William Shakespeare

 medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man.  serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror.

1. Must depict the downfall of a good person trough a fatal error or misjudgment. 2. Evokes pity and fear in the audience. 3. Always talks about fate. 4. Always ends with one or several deaths. 5. usually leaves audience a tiny bit of hope as it comes to an end.

 Theme- the main message or moral that surrounds a piece of writing  This is a statement, NOT a subject

 Romantic love can be beautiful and ennobling.  The love between Romeo and Juliet is sublimely beautiful. Not only do they feel deeply for each other, but they also respect each other. Neither attempts to impose his or her will on the other; neither places his or her welfare above the other.  Realizing that love and lust are not the same, they prize each other spiritually as well as physically. Therefore, meeting in secret from time to time to gratify their powerful sexual desires without the permanent commitment of marriage is out of the question. Such an arrangement would cheapen their relationship; it would reduce their love to a mere bestial craving.  Consequently, at great risk, they decide to sanctify their relationship with a marriage ceremony binding them to eternal love..

 Passion Can Overtake Reason and Common Sense.  So powerful is the love between Romeo and Juliet that it subjugates reason and common sense as guiding forces. True, their love has helped them achieve a level of maturity beyond their years, but it has also caused them to take dangerous risks.. In the end, their overpowering feelings cause them to take their own lives. Likewise, so powerful is the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets that it promotes constant tension and violence, resulting in the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio––and, of course, the deaths of their own children, Romeo and Juliet.

 Immaturity and inexperience can lead to tragic endings.  This theme, which related to Theme I, reaches its full development when callow Romeo and Juliet, believing all is lost, act out of the passion of the moment and commit suicide. If they had had the wisdom to consider that their whole lives lay before them, that other paths lay open to them, they surely would have embraced a tactic to whittle away the opposition.

 Don't judge a person by his name or social standing.  Judge him by his personal qualities and merits. As Juliet observes in Act II, Scene II: What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other word would smell as sweet (47-48).

 Innocent children sometimes pay for the sins of their parents.  Romeo and Juliet forfeit their lives partly as a result of their parents' hatred and prejudice.

 Fate acts through human folly.  As in other plays of Shakespeare, the force of Fate seems all-powerful and ineluctable. It is as if human beings are puppets who have no control over their actions. From the very beginning, Romeo and Juliet are "star-cross'd" as children of "fatal loins”.  But Shakespeare knows that the events leading to tragedy cannot be explained away so simply. Human beings have free will; they have the power to create their futures. Unfortunately, too often they lack the wisdom or moral strength to make the right decisions and, instead, pursue a course of action which seems "fated" for disaster.

 The climax of a play or another narrative work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting event in a series of events.  The climax of Romeo and Juliet occurs when Romeo kills Tybalt, causing a turning point that begins with Rome's banishment. According to the second definition, the climax occurs in the final act, when Romeo, Juliet, and Paris die.