Essay One

INTRODUCTION

Revolt against authority is one of the primary notions displayed in William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet.¹ With Romeo belonging to the house of Montague and Juliet the daughter of Capulet, the love between the two protagonists is forbidden by their respective authorities.² The two families clash, both intent on sabotaging the relationship, but Romeo and Juliet’s affections attest to how such powerful emotions can act as a form of rebellion.³ Through a variety of figurative and dramatic techniques, the audience is made to empathise with the characters’ revolt against authority, as Shakespeare explores the consequences of accepting or revolting against one’s fate.⁴

1. This opening sentence covers the basic textual information (i.e. full name of author, the name of the text, and its genre) as well as a clear link to the prompt in the form of its key words.

2. This clarifies the key theme of ‘authority’ by showing the assessor that we understand how this word applies to the particular circumstances of this play.

3. This is a good introduction to what ‘revolt’ means, as we’re linking this with the idea of Romeo and Juliet rebelling against their family’s expectations and prejudices.

4. Finally, we make a comment about Shakespeare’s overall intention before jumping into the body paragraphs!

PARAGRAPH 1

In Act 1 Scene 4, Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio all enter the house of Capulet to attend the evening feast, providing a strong example of the characters revolting against authority as they are uninvited quests due to their allegiance with the house of Montague.⁵ By attending the party, Romeo and his friends are disobeying the Capulet family, although they slip in undetected, as it is a masquerade ball. Moreover, when Romeo first encounters Juliet in Act 1 Scene 5, he takes her hand and says “if I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this. . . ”⁶ Here a metaphor is used to describe Juliet’s hand as a holy grail, something that Romeo himself is unworthy of touching. Thus, Romeo interacting with Juliet at the party is once again a form of rebellion against the authority of the Capulet family,⁷ as it is clearly forbidden for his daughter to have any interaction with a Montague. Shakespeare also employs⁸ dramatic irony when the audience sees Juliet interacting with Romeo, as she does not yet know that he is a Montague. Accordingly, it can be seen that revolt against authority plays a large role in the interaction between the two lead characters, and it is this relationship that draws in characters and audiences alike.⁹

5. Even when introducing this example in the topic sentence, we’re expanding on the prompt and explaining our idea to the reader.

6. You might not recognise this quote, as it’s not one students usually memorise, but it’s sometimes good to use different evidence to make your essay stand out. This demonstrates a greater depth of reading and further understanding to the marker.

7. There are lots of examples of ‘revolt’ and ‘authority’ in the play, but it’s your responsibility to explain how each circumstance relates to these themes.

8. Use the author’s name and active verbs like ‘employs,’ ‘suggests,’ ‘creates,’ etc. to emphasise authorial intent and ensure you aren’t just summarising the plot.

9. Always make sure your concluding sentence highlights the point of your paragraph, and take the discussion back to the core of the prompt.

PARAGRAPH 2

Another poignant example of revolt against authority in Romeo and Juliet occurs in Act 2 Scene 3 when Friar Lawrence¹⁰ agrees to officiate the marriage between the pair. Friar Lawrence knows well that he should not agree to marry Romeo and Juliet, as their parents are unaware of their intentions and would definitely not agree to a Capulet marrying a Montague. The Friar, however, shows his rebellion against authority, defying the heads of both the Capulet and Montague house when he says to Romeo “in one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your household’s rancor to pure love.” This juxtaposition of “rancor” and “love”¹¹ is demonstrative of the significant amount of conflict between love and hate within the play. Here the Friar is saying that he will help Romeo and Juliet with their secret marriage and he is agreeing to marry them because he believes it could be a chance to turn the hatred of the two households into pure love; a chance to end the ongoing conflict between the families through a union of their children. Furthermore, Romeo and Juliet are also revolting against the authority of their families through the mere fact that they wish to marry in secret, knowing full well their parents would never agree to such a union. Therefore, it can be seen, that Shakespeare using a variety of characters as vehicles to impart the importance of revolting for characters to bring about their intentions.

10. Remember that there are other characters in this play besides Romeo and Juliet! It’s important that you delve into other secondary characters to support your arguments.

11. If you are including a slightly long quote (e.g. more than 10 words), you can then take an extra sentence to pick apart the most important language from that quote and closely analyse it. This is something that only high-range essays tend to do, so this immediately helps you impress your assessor and showcase your analytical abilities!

PARAGRAPH 3

However, this revolting can have damaging consequences for the protagonists and their families.¹² For instance, Juliet directly and explicitly revolts against the authority of her father in Act 3 Scene 3 when she says, “not proud you have, but thankful that you have: Proud can I never be of what I hate, but thankful even for hate that is meant love.” This recurring juxtaposition between love and hate effectively describes the tension that Juliet’s revolt has created. This altercation demonstrates that revolt against authority, whilst meaningful, has its ramifications on other relationships.¹³ Capulet responds by calling her “mistress minion you” meaning that he believes she is a spoiled little girl.¹⁴ Capulet later commands her to “hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!” Here, the use of affective punctuation in the form of an exclamation mark demonstrates Capulet’s loud and angry tone, and the imperative language shows the audience¹⁵ just how passionately angry he is with his daughter as his declares his authority over her as the head of the Capulet family. To this end, Shakespeare presents audiences with the personal and interpersonal consequences of rebellion against family and societal values, ultimately revealing the severity and the underlying consequences of the actions of the two young lovers.¹⁶

12. Once you have explored the themes and/or characters mentioned in the prompt throughout your first two paragraphs, it’s a good idea to transition into talking about ‘big picture’ ideas like the consequences of revolting, as this shows that you are thinking about the text more deeply than a simplistic thematic essay would demonstrate.

13. This is a highly effective explanation of the significance of this evidence. If your teacher tells you you’re losing marks for doing too much summary or ‘retelling the story,’ it probably means you need to write more sentences like this that actually explain your argument!

14. Again, don’t let the quote do the explanation for you. You need to prove to your teacher that you know what this language means in order to get marks for including it.

15. Make your analysis more sophisticated by linking it to how the audience is made to feel, or what Shakespeare’s intentions were.

16. This is a great concluding sentence that builds up to the conclusion whilst maintaining a clear focus on the prompt’s main message.

CONCLUSION

Revolt against authority and the consequences of doing so is a clear theme in Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the entirety of the play, the characters demonstrate their personal revolts against their friends, family, beliefs, and society as a whole. Towards the end of the play, almost every character that has revolted against authority and each have paid the price in some way, shape or form, indicative of Shakespeare’s critique of the power of societal authority figures.¹⁷