Ali Al Dabbagh
Mr. Cohen
ENG3U
June 6th, 2023
Literature Review on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Brown, Carolyn E. “Juliet’s Taming of Romeo.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 36, no. 2, 1996, pp. 333–55. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/450952. Accessed 5 June 2023.
Throughout Brown’s interpretation of the way Romeo and Juliet treat each other in their relationship, she makes it very clear that their excessive love for each other was brought about just because of their inexperience in life and previous relationships. As well as the fact that it was their desire for consummation that made them desperately want to marry each other. The article refers to Juliet as a "child" (Brown Juliet’s Taming of Romeo) who is obedient to her family, so when the opportunity came up for her to be rebellious for Romeo, she decided to do so. The article was published by the John Hopkins University Press, which has been a reliable publisher since 1961. All work published is proofread and edited by academic professionals for the approval of the university. Brown has also written different articles in the past on the topic of William Shakespeare, which shows that she is knowledgeable about what she is talking about. This article relates to my thesis because I am talking about how it was Romeo’s fault that their relationship ended up in the state it did, with both of them dead. As the article states, "the so-called balcony scene and III,v, which contain the lovers interchange the morning after the consummation" (Brown Juliet’s Taming of Romeo) This relates to my thesis because it goes on to talk about how there are very few scenes where Romeo and Juliet get to spend time alone, outside of the drama from their family. And for those very few times they do spend alone, they make it about trying to get married for the sake of having sex. This shows that Romeo’s excessive love for Juliet, as well as the dumb decisions he made, were all a result of his desire for sex.
Goldberg, M. A. “The Multiple Masks of Romeo: Toward a New Shakespearean Production.” The Antioch Review, vol. 28, no. 4, 1968, pp. 405–26. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/4610951. Accessed 5 June 2023.
The Multiple Masks of Romeo: It talks about the consequences of love and how it can sometimes lead to happiness as well as lead to unhappiness and be tragic. It also mentions how Romeo’s actions were a result of their tragic love failure, and the consequences of his actions are what led to their love ending the way it did. The article was published by "Antioch Review Inc.", which is one of the oldest continuously publishing literary magazines in the US. It was founded in 1941 and has been known to be reliable until this day. It only publishes poetry from established authors, and it is also associated with Antioch College, as their roster of writers has graduated from Antioch College. The author, Goldberg, has also published a variety of different articles on a variety of different topics for a long time now, showing that he is well informed on the topics he writes about. This article relates to my thesis because my thesis is all about how Romeo’s bad decisions had consequences, and those consequences made it harder and harder for him to love and be with Juliet. As the article says, "The price is heavy. Mercutio is dead. Tybalt is dead. Paris is dead. Lady Montague is dead. Romeo is dead. Juliet is dead." (Goldberg 406). This quotation states the deaths that took place in chronological order, and you can tell all these deaths were a series of events where Romeo is the root of the issue. The death of Mercutio was because of Tybalt’s conflict with Romeo; the death of Tybalt was because of Romeo; and the deaths of Paris and Lady Montague were the result of Romeo’s actions. And starting from the point of Tybalt’s death, it became hard for Romeo to love Juliet considering he just killed her cousin.
Kahn, Coppélia. “Coming of Age in Verona.” Modern Language Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, 1977, pp. 5–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3194631. Accessed 5 June 2023
Within Kahn’s study of Coming of Age in Verona, the article talks about how their love was brought together by the fact that they are both young, growing up as teenagers, and bond with someone they are sexually attracted to of the opposite sex. It also talks about how Romeo’s excessive masculinity and getting into fights caused the downfall of their relationship. The publisher, Modern Language Studies, is reliable because all their work is peer-reviewed by academic professionals and has been publishing reliable work consistently since 1969. As the essay says, "But it is the feud that fosters the rash, choleric impulsiveness typical of youth by offering a permanent invitation to and outlet for violence" (Kahn 5). This relates to my thesis because it talks about how everything is Romeo’s fault, mainly because of his consequences for his actions, and many of my points for that are the fights that he caused. The fighting with Tybalt and Paris was my main argument, and this article talks about that.
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