Skip to main content

Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene 5: How might this single scene function as a synecdoche for the entire tonal shift, from joy to tragedy, of the...

A synecdoche is a literary term for a part that represents a whole. Act III, Scene 5 functions as a synecdoche because the entire sweep of action and the movement from joy to tragedy are expressed in the scene.


At the beginning of the scene, Juliet and Romeo are together and are so loathe to leave each other that they argue about whether they hear the lark, who sings at night, or the nightingale, who sings during the day. When the Nurse comes to tell Juliet that Lady Capulet is on her way, Romeo reluctantly leaves. He is banished, so Juliet does not know when she will see him again. At this point, the scene moves from joy to a foreboding of tragedy.


When Lady Capulet shows up, she thinks Juliet is upset about Tybalt, who Romeo has killed, and Juliet and Lady Capulet have a conversation in which Lady Capulet does not understand that Juliet is mourning Romeo's departure. This part of the scene again foreshadows later events in which Lady Capulet and her husband don't understand Juliet's love for Romeo. Lady Capulet tells Juliet that she will soon marry Paris, and, when Juliet says she refuses to do so, her father responds with great anger. The Nurse tries to convince Juliet to marry Paris, and Juliet ends the scene by vowing that she will be faithful to Romeo. The total sweep of action in the play is present in this scene, as Juliet is with Romeo and then he leaves her; her parents try to marry her to Paris; and she vows to be faithful to Romeo. The conflicts in the scene bring about Juliet and Romeo's demise and the tragedies that occur at the end of the play.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more