Foreshadowing In Romeo And Juliet Essay

The most influential and prominent dramatist in English literature and in the Shakespearean era, William Shakespeare has certainly built a reputation of the greatest play writer in the English Renaissance. He was born on April 23, 1564, in his house in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Shakespeare lived to be 52 years’ old. Shakespeare’s birthday is normally celebrated on April 23, but according to the Gregorian calendar which is what is used today in the 21st century, he was actually born on May 3. Shakespeare was baptized three days after his birth. His father was John who was a merchant as well as a high ranking major in Stratford, elected by the common council of burgesses and married to his wife, Mary in 1557.
The play was set in Verona in the 13th and 14th century with a hate and love tone. Shakespeare included various instances of foreshadowing throughout the play. The primary concept that was foreshadowed was death. For example, Romeo said, “Life were better ended by thy hate, then death prorogued, wanting of thy love,” (Act two, scene two). In this quote Romeo, stated that we would rather be killed than have to live without his love, and towards the end of the play Romeo and Juliet killed themselves because they did not want to have to live without each other. Romeo and Juliet was mainly written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. The nobility tended to speak in blank verse while the commoner, the lower class, friends, and comedic characters spoke in an informal speech or regular old pose to each other. For example, Mercutio, a comedic character, spoke in informal speech with Romeo and his other friends. But after the death of Mercutio, his friends will return speaking in blank verse to portray a more serious mood. Towards the of scenes Shakespeare would often include rhyming couplets or quatrains to signify the importance of the end of a