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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Romeo and Juliet, Act 3

This book has become much easier for me to understand- i can’t get every single word but now at least i am able to grasp the simple concept of each characters dialogue. And with my new understanding i have notice the following things about the book:
  • Benvolio is the calm level headed character who always tries to fix everything. Ex: he tries to convince Mercutio to keep his peace with Tybalt Act 3 SC 1 51-54
  • Secondly Mercutio is the opposite of Benvolio, he is easily angered, and ill tempered- which i have realized purely stems out of his pride as a Montague and his protection over his dear friend Romeo.
  • Lastly Benvolio and Mercutio are a lot like the two characters that we met in the very beginning of the book, Sampson and Gregory. Sampson is hot tempered and eager to pick a fight with Tubal- while Gregory like Benvolio wishes more to keep peace. Wish interests me because in that scene Benvolio steps in to keep peace.
Because i understand these things i have been able to come to final and main conclusion that the story relies more on the secondary characters than the main characters themselves. Without the characters like the nurse and Benvolio and Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris; this story would be nothing.
I believe this because we start to see their startling effect on the story line in the very beginning of it all. When Romeo is saddened over Rosaline’s rejection it is Benvolio who convinces Romeo to go and crash the Capulet’s ball where Rosaline would be- it is also he who tells Romeo that he must look for other beauties among the guests attending the party. If Romeo had not attended that party, he would have never seen Juliet and then have never made his first acquaintance her- therefore never falling in love. Also if he had never attended this party then Tybalt would have never spotted him and never been able to pick a fight with him which he would later attempt. Then it is Mercutio who starts a fight with Tybalt when Tybalt comes looking for Romeo- and is slain in the battle. If Mercutio had never begun that squabble then he would have never died by Tybalt's hand and Romeo would have never killed Tybalt in revenge. And so if Tybalt had never been killed then the prince would have never banished Romeo- And lord Capulet would have never made the hasty decision to marry away Juliet to Paris in 3 days. 
All these actions are because of the small events stirred by the secondary characters- without them i have realized Romeo and Juliet would be a story of no importance and probably never have become so famous. It is the troublesome love and irony of the story that made it so famous as a literary piece of art; but without those who surround Romeo and Juliet the story would be nothing but simple love- an everyday thing we see commonly in all books.
This popped out to me so much because it reminded me of how all the events in the real world actually work. Nothing happens without something setting off the chain of events first. It’s the smallest things that we don’t even realize happen that affect our lives so greatly- it’s even the most distant of people from us that cause our lives to change so drastically every day. Every breath, every movement, every life, changes us and the world around us. The story of Romeo and Juliet reminds me of the butterfly effect: A butterfly beats its wings in china, and stirs a tornado in the Caribbean.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Dear you,


Romeo and Juliet so far is a very interesting but hard to understand play. Because the language is different from what I am normally used to, and because I keep having to check the definitions on the left side of the page- paying attention and comprehending the story and what is going on becomes difficult and confusing! From what I can understand so far though is that there are two families: the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, The Montague’s are Romeos family and are very disliked by the Capulet’s. Bonvolio, a cousin to Romeo has seen him wandering about at night- while his father explains how he locks himself up in his room all day supposedly sleeping. In the story so far Juliet has not been introduced but Romeo has attended a party with Bonvolio to try to forget a girl that he loves that does not return his feelings, and this is where I am guessing she will come in. About the characters so far I understand that Romeo seems to me like a free soul that does not like to be confined by rules or status based on the way he sneaks out at night- and that Bonvolio is a calm level headed guy that likes to keep the peace based on the way that he tried to break up the fight between the servant Sampson and Abram. I also understand that Tybalt is a very angry hot headed Capulet who is quick to draw his sword and start a fight,  and Capulet and lord Montague believe one another is the foe. The prince seems to take no sides in these arguments and seems to only want to put an end to all this fighting.
If you want to take on this book then I strongly recommend re-reading the pages. Just by looking back at one sentence won’t help you to understand what they are saying, you must read the page again, scan the definitions on the left side and apply them to the text; basically my main advice is to take this very slowly and carefully because I have learned that it is easy to get lost in the old fashioned words that mean one thing when we think it means another. Also when a particular character has a very long speech, of course it is important to know what they are saying but as long as you grasp the basic idea and it makes sense with the other characters reply’s then there is no true need for you to spend an extended period of time trying to grasp the context of each and every sentence.
As you read this book I would like for you to help me seek some answers to some questions that I have. Why does Romeo escape in the late night? And why doesn’t this girl that Romeo is so infatuated with like him back? These answers could be right under my nose but there is so much going on is sure I skipped over them. When you read this book right back to me if you are able to find the answers.
Best of luck,
Sincerely Caroline Bozzuffi