Romeo and Juliet essay - some support notes

Below are the sample paragraphs that we looked at in class. As well as these, it is probably worth reminding you of a few points:

• Make a strong point, in direct response to the question, at the start of each paragraph, and then stick to that point. Start a new paragraph if you want to discuss something different.
• Contextualise and introduce evidence. Don't start making a point by quoting - use evidence to support a point that you've already made.
• Avoid 'I', and certainly 'you'. Just make your points authoritatively, as if they are fact.

Sample Juliet paragraph
(please note that the long quote is not indented as it should be - my html skills are rubbish, and I can't get it to do what I want.)

Juliet is presented as a worldlier figure in Act III, sc 5, as she allows her mother falsely to believe that she is grieving for Tybalt, deepening the deceit and betrayal of her family. Having just fondly but regretfully parted from Romeo, she answers her mother’s ‘How now, Juliet?’ with the undoubtedly true, ‘Madam, I am not well.’ Lady Capulet leaps to the assumption that she is ‘Evermore weeping for [her] cousin’s death,’ and proceeds to counsel her to move on from the depths of her grief. Without engaging in any outright lies, Juliet speaks of ‘a feeling loss’, delicately balancing the truth of her love for Romeo with her mother’s mistaken assumption of a shared desire for ‘vengeance’ on the ‘traitor murderer’. The pinnacle of Juliet’s duplicity is in the strange lines,
Indeed I never shall be satisfied
With Romeo, till I behold him – dead –
Is my poor heart, so for a kinsman vex’d.
Perhaps the fact that Lady Capulet misses the true meaning of these lines says more about her than Juliet, but the fact that Shakespeare now presents Juliet as…

Sample Romeo paragraph

Before the audience meets Romeo, they have already developed some familiarity with him. As well as having his name in the play’s title, he is discussed in the prologue and presented, in the line, ‘A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’, as a lover and an object of tragedy with his fate in the stars. Further, in Act I, sc 1, Benvolio discusses Romeo with his parents, with Montague saying that his son,
Many a morning hath he there be seen,
With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew.
Benvolio expresses great concern for Romeo, and by the time Romeo arrives, the audience are keen to know the cause of his sorrows, and to see this troubled young man.


Remember, your introduction should state the title and author of the text under discussion, give a brief plot summary, and ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Sample introduction

Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy set in Verona in which the children of two feuding families fall in love. They marry secretly, but when Romeo is exiled for killing Juliet’s cousin, the tragedy begins. A rash plan leads to the death of both young lovers, although Shakespeare leavens the tragedy somewhat through the reconciliation of the two families. Romeo is initially characterised as a callow youth, whose immediate and passionate love for Juliet becomes the engine for the tragedy. His reflective and poetic … become… later, …

Your conclusion should answer the question again, this time referring to your main points, already made. Try to incorporate some evaluative statements, suggesting how effective you find his characterisation. By the way, avoid saying anything negative here - we all think that Shakespeare is a good dramatist, or at least your marker will.

• Never say anything new in a conclusion.
• Never quote in a conclusion.
• Never say anything irrelevant, such as 'I really enjoyed this play', or 'It is a wonderful example of a Shakespearean tragedy' - Stick to the task.

You might write something like:

Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents Juliet as a character with whom the audience sympathises. She appears trapped by her family and circumstances at the beginning, and although she appears demure and respectful, her passionate nature bursts out convincingly. Shakespeare gives her some wonderfully poetic lines, demonstrating her love, fear and turmoil, yet he also portrays her as decisive and authoritative. Her bloody death is the high point of the play's tragedy because she plainly doesn't deserve to die, and Shakespeare ensures that the audience's sympathy by having developed such a strong yet innocent character.