how to structure a romeo and juliet essay gcse

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Romeo and Juliet

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William Shakespeare

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A+ Student Essay

In Romeo and Juliet, which is more powerful: fate or the characters’ own actions?

In the opening Prologue of Romeo and Juliet , the Chorus refers to the title characters as “star-crossed lovers,” an allusion to the belief that stars and planets have the power to control events on Earth. This line leads many readers to believe that Romeo and Juliet are inescapably destined to fall in love and equally destined to have that love destroyed. However, though Shakespeare’s play raises the possibility that some impersonal, supernatural force shapes Romeo and Juliet’s lives, by the end of the play it becomes clear that the characters bear more of the responsibility than Fortune does.

Though the Prologue offers the first and perhaps most famous example of celestial imagery in Romeo and Juliet , references to the stars, sun, moon, and heavens run throughout the play, and taken as a whole that imagery seems to express a different view of human responsibility. In Act 1, scene 4, Romeo says that he fears “some consequence yet hanging in the stars” when he and his gang approach the Capulet’s ball. In his next mention of stars, however, Romeo doesn’t refer to their astrological power. Rather, he uses the image of stars to describe Juliet’s otherworldly beauty. Most of the subsequent celestial images in the play follow in this vein, from Romeo’s love-struck comparison of Juliet to the sun to Juliet’s own wish to “cut [Romeo] out into little stars” when he dies. Throughout the play, these astral images are more often associated with the two lovers than with divine fate, emphasizing that, as the play’s action escalates, we cannot simply place the blame for the tragedy on some impersonal external force.

It’s true that Romeo and Juliet have some spectacularly bad luck. Tybalt picks a fatal fight with Romeo on the latter’s wedding day, causing Capulet to move up the wedding with Paris. The crucial letter from Friar Lawrence goes missing due to an ill-timed outbreak of the plague. Romeo kills himself mere moments before Juliet wakes up. It’s also true that the lovers aren’t solely responsible for their difficult situation: Their friends, their families, and their society each played a role in creating the tragic circumstances. However, even if we allow that fate or some other divine force caused Romeo and Juliet to fall in love at first sight, thereby setting the action into motion, Shakespeare makes it clear that the characters’ own decisions push that situation to its tragic conclusion. Either Romeo or Juliet, it is suggested, could have halted the headlong rush into destruction at any of several points.

Romeo’s propensity for rash action gets him—and his beloved—in a lot of trouble. His impulsiveness has made him a romantic icon in our culture, but in the play it proves his undoing. From the very beginning, Shakespeare cautions us not to view Romeo’s sudden fits of passion too idealistically—after all, Shakespeare makes a point to show that Romeo’s love for Juliet merely displaced another, earlier infatuation. Through his hasty actions, Romeo arguably drives the play toward tragedy more aggressively than any other character. He climbs over Juliet’s wall the night they meet and presses her to bind herself to him. He kills Tybalt in a blind rage. Then, thinking Juliet dead, he poisons himself. Romeo never thinks his actions through, and his lack of foresight makes him responsible for their dire consequences.

Though Juliet proves a strong-willed partner for Romeo, she bears less of the blame for their joint fate because she, at least, is wary of the speed at which they progress. In the balcony scene, she compares their love to lightning, which flares up suddenly but can just as quickly fade into darkness. Unlike Romeo, each of Juliet’s fateful choices is a logical response to a situation. She agrees to marry him because she needs evidence that he is truly committed to her. She takes the potion not out of despair, but because she believes Friar Lawrence’s plan will set things to rights. Though each of her choices ends up getting her and her lover deeper into trouble, those choices are at least the result of sober, careful reflection. Only when she sees her beloved dead does she succumb to his style of rashness, killing herself out of grief.

Romeo and Juliet concludes with a strong condemnation of the characters’ actions. In the closing family portrait, the Capulets and the Montagues gather around the tomb to witness the consequences of their absurd conflict. Even if you don’t believe that Romeo and Juliet could have saved themselves, you must admit that their families’ blind hatred caused the situation, not the gods. As the Prince notes, even “[t]he sun for sorrow will not show his head” on that tragic day—even the heavens are pained at the human foolishness they see below.

Romeo and Juliet SparkNotes Literature Guide

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ROMEO AND JULIET

An Essay Writing Guide for GCSE (9-1)

So you now know the play – but how do you structure your essay?

This clean & simple new guide from Accolade Press will walk you through how to plan and structure essay responses to questions on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . By working through seven mock questions, these detailed essay plans will show you how to go about building a theme based answer – while the accompanying notes will illustrate not only how to masterfully structure your response , but also how to ensure all AQA's Assessment Objectives are being satisfied.

R.P. Davis has a First Class degree in English Literature from UCL, and a Masters in Literature from Cambridge University. Aside from teaching GCSE English (which he's done for nearly a decade now), he has also written a string of bestselling thriller novels

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Alternatively, you can purchase and download an electronically delivered PDF directly from us here .

SAMPLE FROM THE GUIDE

In your GCSE English Literature exam, you will be presented with an extract from Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet  and a question that asks you to offer both a close analysis of the extract plus a commentary of the play as a whole. Of course, there are many methods one  might  use to tackle this style of question. However, there is one particular technique which, due to its sophistication, most readily allows students to unlock the highest marks: namely,  the thematic method . 

To be clear, this study guide is  not  intended to walk you through the play scene-by-scene: there are many great guides out there that do just that. No, this guide, by sifting through a series of mock exam questions, will demonstrate  how  to organise a response thematically and thus write a stellar essay: a skill we believe no other study guide adequately covers!

I have encountered students who have structured their essays all sorts of ways: some by writing about the extract line by line, others by identifying various language techniques and giving each its own paragraph. The method I’m advocating, on the other hand, involves picking out three to four themes that will allow you to holistically answer the question: these three to four themes will become the three to four content paragraphs of your essay, cushioned between a brief introduction and conclusion. Ideally, these themes will follow from one to the next to create a flowing argument. Within each of these thematic paragraphs, you can then ensure you are jumping through the mark scheme’s hoops. 

The Shakespearian equivalent of a selfie.

So to break things down further, each thematic paragraph will include various point-scoring components. In each paragraph, you will quote from the extract, offer analyses of these quotes, then discuss how the specific language techniques you have identified illustrate the theme you’re discussing. In each paragraph, you will also discuss how other parts of the play further illustrate the theme (or even complicate it). And in each, you will comment on the era in which the play was written and how that helps to understand the chosen theme.

Don’t worry if this all feels daunting. Throughout this guide, I will be illustrating in great detail – by means of examples – how to build an essay of this kind.

The beauty of the thematic approach is that, once you have your themes, you suddenly have a direction and a trajectory, and this makes essay writing a whole lot easier. However, it must also be noted that extracting themes in the first place is something students often find tricky. I have come across many candidates who understand the extract and the play inside out; but when they are presented with a question under exam conditions, and the pressure kicks in, they find it tough to break their response down into themes. The fact of the matter is: the process is a  creative  one and the best themes require a bit of imagination. 

In this guide, I shall take seven different exam-style questions, coupled with extracts from the play, and put together a plan for each – a plan that illustrates in detail how we will be satisfying the mark scheme’s criteria. Please do keep in mind that, when operating under timed conditions, your plans will necessarily be less detailed than those that appear in this volume. 

The Globe Theatre in London. It was built on the site of the original, which was burnt down in 1613.

Now, you might be asking whether three or four themes is best. The truth is, you should do whatever you feel most comfortable with: the examiner is looking for an original, creative answer, and not sitting there counting the themes. So if you think you are quick enough to cover four, then great. However, if you would rather do three to make sure you do each theme justice, that’s also fine. I sometimes suggest that my student pick four themes, but make the fourth one smaller – sort of like an afterthought, or an observation that turns things on their head. That way, if they feel they won’t have time to explore this fourth theme in its own right, they can always give it a quick mention in the conclusion instead. 

Before I move forward in earnest, I believe it to be worthwhile to run through the four Assessment Objectives the exam board want you to cover in your response – if only to demonstrate how effective the thematic response can be. I would argue that the first Assessment Objective (AO1) – the one that wants candidates to ‘read, understand and respond to texts’ and which is worth 12 of the total 34 marks up for grabs – will be wholly satisfied by selecting strong themes, then fleshing them out with quotes. Indeed, when it comes to identifying the top-scoring candidates for AO1, the mark scheme explicitly tells examiners to look for a ‘critical, exploratory, conceptualised response’ that makes ‘judicious use of precise references’ – the word ‘concept’ is a synonym of theme, and ‘judicious references’ simply refers to quotes that appropriately support the theme you’ve chosen.

The second Assessment Objective (AO2) – which is also responsible for 12 marks – asks students to ‘analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ As noted, you will already be quoting from the play as you back up your themes, and it is a natural progression to then analyse the language techniques used. In fact, this is far more effective than simply observing language techniques (personification here, alliteration there), because by discussing how the language techniques relates to and shapes the theme, you will also be demonstrating how the writer ‘create[s] meanings and effects.’ 

Now, in my experience, language analysis is the most important element of AO2 – perhaps 8 of the 12 marks will go towards language analysis. You will also notice, however, that AO2 asks students to comment on ‘form and structure.’ Again, the thematic approach has your back – because though simply jamming in a point on form or structure will feel jarring, when you bring these points up while discussing a theme, as a means to further a thematic argument, you will again organically be discussing the way it ‘create[s] meanings and effects.’ 

The Globe Theatre’s interior.

AO3 requires you to ‘show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written’ and is responsible for a more modest 6 marks in total. These are easy enough to weave into a thematic argument; indeed, the theme gives the student a chance to bring up context in a relevant and fitting way. After all, you don’t want it to look like you’ve just shoehorned a contextual factoid into the mix.

My hope is that this book, by demonstrating how to tease out themes from an extract, will help you feel more confident in doing so yourself. I believe it is also worth mentioning that the themes I have picked out are by no means definitive. Asked the very same question, someone else may pick out different themes, and write an answer that is just as good (if not better!). Obviously the exam is not likely to be fun – my memory of them is pretty much the exact opposite. But still, this is one of the very few chances that you will get at GCSE level to actually be creative. And to my mind at least, that was always more enjoyable – if  enjoyable  is the right word – than simply demonstrating that I had memorised loads of facts.

Essay Plan One

Read the following extract from act 1 scene 2 of romeo and juliet and then answer the question that follows..

At this point in the play, Paris is asking Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage.

PARIS But now, my lord, what say you to my suit? CAPULET But saying o’er what I have said before: My child is yet a stranger in the world; She hath not seen the change of fourteen years, Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride. PARIS Younger than she are happy mothers made. CAPULET And too soon marr’d are those so early made. The earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she, She is the hopeful lady of my earth: But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart, My will to her consent is but a part; An she agree, within her scope of choice Lies my consent and fair according voice.

Starting with this extract, explore the degree to which you think Shakespeare portrays Lord Capulet as a bad father. Write about: • how Shakespeare portrays Capulet in this extract. • how Shakespeare portrays Capulet in the play as a whole.

Introduction

The introduction should be short and sweet, yet still pack a punch. I personally like to score an early context point (AO3) in the opening sentence. Then, in the second sentence, I like to hint at the themes I’m going to cover, so that the examiner feels as though they have their bearings and is thus ready to hand out AO1 marks.

In this instance, I score early AO3 marks by invoking another Shakespeare text that places  Romeo and Juliet  in context. After this, I keep things short and sweet, hinting at the ambivalent approach I am about to take.1

“Father-daughter relationships abound in Shakespeare: the other mid-1590s sister play to  Romeo and Juliet  –  A Midsummer’s Night Dream  – starts with a father, Egeus, threatening his daughter, Hermia, with unwanted wedlock. However, while Capulet puts on a similar performance, he also embodies a host of admirable qualities that complicate an audience's perception.”

Theme/Paragraph One: Capulet exhibits genuine concern for his daughter’s wellbeing: in this extract, he is particularly concerned about his daughter marrying too young. However, this is undercut later in the play by his heavy-handed attempt at discipline.

As suitors go, Paris is hardly presented as a menacing presence: he politely asks Capulet for Juliet’s hand: ‘what say you of my suit?’ Nevertheless, Capulet quickly makes known his worries about Juliet’s extreme youth (‘not seen the change of fourteen years’), and exhibits concern that an early marriage could be detrimental: ‘Too soon marr’d are those early made.’ The alliteration of ‘marr’d’ and ‘made’ adds emphasis to Capulet’s point by powerfully linking these words: those who get made in marriage too soon end up marred.2 Capulet seems genuinely concerned for his daughter’s wellbeing and the implication of her tender age. [ AO1 for advancing the argument with a judiciously selected quote; AO2 for the close analysis of the language ].

However, although Capulet is presented as a caring father towards Juliet here, elsewhere he is presented as the polar opposite. In Act 3 Scene 5, Capulet, in the wake of Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris, threatens his daughter with violence (‘my fingers itch’) and brutally objectifies her: ‘You be mine, I’ll give you to my friend.’

Theme/Paragraph Two: Capulet in this extract is portrayed as emotionally frail, and arguably this frailty leads to an anxiety-driven, rash decision.

Capulet in this extract is oddly mercurial and rash in his decision making: at first, he is against Paris courting his daughter; yet, in the space of a few lines, he changes his mind: ‘woo her gentle Paris.’3

Although it might be argued that this vacillation should be attributed to Capulet’s deep concern for his daughter – an instinct to marry her to someone who can provide for her – on closer inspection, this is only half the story. Capulet lets slip that he has lost other offspring: he claims that ‘The earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she’ – the image of a personified earth eating his hopes communicating the fact other offspring have been buried, while the elision in ‘swallow’d’ has the missing ‘e’ mirror this loss.4 As a result of this emotional wound, Capulet goes against his own better judgement to ‘let two more summers wither’ and makes a rash volte-face .5 His concern for his daughter, therefore, is not only counterbalanced by a fierce temper, but also compromised by an emotional wound that muddles Capulet’s decision making. [ AO1 for advancing the argument with a judiciously selected quote; AO2 for the close analysis of the language ].

However, later in the play, one sees that Capulet’s frailty lends him greater emotional intelligence as a father: after Juliet feigns her death in Act 4, Capulet mourns her death with moving poetry: ‘Death lies on her like an untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower.’ That this elegy comes right at the close of Act 4 lends it extra structural emphasis, since the natural pause between acts forces the audience to linger on the words.6 [AO2 for observing how structure shapes meaning].

Theme/Paragraph Three. Capulet is a good father insofar as he sets a positive example in the way he interacts with the wider world.

In this passage, Capulet comes across as a positive role model in the community. He deals with Paris in a calm, respectful manner – even though Paris is pursuing his young daughter. Even if one disagrees with his final response, he does show patience with Paris. Indeed, Capulet does not monologue at Paris; rather, there is a respectful back and forth, and Capulet gives Paris space to speak. This is exemplified by Paris’s line – ‘younger than she are happy mothers made’ – midway through the extract: Shakespeare, by interpolating this line amid Capulet’s words, uses form to relay a sense of respectful dialogue. [AO2 for observing how form shapes meaning].

Elsewhere in the play : At Capulet’s party, Capulet attempts to keep the peace when Tybalt is trying to escalate tensions with the Montague gatecrashers. However, whereas Capulet cast himself as a respectable role model in this scene, at other points in the play he falls well short: the audience’s very first introduction to Capulet, prior to this extract, sees him seeming to lust for violence: ‘Give me my long sword, ho!’ – Shakespeare’s structural decision to place this line in the play’s opening scene lending it extra emphasis. [AO2 for observing how structure shapes meaning].

I have a smaller theme tucked up my sleeve; however, given the length of the previous themes, it feels wisest to integrate it into the conclusion. I wish to point out that Capulet exhibits a flexibility that boosts our estimation of his fathering abilities...

“Capulet – like the play in which he appears – embodies powerful contrasts: he is a positive role model to Juliet, yet a provocateur; an empathetic father, but callous.7 This extract exemplifies Shakespeare’s flair for ambiguity. Although one might argue (as above) that Capulet's volte-face ought to be considered a flaw, it could equally be considered a virtue: he has an admirable capacity for flexibility, which allows him to hew to Juliet’s choices in a way that empowers her: ‘Within her scope of choice / Lies my consent and fair according voice.’ The audience is left feeling as if Capulet is ‘a stranger in this world’ – an individual beyond our ability to definitively decipher . ”

1 To be ambivalent is to have mixed feelings about something or someone.

2 If something has been marred, it has been damaged or disfigured.

3 If someone is mercurial, it means their mood or state of mind is frequently subject to change.

4 Elision is when you remove a syllable or a sound from a word, and is usually signified by an apostrophe replacing the missing syllable. We use elision all the time in present-day English – for example, ‘let’s’ and ‘I’m’.

5 A  volte-face  is when someone takes the polar opposite view to the one they previously held.

6 An elegy is a lyric or poem that involves deep contemplation, and is most frequently seen during the commemoration of a death.

7 A provocateur is someone who intentionally acts in such a way as to provoke strong emotions in others.

Proceeding chapters….

Essay Plan Two : explain how Shakespeare presents Romeo’s feelings towards Juliet.

Essay Plan Three : explain how far you think Shakespeare presents the Friar as a positive influence.

Essay Plan Four : explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Mercutio as a heroic character.

Essay Plan Five : explain how Shakespeare presents the idea of justice in  Romeo and Juliet .

Essay Plan Six : discuss to what extent the Nurse is portrayed as a maternal figure in the play.

Essay Plan Seven : explain how Shakespeare portrays grief in  Romeo and Juliet .

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

I love this book as in how specific it is in terms of delivering how students should study the extracts of Romeo and Juliet. I am a tutor and I believe this is a possible guidance to how to study literature and the answering techniques to literature exams. Not only is the mindset applicable to questions related to Romeo and Juliet, but also to literature in GCSE in general. This is a book that students would want to read because the language is not hard either, and it patiently guides you through - highly recommended to GCSE students (and tutors perhaps!)

This is a really useful revision guide in a great format. Focussing on the structure of planning and writing essays in the way that examiners are looking for is so useful for GCSE students. This book shows that it's not just about memorising content, but understanding key themes, events and quotations to gain higher marks. I would love to see a guide like this for more texts!

I found this text really useful from a parent's point of view, as it helped me understand what the exam questions are looking for, and will enable me to help my child better. It gives us a starting point for discussion for any exam question, not just those specific ones covered. Really clear structure. Would be great to see this format for other Shakespeare plays.

This is an extremely helpful guide to help students formulate and structure GCSE essay questions. Using a varied range of sample questions on the text it unpicks potential answers paragraph by paragraph and really helps students learn how to incorporate themes and gain those extra marks from the very start of the question. My daughter will find it invaluable in her GCSE revision.

Excellent guide for students going for the highest grades.

This is not a basic guide to R&J but rather an explanation as to how to structure essays thematically so as to achieve the highest grades (the marking structure is explained). The book therefore sets out seven detailed essays plans relating to key passages in the text. On a basic level this would help any student think intelligently about characters and themes eg Shakespeare’s portrayal of the friar, the idea of justice etc, but in a higher level it suggests a structure help the most able students order their thoughts and think about themes and how to present them.

As someone who studied this text for GCSE in 1994, I wish this was around then. My daughter struggled with my old revision guide but says this is laid out in such a way that it is clear to follow. It unpicks what the questions actually want as answers by liking at the questions in detail but simply enough to understand.

It was very easy to read and understand and stimulated further thoughts that my daughter agreed she hadn’t necessarily considered. She found it very comprehensive and has since used it when writing further essays. She has used some the the techniques suggested by the study guide to back up advice given by her teacher, which has definitely helped her gain higher marks, and made it a lot less stressful for her and us! As a parent it has helped me understand what information is expected from an exam perspective. Great guide would highly recommend.

My daughter got the guide to help aide with her studies.

She has found this particularly useful and would recommend this to all students taking their GCSEs.

It has helped retiterate points she has learned and helped with formation of essays, helping her put extra content in the writing.

A review from my son: This book is perfect for GCSE English students. It is easy to read it is pitched at just the right level for students hoping to get a high grade. It explains and demonstrates perfectly how to organise and write a Romeo and Juliet essay. It takes you through a good choice of possible exam questions and it emphasises how important the themes are. It shows you how to analyse themes and quotes from all parts of the play as well as showing you how to structure a response to the different questions and how give a much more in depth answer so you can get extra marks and a higher grade. I am now much more confident going into the exam!

As a parent, this is a really useful guide. It now gives me a much better idea of how I should be encouraging my son to prepare for his exams and make the best use of his revision time.

The essays in the book cover the main topics and typical questions that students may encounter in their exams. It clearly explains the marking criteria, so that students can fully understand how to bring in the different aspects into their own writing. The thematic approach gives them new ideas of how to approach the question and is helping them with their essay planning overall.

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Beyond GCSE Revision

Gcse-grade revision from beyond, powered by twinkl, the ultimate gcse romeo and juliet revision guide.

We all know the feeling: you’ve spent months teaching Romeo and Juliet to your Year 11s. They’ve acted out passages, created character cards, summarised scenes and written essays. They should know everything there is to know about the star-cross’d lovers. And then, when you’re just weeks from the exam, a student asks, “which one was Mercutio again?”. This is where a good GCSE Romeo and Juliet revision guide becomes not only desirable – it’s essential.

It’s the sort of head-in-hands moment that occurs in every classroom as exams loom near. Texts which were once so thoroughly studied that students knew them better than the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song have disappeared from their heads in a fume of sighs. And you, the beleaguered teacher, have to somehow re-ignite their memories before the GCSE English Literature exam. O rude unthankfulness!

So what would you look for when teaching students how to revise Romeo and Juliet? GCSE syllabi differ, obviously, but they all require certain basics of textual knowledge. At one of those head-brickwall moments, I mentally composed my wishlist for the ultimate GCSE Romeo and Juliet revision guide. And here it is:

Sample Answers

The most important for thing for me is Romeo and Juliet exam questions and answers. I find sample answers to be one of the most effective ways to teach students about how to approach exam questions. By seeing where others have made mistakes, or, conversely, where others have excelled, students know how to burn bright themselves.

Key Themes and Context

Next, I’d have to say that a comprehensive summary and discussion of themes found in Romeo and Juliet is essential. And the themes shouldn’t be viewed in isolation, they should come with a detailed discussion of the social and historical context of Romeo and Juliet. After all, where Shakespeare lays his scene is an important part of AO3.

The bane of every student’s life is learning quotations for exams, and it can be hard to decide which are the most important. So the most significant Romeo and Juliet quotes, together with a discussion of their relevance, is essential. Otherwise, just like the Nurse, your students will end up in a rambling mess of imprecise anecdotes.

And, of course, to avoid that confusion about Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet character information is a must. The play’s two households may be alike in dignity but that can be a problem when students are trying to remember who’s who. A handy reminder of who does what and when is great for students while they’re recapping.

Plot Summary

Students are going to watch Luhrmann’s film – of course they are. And rightly so: it’s a cinematic masterpiece. But for a more detailed plot summary of the violent delights and violent ends of the play, they should be able to turn to a dependable revision guide.

Key Language Terms

Finally, I’ve always thought revision guides should include a list of useful vocabulary for students to use when analysing language. A sort of word bank to prompt them when writing practice essays. After all, although a rose by any other word would smell as sweet, examiners tend to be a bit less forgiving when it comes to vocabulary.

So there it is: my wishlist for a Romeo and Juliet revision guide. And, because I am lucky enough to work at Beyond, I got my wish granted. I rubbed the magic lamp, and the office genies swung into action.

We’ve produced a comprehensive revision guide for GCSE grades 1-9. It’s written by experienced teachers based on what they know works in the classroom. It’s beautifully illustrated with captivating drawings and skilfully designed to be engaging and enticing. It’s got a comprehensive plot summary, detailed character outlines, questions for discussion, contextual information, practice exam questions, sample answers and a huge list of useful terms. It’s even interactive, so students can click through it with ease, skipping from characters to key terms at the click of a button.

The Romeo and Juliet Revision Guide

So here it is, in all its glory: The Beyond English Romeo and Juliet GCSE Revision Guide . Did my heart love till now?

To help students with Romeo and Juliet GCSE revision, we’ve also created a range of revision videos that tackle a range of concepts from the play, including:

• Exam Assessment Objectives
• Understanding the Play
• Act 1 Summary
• Act 2 Summary
• Act 3 Summary
• Act 4 Summary
• Act 5 Summary

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Form, structure and language - AQA Use of structure in Romeo and Juliet

The form, structure and language of Romeo and Juliet reveals how Shakespeare presented his play to his audience, exploring his intentions and what he was trying to make the audience think and feel.

Part of English Literature Romeo and Juliet

Use of structure in Romeo and Juliet

When analysing structure, think about how Shakespeare has ordered his text - how he has put it together. There are two aspects to consider here:

• Text level - this is how the text is constructed as a whole, thinking about the opening, middle and ending of Romeo and Juliet . Within this, we are going to look at how a character or a theme progresses and develops in the narrative. close narrative The sequence of events in a plot; a story.
• Sentence level - this is how the text is constructed at a sentence level. Within this, we are going to look at sentence types, lengths and the ordering of events.

The play is split into five acts. Below is a summary of what happens in each act.

• Act 1 - the battle between the two families. The Prince declares the next battle will result in exile. Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love.
• Act 2 - Romeo and Juliet decide to marry. Friar Laurence organises and blesses the wedding.
• Act 3 - Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo avenges Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt. Romeo is banished but manages to spend the night with Juliet, consummating their marriage. Capulet decides Juliet must marry Paris and she refuses.
• Act 4 - Juliet goes to Friar Laurence's where they come up with a plan and Juliet fakes her death so she can be with Romeo.
• Act 5 - Romeo receives the message that Juliet has died and goes to the Capulet vault. Upon seeing her there, he kills himself with poison; Juliet awakens and kills herself with his dagger. The play ends with the two families reunited.

When analysing the structure of Romeo and Juliet , think about how Shakespeare develops a key theme or character throughout the narrative and plot of the play.

Why does Shakespeare open Romeo and Juliet with a prologue that details the play's content?

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• The audience is aware of its form - a tragic play.
• The audience is excited about what is going to happen and enthralled with the play's plot.
• The audience feels sympathetic towards the main characters of Romeo and Juliet and knows that their love will cause their death.

Sentence level

When analysing structure, it can also be looked at from a sentence level - thinking about how a writer has created a sentence and to what purpose. Below is an extract from the play's first prologue.

The fearful passage of their death-marked love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage ,

Which but their children's end naught could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage :

The which, if you with patient ears attend ,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend .

• Rhyme - in this prologue there is rhyme, for example: 'rage' and 'stage'.
• Rhyming Couplet - the prologue ends with the rhyming couplet of 'attend' and 'mend'. This shows that the two words belong to each other, highlighting that if the audience is attentive, the play will mend the conflict of the two families.
• 'you' - the direct address of 'you' makes the audience aware that the narrator is talking to them directly.

More guides on this topic

• Plot summary - AQA
• Characters - AQA
• Themes - AQA
• Dramatisation - AQA
• Sample exam question - AQA

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Essay Format for AQA Literature Romeo and Juliet

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

22 February 2018

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GCSE Study Notes and Revision Guides

Romeo and juliet (grades 9–1) york notes, william shakespeare, examiner's notes, you assessed this answer as grade 7 . hover over the highlighted text to read the examiner’s comments., question: read from act i scene 3 ‘ marry, that “marry” is the very theme/i came to talk of ’ (line 44) to ‘ go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days ’ (line 85). at this point in the play, lady capulet talks with her daughter about the prospect of marriage..

Starting with this conversation, explore how Shakespeare presents parents and children.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents Lady Capulet and Juliet’s relationship in this conversation
• how Shakespeare presents parents and children in the play as a whole.

Act I Scene 3 helps us to contextualise the relationship that Juliet has with her parents. As a fourteen-year-old girl, she is visited in her chamber by her mother, to be presented with the opportunity for marriage. Her mother, distant and somewhat calculating, presents this as an opportunity for increased wealth and to ensure her daughter becomes one of the ‘ladies of esteem’ who are ‘made already mothers’ among the Veronese elite.

Juliet’s mother's language, with its blunt interrogatives such as: ‘Tell me . . . How stands your disposition to be married?’ and ‘What say you, can you love the gentleman?’, is presented by Shakespeare in stark contrast to the warm effusiveness of the Nurse, whose enthusiasm is shown when she exclaims: ‘A man, young lady! Lady, such a man!’ Likewise, Lady Capulet’s impatience with the Nurse is evident when she says, ‘I pray thee hold thy peace.' This seems to stem from the fact that the Nurse is full of anecdotes about her beloved Juliet and her childhood, something Lady Capulet clearly does not share.

We are therefore encouraged to see that in wealthy Veronese society, the notion of parenting is one of a more distant relationship. Though both Capulet and Lady Capulet declare their love for Juliet when she is supposed dead in Act IV, their actions and attitudes at other times in the play lead us to question its strength.

In the extract, Lady Capulet uses elaborate language to describe Paris. She employs the metaphor of a ‘precious book’, suggesting Juliet will be the ‘cover’ that this ‘unbound lover’ lacks. Though seemingly romantic, this is far from the reality of marrying a virtual stranger, selected by Juliet’s father. Lady Capulet emphasises two positive features about Paris: his looks and his wealth. She suggests he has been drawn with, ‘beauty’s pen’ and that Juliet might ‘share all that he doth possess’. Again, this helps us to see the values that shaped elite Veronese society, and raises questions about Lady Capulet’s idea of what real love might be.

Capulet initially speaks of Juliet in gentle terms as ‘the hopeful lady of my earth’, and insists it will be another two years before Juliet should be wed. However, the violent actions of Act II seem to galvanise him, Tybalt’s death a clear catalyst which encourages him to hastily arrange Juliet’s marriage to Paris. Perhaps he fears for his family’s reputation within the context of these violent outbursts? Moreover, his position as the family patriarch leads him to believe Juliet will consider this arrangement as ‘a sudden day of joy.’ His fury at her refusal leads to him addressing her in disparaging terms as ‘a wretched puling fool’, and ‘a whining mammet’. Rather than as a daughter, he views Juliet as a possession, declaring ‘I’ll give you to my friend.’ This is compounded by Lady Capulet’s curt, monosyllabic rejection, ‘I have done with thee.’

Shakespeare seems to contrast the Capulets with the more rarely seen Montagues, whose concern for their son and his sensitive moods, suggests their more genuine love for him. Indeed, we are told even before Montague learns of his son’s death at the end of the play that Lady Montague has died of grief, so distressed was she by Romeo’s banishment. Much earlier, Montague has engaged Benvolio’s help to ‘learn from whence his sorrows grow’. Yet we are led to question why Romeo did not seek the advice of these concerned parents, rather than that of Friar Laurence, when he discovered his love for Juliet.

Though the play presents us with a picture of parenting in wealthy Veronese society, Shakespeare also conveys the idea that young adults may see their parents as a potential hurdle to their happiness and, equally, how some parents feel that they must exert complete control over their children. The backdrop of the feud and the conventions of the society itself create the conditions in which mistrust and tragedy come to dominate these family relationships.

Having read our examiner’s notes, select another grade if you would like to change your own assessment. Click NO CHANGE if you are happy with your assessment.

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