HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

FACULTY OF ENGLISH
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END-OF-COURSE ASSIGNMENT
ON ENGLISH-AMERICAN LITERATURE

ROMEO AND JULIET

Act II, scene II

Student’s Name: Cao Thị Lan Hương

Student’s ID : 695701063
Class: A1 – K69

Hanoi, April 2022

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 Contents
I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................3
II. DEVELOPMENT..................................................................................4
1. William Shakespeare:............................................................................4
2. Content appreciation:............................................................................4
3. Literary appreciation:...........................................................................6
III. Conclusion..............................................................................................8
IV. References...............................................................................................9

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I. INTRODUCTION
“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved - George Sand”. If
someone suddenly questions “What is love?”, it may be equivalent to one good
puzzle but no solution. Love seems to simply stay with your lover, watch an
enthralling movie weekly, contemplate the sunset every afternoon or briefly grow
up and share happiness and sorrow together. Being a romantic film lover, I always
have a great impression of love stories with the hope that lovers surely come back
together. More importantly, when I was in high school, I used to watch a fantasy
drama called “The Ashes of love” by Denglun and Yangzi. This film ends with a
happy ending. However, the two main characters have to experience a series of pain
and loss from family barriers, the feud between two-family, and a power struggle
before they can be with each other. This is my all-time favourite film that I have
never forgotten in my life. The intense but tragic love between Romeo and Juliet
helps me reminisce about this unforgettable film. That is the reason why I want to
analyze this play to relive those emotional moments and highly appreciate the
power of love. Moreover, William Shakespeare is one of my admirable writers, who
shed light on my passion for literature. He gave me more motivation to explore and
comprehend the hidden implications in his work.

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II. DEVELOPMENT
1. William Shakespeare:
William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616); an English playwright, poet and actor; is
widely known as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest
dramatist. During his literary career, he wrote 2 poems, 37 plays and 154 sonnets,
which still have a profound effect on world literature now and claim his name in the
hearts of readers at all times. Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-
upon-Avon and died on the same day in 1616. His father is a tradesman. When he
was a little boy, he used to study Latin and Greek at Stratford Grammar School. He
contacted people and gained a deeper insight into the rich English folklore, which is
more useful than scholastic methods at school. Some plays performed by travelling
groups of people left a strong impression on his perspective. At 18, he got married
to Anne Hathaway and they had two daughters: Susanna and Judith. His career
likely embarked in the mid – 1580s until 1612. His creative work is divided into 3
periods: 1590 – 1600, 1601 – 1608 and 1609 – 1612. The first period (1590 – 1600)
was marked by the optimism reflected in his comedies: The Comedy of Errors
(1592), The Taming of the Shrew (1593), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594),
Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594). The historical chronicles about his plays like King
Henry VI (part II) (1590), King Henry VI (part III) (1590), King Henry VI (part I)
(1591) and the drama: Romeo and Juliet (1595) and Julius Caesar. The second one
(1601 – 1608) is renowned for 4 tragedies based on the real events in life such as
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601), Othello, the Moor of Venice (1604), and King
Lear (1605), Macbeth (1605). The last one (1609 – 1612) is about romantic dramas,
which touch upon important social and moral problems, but now suggest utopian
solutions to them. Some typical works in this period are Cymbeline (1609), The
Winter’s Tale (1610) and The Tempest (1612). After 1612, he retired and returned
home to Stratford. In 1616, he passed away and was buried at Stratford Church two
days later.

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 2. Content appreciation:
The play “Romeo and Juliet” composed in 1595 by William Shakespeare is a
tragic love of children from two feuding families. That is Romeo of the Montague
family and Juliet of the Capulet family. Their love is transparent, innocent and
intensive but dolorous. But finally, love and strong passion between two young
people can not beat the inevitability of fate, which pushes them into a desperate
stalemate and accept the death to stay with their lover. During this play,
Shakespeare not only sketched a vivid picture of an intense and deep love of youth,
but he also praised human aspiration for liberty and the desire to enjoy a righteous
life.

At first, it emphasizes the forcefulness of love. This is clearly demonstrated in act

ii, scene ii at the balcony scene. After falling in love with Juliet at Capulet’s party,
Romeo sneaks into the Capulet’s wall to reach his lover, Juliet regardless of the
unpredictable danger and the feud between the two families hindering their love. In
the course of the play, Juliet even will accept to refuse her name “And I’ll no longer
be a Capulet” if Romeo gives up his name “Deny thy father and refuse thy name”
just to swear love. This detail shows Juliet’s determination and profound passion for
love with Romeo. Perhaps enmity is the trivial reason and love is the overriding
theme of this masterpiece. In response to Juliet, Romeo readily abandons his name
and identity to be with Juliet “I take thee at thy word/Call me but love, and I’ll be
new baptiz’d/Henceforth I never will be Romeo”. This infers that the two of them
can love each other without fear of social repercussions. The language of love in
Shakespeare’s work presents the ambitious hope of remaking the world, where their
love can be allowed. Because of love, although Juliet was betrothed to Paris, at the
end of act ii, they secretly married the next day after declaring their feeling for each
other. In act iv, Juliet readily took a potion from Friar Laurence to put herself in a
deathlike coma so that Juliet can escape from the marriage with Paris and decamp
with Romeo. By contrast, after Romeo heard about Juliet’s death, he returned back
Verona, took the potion and killed himself. Juliet also stabbed herself to commit

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suicide after witnessing Romeo’s death. Love compels them to end their life so as to
preserve their in-depth love and loyalty to their others lovers. Love is the cause of
violence but it is a domineering force that outweighs all other ideals, commitments,
and feelings.

Moreover, Romeo and Juliet also display individuals’ ambition to struggle

against contemporary society. Romeo and Juliet‘s love story illustrate the intense
love of youth and surpass the hatred of two feuding families and social prejudices.
Juliet desires to escape with Romeo to be with Romeo or escape the real public
world. Also, this can present the patriarchal power structure in Renaissance
families, which pushes Juliet into an extremely vulnerable position. Love in modern
times is more freedom than in that era. Lovers can be permitted by the family and
love is more equal than before. They can get married to their lover and the father
control seems to be rare in the 21 st century. With Romeo and Juliet, their love is so
romantic and powerful that they can sacrifice everything to be with each other.
Throughout this conflict, Shakespeare criticized Renaissance-era for social
inequality and the minor worries of the elite's rising mobility.

In Act II, scene II is the scene features some of Shakespeare's most known and
memorable passages. Romeo and Juliet solidify the bond of love and confirm their
feeling for each other. Their love is blossomed in the darkness of night
demonstrating how Romeo and Juliet's love thrives in a universe separate from the
bloodshed of the feud. Romeo’s soliloquy “He jests at scars that never felt a
wound/ And sails upon the bosom of the air” showed the novel and unique writing
styles of Shakespeare. He breaks the tradition and allows Romeo to overhear
Juliet’s soliloquy. In this act, Shakespeare delves into the characters of the young
lovers and portrays the nuances of their interactions, such as Juliet's battle between
the need for caution and an overpowering longing to be with Romeo. He dedicated
himself to investigating the positive, delicate, and romantic aspects of adolescent
love.

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 3. Literary appreciation:
The skilful and harmonious use of literary devices contributes substantially
contribute to the resounding success of this drama. They are metaphor, simile,
personification, hyperbole and symbolized imagery. In act ii, scene ii, Romeo uses
metaphor to exclaim Juliet’s gorgeous beauty when he sees her on the balcony. Her
beauty is compared to the warming sun “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun”. Juliet
like the sun is much more beautiful than the moon, which makes itself become
envious “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon”. Metaphor is used effectively
by Romeo to describe deeply how good-looking Juliet is. This may shine like the
sun and embarrass the moon. In the next sentence “Who is already sick and pale
with grief,” the personification is used to describe the jealous moon, Diana, a
goddess of the moon, protectress of virgins. Another metaphor and personification
are utilized in the following utterances “Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven/
Having some business, do entreat her eyes”. Her eyes are compared to dazzling
stars in the sky. That eyes even are more brightly shiny than stars in the night sky,
making them do some business to entreat her eyes. The hyperbole “do entreat her
eyes/ The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,” makes that inanimate
stars know doing work, and highlight the blazing shine of Juliet’s eyes. Besides,
Shakespeare also makes use of the function of simile to describe Juliet’s eyes “As
daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven/ As is a winged messenger of heaven”.
Her eyes can lighten up the night sky, they are brighter than the light of a lamp and
sparkle in heaven. Both her cheeks are so sparkling that this brightness not only
shames those stars but also makes the birds sing for thinking that it’s daytime. Next,
Romeo uses metaphor to call Juliet an angel “O, speak again, bright angel! for thou
art”. When she stands above his head on the balcony, she is as beautiful as a bright
angel flying across the sky by her wing. The contradiction between the light and
dark imagery creates an interesting motif. Juliet’s beauty with sunlight, daylight,
love’s light wings and bright angel symbolizes the light, while the darkness is
shown through the envious moon and this night. Two contrasted images emphasize

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the contrast between individual and society, love versus feud, and personal interest
versus social conventions. In act ii, scene ii, the image stone wall is rigid, high and
hard to cover “The orchard walls are high and hard to climb”. This orchard wall
symbolizes the obstacle and barriers of their love – their families are enemies.
Using the image of the sun is also the glimmering light of hope about a better future
for their love. Moreover, the best thing to create unique traits of this drama is the
poetic language that Shakespeare used “With love’s light wings did I o’erperch
these walls/ O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art/ As glorious to this night,
being o’er my head”. He also uses the blank verse with ten syllables, one unstressed
followed by one stressed “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?/It
is the east, and Juliet is the sun!”.

III. Conclusion
In this course of play, William Shakespeare does not offer a precise moral
judgment about the ties between love and society, religion, and family; rather, it
depicts the turmoil and passion of being in love, blending images of love, violence,
death, religion, and family in an impressionistic rush leading to the play's tragic
conclusion. Their love is blinding, violent but intense, which breaks powerful social
institutions such as family, politics, or religions. Along with using literary devices
successfully, the writer composed a famous tragic drama all times about the
sorrowful strong love of young lovers and their steep decisions to prove and protect
their intense love. This famous drama has left deep impressions on readers at all
times and was applied to the school curriculum of many nations including Vietnam.

IV.References
1. HNUE Faculty of English. 2022. English-American Literature Course Book
2. Litchart. Summary of Romeo and Juliet.
3. Cliffnotes. Romeo and Juliet
4. Sparknotes. Romeo and Juliet
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/romeo-and-juliet

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https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/romeo-and-juliet/summary-and-analysis/
act-ii-scene-2
https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/section7/

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