1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.
Violence never exists for its own sake, and even scholar Thomas C. Foster said so in his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Thus, even with Shakespeare, violence exists for a reason, such as in his tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds himself in a quarrel, representing a loss of innocence and a foreshadowing of tragedy.
Near the climax of the play, Romeo has a fight that ultimately leads to the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio, but this fight is not all about the deep-rooted family rivalries. Before Romeo had this fight, he was a more or less carefree young man, mostly happy, although in love with his rival family’s daughter. However, after the violent scene, Romeo seems to have matured quite a bit; he realizes that he murdered his cousin in law and is in deep grief. He even marries Juliet before he leaves Verona due his banishment. Marriage is a well-known sign of maturity, and due to the fact that it happens after the violence and is partially caused by the violence in this play, it can be assumed that the violence is symbolic of the loss of innocence.
Not only does this scene contribute and symbolize the loss of innocence in Romeo and Juliet, it also foreshadows the tragic ending of the play. The death of two major characters through violence is a tragic event, but not as tragic as the death of Romeo and Juliet at the very end. Tybalt and Mercutio were similar to Romeo and Juliet in that they were both rivals, although not of rival families. The violence lead to their untimely deaths and through all of this tragedy, the families still kept up their bickering, ultimately leading to Romeo and Juliet’s death.
Violence does not exist for its own sake. Seen in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the use of a violent scene portrays the loss of innocence and the foreshadowing of future of the two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet.
I love your ideas and evidence, but I'm missing the "So what?". How does the violence, loss of innocence, and foreshadowing impact the work as a whole? Also, I'm getting caught in your language every once in awhile. Make sure you stay formal, but be as concise as possible. For example:"Before the fight, Romeo was essentially..." instead of "Before Romeo had this fight, he was a more or less..." That makes the sentence shorter, eliminates a repeated phrase, and makes it a tad more formal.
ReplyDeleteGood evidence but there was not enough tied in to answer the prompt. Maybe take out some of the plot summary and focus more on how this evidence shows the loss of innocence and overall tragedy of Shakespeare's work.
ReplyDelete