiveness. Irving Ribner, in the third selection, provides a Christian interpretation of Romeo and Juliet in which he contends that the lovers' deaths are ordained by God to reconcile the feuding families. In the last excerpt, Harold Wilson asserts that the feud is the central concern of the play. Wilson argues that Shakespeare marred this design, however, by making his hero and heroine so attractive that the audience loses interest in the dramatic action once they are dead, thus ignoring the true culmination of the play in the resolution of the feud.
  • Adherence to the Rules of Tragedy
    In the first excerpt, G.H. Durrant describes a fictional dicussion by three students (A, B, and C), guided by their teacher (Lecturer or Mr. X), debating whether or not Romeo and Juliet adheres to the guidelines of Aristotelian tragedy. In the second excerpt, Clifford Leech asserts that the drama diverges from tragedy because it fails to fully establish an element of "mystery" in the action, thereby forcing the reader to attribute the progression of events to the operation of fate.
  • Time and Haste
    Tom Driver, in the first excerpt, examines Romeo and Juliet in terms of the necessity of condensing "real" time into stage time in such a way that the audience will believe the events of the play have actually taken place. In the second excerpt, Stirling offers a detailed analysis of numerous elements that contribute to the theme of haste in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Aspects of Love
    In the first excerpt, Leonara Brodwin studies Romeo and Juliet in relation to the courtly love tradition in Elizabethan romance. Courtly love is a philosophy that was prominent in chivalric times and had a significant irifluence on Renaissance literature. In the second excerpt, Van Doren contrasts Romeo and Juliet's attitude toward love with that of the other characters. While the hero and heroine view love as holy and solemn, the critic observes, Mercutio considers it pornographic, the Capulets prudent, and the Nurse practical, though, unlike the Capulets, with a "certain prurient interest." In the last excerpt, Maurice Charney places Romeo and Juliet in the context of love and lust as it is traditionally represented in Shakespeare, ultimately arguing that love in itself does not produce the tragedy in the play.
  • 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.
  • Romeo and Juliet
    In the first selection, Clifford Leech views Romeo and Juliet's love as a maturing experience for the hero and heroine. In the second excerpt, C. Webster Wheelock cites numerous passages in support of his theory that the paradoxical blending of sexual love and death is the central theme in Romeo and Juliet. In the last excerpt, Alice Shalvi asserts that Shakespeare designed the tragic outcome to be the result of the lovers' "passionate rashness," and particularly Romeo's "passionate nature and his lack of moderation."
  • The Nurse
    In the first excerpt, Granville-Barker praises the Nurse as a well-conceived, rich, and natural character and compares her with Falstaff, one of Shakespeare's greatest comic creations. Martin Stevens, in the second selection, examines the Nurse's role as a messenger who acts as a go-between for the young lovers in Romeo and Juliet.
  • Mercutio
    Harold Goddard, in the first excerpt, declares that Mercutio, like the Nurse, is an extreme sensualist and heathen. Goddard examines the Queen Mab speech, asserting that it is a device used by Shakespeare to show what constitutes true poetry. In the second excerpt, Granville-Barker characterizes Mercutio as a supreme realist and egoist, commenting on his individuality and his freedom from affectation.
  • Friar Lawrence
    In this excerpt, Bert Cardullo focuses on Friar Lawrence's actions to demonstrate that the play's catastrophe results from the rash behavior of several characters. The critic argues that had the priest acted with less haste, the lovers' tragic deaths might have been prevented.

Dictionary Tip:

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.