Thursday, April 30, 2009

Journal Entry 5

In Romeo and Juliet, there are many good examples of premonitions. Here are some examples:

1) Act 1, scene 4.

Romeo:
I fear, too early; for my mind misgives
some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
with the night's revels, and expire the term
of a despised life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But He that hath my steerage of my course
direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen!

Romeo says this meaning he has a vision of what he sees following the night. He senses he'll fall in love with the wrong person, Juliet. He doesn't know he fell in love with the wrong person, and loving her will bring them both to their deaths.


2) Act 1, scene 5.

Juliet:
Go, ask him his name. - if he be married,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.


Juliet means either way, she's going to die. If Romeo is married, she will die unmarried, because she will never marry another. She is also unknowingly foreshadowing her fate, in which her grave does become her wedding bed.


3) Act 2, scene 3.

In the beginning of the scene, Friar Lawrence is talking to himself about flowers. He says they can smell and tastes sweet, but in the end it can stop the heart, killing you. This is foreshadowing their deaths. They will be happy at first, but it will end in tragedy.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Journal Entry 4

1) When Juliet says, "What's in a name, that which we call a rose, by another name would smell as sweet." she is saying that just because he's a Montague doesn't mean she can't be in love with Romeo. A name doesn't make someone and it doesn't mean anything if you're in love. She is basically saying she can be in love with a Montague.

2) Juliet wishes Romeo not to swear by the moon because the moon is always changing. "O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable." Because of continuously changing shape, Juliet doesn't want Romeo to swear on an unsteady object to proclaim his love to her. She thinks that his love might be inconsistent.

3) When Juliet mentions the lightning, "Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be," she is saying that love can be like lightning. It might be too quick , and against good judgment.

Journal Entry 3

Paris wants to marry Juliet, and age isn't a big issue for him. Although her dad would prefer her to wait until she is older and make a wiser decision, her mother thinks Paris is the perfect man and she should marry him right away. She believes a marriage should be arranged with a man of high class. Her mother thinks the whole family will benefit if she marries Paris. 
I don't agree with their views in marriage. Juliet thinks she is too young, and I agree. She thinks she should wait until the right love comes along and you should want to spend the rest of your life with the person you love. Because Juliet is so young, she could make a decision she will regret for the rest of her life.