5.1.3
Dramatic Irony & Soliloquys
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic Irony
The play is full of dramatic irony (where the audience know what will happen but the characters do not).
Prologue - Romeo and Juliet's death
Prologue - Romeo and Juliet's death
- The prologue tells the audience straight away that Romeo and Juliet will have a tragic end where both characters commit suicide. The characters themselves are unaware, which adds to the tragedy of the story.
Prologue - the feud
Prologue - the feud
- In the prologue, we are told about 'the continuance of their parents’ rage, which, but their children’s end, nought could remove'.
- So the audience is very aware that Romeo and Juliet must die for their families’ feuding (arguing) to be over.
Romeo and Juliet's relationship
Romeo and Juliet's relationship
- We see Romeo and Juliet falling in love and thinking about their future. The tragic dramatic irony here is that the audience knows that their relationship will be short-lived and nothing in their future will come to fruition (success).
Marriage
Marriage
- The audience experiences dramatic irony when Lord and Lady Capulet betroth (engage) Juliet to Paris and become angry when she refuses. The audience knows that this is because Juliet is already married to Romeo and does not want to commit the sin of bigamy (marrying someone else when already married).
- The audience experiences dramatic irony again when Juliet finally agrees to marry Paris and her parents are happy. The audience knows that Juliet has no intention of marrying Paris and will, instead, go straight to bed and fake her death to get out of it.
Dramatic Irony - Romeo's Death
Dramatic Irony - Romeo's Death
The most tragic dramatic irony takes place in Act 5 when Romeo kills himself because he thinks that Juliet is dead. The audience here knows the plan that Juliet and Friar Laurence made, and knows that Juliet is just asleep.
Irony - alive
Irony - alive
- The audience watches Romeo look at his 'dead' Juliet.
- He says that death has not taken her beauty and that her lips and cheeks are still pink and healthy-looking ('Death… hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: thou art not conquer’d; beauty’s ensign yet Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks').
- This adds to the dramatic irony because Romeo is confirming that Juliet is actually still alive.
Romeo's response
Romeo's response
- Romeo then kills himself because he cannot bear to be without Juliet. This action emphasises his love for Juliet, but it is also ultimately pointless.
- It fills the audience with agony (pain) because she is just sleeping.
Soliloquies
Soliloquies
When a character is alone on stage, they may speak in soliloquies (solo speeches). This is where they talk about their thoughts and feelings as if they are speaking to themselves. Soliloquies give the audience a greater insight (understanding) into the mind of the character.
Romeo's soliloquy
Romeo's soliloquy
- When Romeo sees Juliet on her balcony in A2 S2, he speaks in a long soliloquy to himself about how beautiful and special Juliet is:
- From 'But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun' to 'When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds and sails upon the bosom of the air'.
- Shakespeare uses this soliloquy to show that Juliet does not know that Romeo is there. It reminds us that Romeo is sneaking around in the Capulet grounds, which we know is a very dangerous idea.
- This gives us some idea of Romeo’s feelings for Juliet – he is willing to risk his life just to get another look at her.
Uses
Uses
- Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet use soliloquies to show the depth of their love for one another to the audience.
- They use soliloquies to discuss their hopes and dreams for the future together.
- They use them to express how much they love one another.
- They use them to highlight their sadness and despair when things start to go wrong.
Juliet's soliloquy
Juliet's soliloquy
- One of the most powerful soliloquies in the play takes place in Act 4 after Juliet has told her father she will marry Paris.
- The audience gets a valuable and interesting insight into Juliet’s mind. This soliloquy shows that she now feels all alone in the world. Her parents have decided she has to marry Paris, the Nurse has agreed, and she only has the Friar to turn to.
- Although they have made a plan to fake her death, the soliloquy shows how worried she is that the sleeping potion will not work ('My dismal scene I needs must act alone. Come, vial. What if this mixture do not work at all?').
Juliet's soliloquy (continued)
Juliet's soliloquy (continued)
- The rest of this soliloquy increases the tragedy of the play for the audience. We see a young girl who is completely alone, with no options left apart from faking her death.
- In the soliloquy, she is terrified of what might happen if the potion does not work, as well as what might happen if it does – if it does not work, will she be forced to marry Paris? If it is not actually a sleeping potion, will it kill her? If it does work, will Romeo meet her on time, or will she stay locked in the tomb?
- This soliloquy is one of the few times in the play where we see a completely vulnerable Juliet. The audience may feel more sympathy.
1Context
2Plot Summary
2.1Prologue
2.2Act 1
2.5Act 4
3Key Characters
3.1Romeo
3.2Juliet
3.3Mercutio
3.4The Nurse, Benvolio & Tybalt
3.5Friar Laurence
3.6Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Key Themes & Concepts
4.1Power & Danger of Love
5Writing Techniques
Jump to other topics
1Context
2Plot Summary
2.1Prologue
2.2Act 1
2.5Act 4
3Key Characters
3.1Romeo
3.2Juliet
3.3Mercutio
3.4The Nurse, Benvolio & Tybalt
3.5Friar Laurence
3.6Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Key Themes & Concepts
4.1Power & Danger of Love
5Writing Techniques
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