Romeo and Juliet Binary Paper Examples and Suggestions
Title: (DO NOT USE play title only, binary only, or English Essay, etc).
ex. Love vs. Lust in Romeo and Juliet
Introduction Formula:
H: Hook (DO NOT USE a Definition, Quote, Rhetorical Question, be careful of clichés )
(Perhaps puns, figurative comparison, anecdote)
A: Author (just mention)
T: Title (include earlier in the paragraph to shorten the thesis)
M: Main characters (only mention characters who are directly relevant to your thesis)
A: A short summary (It’s all about context!)
T: Thesis
Thesis Process:
1. Favorability: Which half of the binary is generally considered to be more preferred? If neither is preferred, then establish what the role of the binary is within the play.
Ex. love causes lust (gray area argument)
2. Choose a character (If one character does not work for your binary: choose one relationship or talk to Ms. Stanton)
3. Plan of development (three parts in the thesis): Causes/consequences (NO PLOT)
4. Larger significance: What does the role of your binary represent/communicate/etc. about society, humanity, types of characters, personality traits, etc.
Overall Introduction
Imagine a child with her eyes closed, wisps of dreams floating through her mind. Fairies, dragons, knights, and princesses parade past in a whimsical kaleidoscope of magic. Then her morning alarm rings, and she is jarred back into stark, plain reality, seemingly colored in browns and grays compared to the vibrant hues of her dreams. Dreams are an outlet for the imagination, imaginary, insubstantial, and are forgotten in the face of reality, or they should be. Yet some forms of dreams have a farther-reaching influence, and affect people’s day-to-day lives. A prime example of this is Romeo and Juliet, a story of two teenagers whose hopes and fears lead them to a tragic death. In Romeo and Juliet, dreams, in the form of wishes, delusions, and fears, greatly influence reality, which represents the importance of dreams in society.
Love is like a delicate blooming flower while death is a harsh winter frost. The two typically avoid each other, but in some instances the frost consumes the life of the beautiful flower. This represents how the themes of love and death interact in the plot of Shakespeare’s The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, both of opposing houses, died as a result of their secret love. The feud between the Montagues and the Capulets ended in the memory of the sacrifice that the young couple made. Love and death are both significant elements of human nature. Both Romeo and Juliet approach their love in the same way, which is that it will help them get through tough situations. However, the couple experienced a series of unfortunate events, all of which lead to their deaths. In Romeo and Juliet, love is favored over death, which is demonstrated through the couple’s irrationality, the sacrifice of themselves to sorrowful and anxious emotions, and love-induced deaths, and this represents society’s need for hope in the face of despair. (SHOULD BE IN PRESENT TENSE)
Thesis
In Romeo and Juliet, the perspective that a desire to fight is more honorable than fleeing from a fight is evident through Tybalt’s conflict with Benvolio on the streets of Verona, his actions at the Capulet’s ball, and his duel with Mercutio and Romeo, which represents a preference for masculine behavior.
Fate is the dominant force in Romeo and Juliet, and this is demonstrated through the deaths of Romeo, Juliet, and the family feud which represents the impersonal culture of Verona.
In the tragedy known as Romeo and Juliet, servants are shrewder than nobility, and this is demonstrated through their clever insults, being able to play along and be loyal during the feud, and their masked humor, which represents their focus on the practical and the present.
In Romeo and Juliet, masculinity is more important than femininity, because the men are more violent, can express their opinions more freely, and are able to achieve anything they want through their actions + larger significance.
In Romeo and Juliet, eternity has more influence than mortality, and this is shown through Romeo and Juliet’s unconcerned attitudes towards death, the circumstances of their love, and the legacy of their love, which shows the perils of youthful ignorance.
Sample Body Paragraph:
Just as a chain reaction of events lead to Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting, fate controls a series of events that lead to their deaths. For example, Friar John is unable to deliver the message to Romeo explaining Friar Lawrence and Juliet’s plan to fake her death in order to escape her unwanted marriage to Paris. Friar Lawrence exclaims, “‘Unhappy fortune’” (V.ii.2), and blames fate for this mishap. As a result, Romeo hears of Juliet’s death and declares, “‘Then I defy you, stars” (V.i.24), believing that he is outsmarting fate by killing himself to be united with Juliet in death, while in reality he is only performing as the stars dictated he would. Fate continues to destroy the lovers’ happiness as it hinders Friar Lawrence from arriving in time to enlighten Romeo on their plan, as shown when Friar Lawrence says, “A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents” (V.iii.8). This commentary shows that in Romeo and Juliet, fate is not perceived as good or bad, but rather a force that the characters cannot control. Even though Romeo and Juliet try to trick their destiny through the friar’s elaborate plan, the power of fate is too strong, and the prophecy of their death is fulfilled.
*** recommended: three small quotes per paragraph and three sentences of analysis with each quote you include
Assertion: Topic Sentence: assertion must reflect thesis statement
Fake thesis: Romeo dies as a result of his pride, vanity, and ignorance.
Fake Assertion: Romeo’s prideful interactions with Tybalt lead to his banishment from Verona.
Context: For example, on a hot morning when Tybalt and Romeo meet in the street, Romeo boasts of…
Evidence: QUOTE
Interpretation: ANALYSIS (No fewer than three analysis sentences following each quote)
Transition: connecting two paragraphs
(C, E, I may be repeated within a single paragraph)
Struggling Quote Integration
They meet in the street; Tybalt insults Romeo and Mercutio stands up for him. Mercutio and Tybalt are arguing, Mercutio says “Come, sir, your passado!” (III.I, line 79) Mercutio taunts Tybalt
Next us their constant mention of suicide because they think the other is dead. “O, break my heart! poorbankrout, break at once! To prison, eyes; ne’er look on liberty! Vile earth, to earth resign; end motion here, And thou and Romeo press heavy bier!” Juliet Act 3 scene 3 lines 57-60
Overall Conclusion
Despite man’s front-of-the-stage role in the play due to its conflicts and feelings, nature is always backstage making it happen. This indicates that man ultimately succeeds in the role of hero and nature is its sidekick. Nature influences man to make decisions that otherwise would be impossible to make willingly without being void of emotion. In this case, nature caused Romeo to go to a party hosted by his enemies, fall in love, and eventually die with his loes, all so that the endless feud would halt. Without nature, the fight between Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo would not have occurred, Tybalt would not have killed Mercutio, Romeo would not have killed Tybalt, and Romeo would not have been banished causing Juliet to be forced into marrying Paris, which would give Juliet no need to fake suicide, which would nullify Romeo’s reciprocation of her actions, in turn cancelling Juliet’s sacrifice for Romeo, continuing the feud between the two families. All of this would not have happened if Romeo had not been smitten with Juliet. So, the nature of man is man’s natural inclination towards unforeseen, yet ultimately good, outcomes, due to an unseen force acting on them.
In Romeo and Juliet, according to when the Montague and Capulet servants fight, when Romeo murders Tybalt, and when the Prince banishes Romeo from Verona, vengeance is ultimately favored over justice, and these situations represent how different vengeance and justice are based on the violent culture of Verona. This binary is a successful one because vengeance and justice oppose each other, but in some cases, vengeance and justice can have the same effect. Justice represents impersonal actions taken to solve a problem, while vengeance is the more personal and attached to emotion. Since vengeance and justice are so different, the character’s decision is partially based upon their morals. When the Montague and Capulet servants fight and when Romero murders Tybalt are both examples of vengeance being favored in the text, and Prince Escalus banishing Romeo from Verona demonstrates why justice is not preferred in Romeo and Juliet. The role of this binary shows how quickly the characters resort to violence, and this represents how savage and vicious the culture in Verona is. In order to comprehend Romeo and Juliet, an understanding of vengeance vs. justice is key because actions caused by justice and vengeance cause the chain of events that make u p the story. Choosing between that you want and what you know is right is the main idea behind Romeo and Juliet, although these can sometimes be the same thing, it is truly a battle of morals.
Quote Integration:
Block Quotes
Romeo was weak for love. He was so weak for love, in fact, that he would wear it all around for all of his family and friends to see.
BLOCK QUOTES ARE BAD
Romeo: “Why, such is love’s transgression.
Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast,
Which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest
With more of thine: this love that thou hast shown
Doth add more griefs to too much of mine own.
Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vex’d a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears:
What is it else? a madness most discreet,
A choking gall and a preserving sweet.”
Comma or period or no punctuation with the quote itself:
Romeo reinforces his comparison of smoke and frustration by lamenting that “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs” (III.iii.6), which establishes his belief that like smoke, frustration is fleeting but temporarily dangerous. He views frustration as something to be eliminated or “purged” (III.iii.6) due to its danger in clouding “lovers’ eyes” (III.iii.6).
With a Question Mark:
In her attempt to make sense of their new romantic connection, Juliet laments, “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (II.ii.19), which blah blahblah.
Connecting two lines from within the play:
“Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; / Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes” (III.iii.6-7)