Analyzing Themes

How do we analyze a theme? Theme: ▫a subject or topic of discussion or of artistic representation (guilt and punishment is the theme of the story) We begin by identifying the possible themes contained within the literature…

Theme Analysis: Romeo and Juliet ▫What are some possible themes of Romeo and Juliet?  Love:  Love > Everything Else  Love = Violence  Fighting Society:  You vs. Everyone  Fate:  There’s no escaping life’s plan After identifying the possible themes, we look for evidence from the text…

Love > Everything Else In-Text Example: “Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (2.2.34) Analysis: Juliet requests that, in the name of love for each other, one of them should “deny” or change their family name. This is suggesting that love is more important than family, which is often held in the highest regard.

Love = Violence Violence, as a direct result of the love that Romeo and Juliet have for each other, appears consistently throughout the play. Everything from Capulets wanting to kill Montagues to Romeo and Juliet wanting to kill themselves. Which is evident in this passage: ▫“If all else fail, myself have power to die” ( ) Here, Juliet has found out that she is to marry Paris. If she cannot prevent this, then at least she can kill herself. This threat of suicide is a direct result of her love for Romeo. Eventually, their Love for each other leads to both of their deaths, in a double suicide.

Fighting Society: You vs. Everyone Implicitly and Explicitly, Romeo and Juliet find themselves fighting against almost everything around them to be together. Their feuding families, power within the family, their religion, public/civil order and honor. Example: ▫“Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, Which is the god of my idolatry, And I’ll believe thee,” ( ) In this excerpt, Juliet swears that she will worship Romeo as an idol, instead of God. While in some instances they may follow their Christians values, here Juliet is suggesting that she might worship Romeo instead of God.

Fate: There’s no Escape From the very beginning of the play, spoken in the prologue, the chorus suggests that Romeo and Juliet’s love is controlled by fate, calling them, “star-crossed lovers.” The constant misfortunes that Romeo and Juliet experience could be looked at as coincidence, but as the play suggests, they are actually acts of fate: Their untimely suicides, the fact that their families hate each other, the Friar’s botched plan for them to meet. At one point in the play, when Romeo believes Juliet to be dead, he curses the stars (fate): ▫Is it e'en so? Then I defy you, stars! (5.1.24) Romeo recognizes, or realizes, that he isn’t merely experiencing bad luck, but that destiny/fate is in control.

Other Questions to Address: ▫Are there symbols in the play that represent the theme? ▫At what point does the theme emerge most distinctly in the play? ▫Is the theme subtle or obvious? ▫Is it personal, social, or political?

Homework: Now, you should have access to a copy of your play. Read through the play (not necessarily the whole play, but enough to understand how the elements are expressed through the text) and beginning finding dialogue or text that supports the elements you have chosen.