Act Five

Epilogues

Lady and Lord Capulet
The sun shone like nothing was wrong,
but the birds sang a fall apart song.
And only the lady knew what was wrong
the day what was left fell apart.

"Where have you been wife,
we've looked all around.
we have got company
but you're not around."

"Husband dear won't you just leave me be?
Five trips around the sun since she's spoken to me
I know I may cry for a soul that's long gone,
but why can't you see why I try to hold on."

"You're missing my party now come back inside,
use the hem of your shirt to dry your damp eyes.
It is a wife's job to stand by my side
and if you don't do so we may say goodbye."

The lady tried desperately to keep in her tears,
for this man, she'd loved him for more than score years.
but she gritted her teeth and looked in his eyes,
saying, "who is this man for whom I can't cry?"

Her husband just smiled "he is my best friend!
his wife passed away when our daughter met end.
You've met him before, of that I am sure,
because his kin was the one your child fell for."

The lady smiled softly as the lord broke her heart,
for he knew not what had torn the girl apart.
He knew not who cried when it all came to shame,
and he knew not how his best friend was to blame.

She told him her fears and all the regrets,
and he took them and hid them away in his chest.
"My best friend and I lost somebody we loved
someone who loved us like nobody does."

The man turned away, his wife simply wept
for they both knew that they had nothing left
he had his drinking, his best friend, his mind,
she had her heart and no place to cry.

The wind blew strong in Verona that day,
the birds had stopped chirping, the sun hid away
and everyone knew, deep in their hearts,
that this was the day what was left fell apart.


Rosaline
A quiet day at the nunnery,
till sister Lilly let out a scream.
She covered her eyes, wishing it was a dream,
knowing she couldn't unsee what she'd seen.

The friar came running,
placed his hand o'er his heart.
For there lie Rosaline,
her soul long depart.

She left a note, knew they'd all like to know,
what lead her to take this desperate road. '
The sisters kept crying, the friar picked up the page
and slowly but surely he read what it said.

"My sisters, my friar, I love you all so,
but there's something I told you you didn't quite know.
See it was my fault my Romeo's dead.
I shouldn't have left him. I shouldn't have fled.

He found someone else, and that was okay
I had found God, and he didn't complain.
But if I had stayed there, holding his hand,
it's likely he would stay here, and his life would be grand.

Each night when I kneel and say my own prayers,
I hope to the lord they're both with God up there.
I pray for the children they were going to have,
for the life that I ruined, that wasn't so bad.

I didn't deserve to continue my life.
Just like Juliet deserved to be Romeo's wife.
Just bury under a field of small rose,
and I'll think of you wherever I go."

Benvolio
His best friends both killed over some silly feud,
Benvolio had no idea what to do.
He looked towards the dagger, he looked towards the gun.
But he couldn't decide to choose either one.

So Benvolio tried to be the strong one.
He reached for the pen, and he grabbed a new one.
He put pen to paper, and he started a song,
he wrote about tragedy, he wrote about love.

He sang till his throat burned,
and it sounded lovely.
The crowds they all gathered,
considered themselves lucky.

Benvolio shared a story with the world,
a story of something that he saw unfurled.
His story amazed many more than he thought,
and his music helped Lady heal her broken heart.

Juliet's like soliloquy like OMG

HELLO AGAIN!

For this post I decided to take Juliet's soliloquy and not only put it into a more modern translation, but use how I think Juliet would have sounded. So, here goes. 

JULIET'S SOLILOQUY

(to be read in a valley girl voice)

Goodbye, I don't know if we will ever see each other again. Something feels wrong like this plan isn't going to work the way we want it to. I need advice. Maybe the nurse can help me. She might be able to tell me what to do.  But this is a different situation. I have to do this alone. Where is that poison? Here it is. What if this doesn't even work, like that would totes ruin the plan. I'd have to get married to that jerk Paris. No way I'm letting that happen. I guess the poison the friar game me might work, but what if I actually end up dead? He can't marry me to Paris cause he already married me to Romeo right? I'd think so cause that's totes against some sort of law. Ugh OMG what if im stuck in the tomb? That would suck. I bet it smells down there and there's no air. Why would they even need air when everyone down there is dead anyways. I'm probably gonna suffocate. Even if I don't its dark and creepy. And old. And it's not like it's all old bones and stuff there's fresh bodies too like Tybalt. I bet he reeks. He always did when he was alive. And we can't forget about the ghosts. If I wake up in there alone they'll probably scare me to death. They'll like scream at me or something. I'll probably go cray cray before someone finds me. I'll like talk to the corpses or something. Or start hallucenagating. I think that's what it's called when you see funny things. Ugh I'd probs do something stupid and bash my head in on a  tombstone. Hey maybe I'll see Tybalt and he'll try to get revenge on Romeo. I guess I should be really mad at Romeo but he's sooooo cute! To heck with the risks he's hot. A toast to you Romeo and I hope to see you soon and not dead. 

(This soliloquy is taken from Act Four, Scene Three, Lines 14-60)

 

 

 

Blog 3

The nurse. Every tragedy needs comic relief, and the nurse brings just that. With a joke for everything and an inappropriate joke for everything else.

Throughout Romeo and Juliet, we hear soliloquy upon soliloquy from many characters. However we never hear the nurses thoughts, only the opinion she shares with her employers. In this post, we are going to hear the nurses diary entry, sharing her feelings about Juliet, her dead husband, and the Families' feud.

For sources click here.

A letter from Tybalt of the Capulet family challenging Romeo of the Montagues

It's no secret the Capulets and the Montagues don't get along; after all that is the whole pretense of the book. But when Tybalt catches Romeo at his party, it was just too much. So what do you say to this intruder, this Montague?

For sources click here.

FOIL

A foil is a character who contrasts with another character by way of personality.

Now, here's a term I haven't heard before. Apparently there is an actual word for characters like Valjean and Javert, or Draco and Harry. Characters who oppose each other in personality and add a degree of excitement to a story. 

Obviously you can think of many more foils in literature you enjoy, (for more examples click here) however, not all foils are created equal.Sometimes characters in a foil are strikingly similar, with one main difference separating them. One example is the iconic characters Javert and Jean Valjean. Both believe in their idea of what is good, though Javert believes the law is what is good and Valjean believes you do not always need to follow the law so long as your intentions are good.  Two similar characters, one big difference.

In the memorable tragedy that is Romeo and Juliet, there are mulitple foils adding to the plot and drama of the play. My favorite "relationship" between two characters is between Paris and Romeo. 

We know Juliet is not the one Romeo loves at first, and that Paris intends to marry her before the lovers meet, but what do the men really think of each other, and how do they compare? 

And now, because you have the (admittedly somewhat boring) background information, we get to the part where I, the author, share  my opinion.

Early in act one, we find our dashing Montague moping over his lost love and how they can never be together and "woe is me". 

"When the devout religion of mine eye
Maintains such falsehoods, then turns tears to fire;
And these, who often drown'd could never die,
Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars!
One fairer than my love! the all-seeing sun
Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun."

Well Romeo, to speak in unprofessional terms, you are whipped. Not with Juliet as the title suggests, but instead to Rosaline, a woman who recently took a chastity vow. Basically Romeo is the definition of a love sick teenager. 

And then there's Paris, Juliet's betrothed, who shows little to no interest in actually loving Juliet.

"Younger than she are happy mothers made."

First of all, ew. And second of all, ew. Juliet is almost fourteen, whereas Paris is in his twenties. Obviously times were different then, and it is shocking to see what they believed back then.

Romeo and Tybalt fight near fallen Mericutio 

In act one alone, Romeo shows his for feelings and love, and Paris shows that thinks logically about situations, rather than "following his heart."

To view sources used in this article click here.

Get Up and DO SOMETHING

Forbidden love draws people in, to that I can attest. I have read my fair share of romance novels. When forbidden love ends in tragedy, it leaves people wondering what if. What if the Montagues and the Capulets had found unity before their children commited suicide? What if I found true love before I ended up married to a cheating lying good for nothing? 

But what ifs don't do anything. The only thing that will do anything is action. 

Perhaps this blog post is self serving, as I have been avoiding taking any sort of action on anything, and need some decent motivation not coming from Disney movies or inspirational Doritos commercials. 

So on the question of what if, shall I compare it to the question of time travel and the bendable fabric of space? No that would be tacky. 

I will compare it to nothing. Because sitting on your butt all day questioning every decision you've ever made is a waste of time. 

While Juliet longed for her Romeo she should have gotten up and done something, rather than whining and complaining while getting a manni petty. 

I you want something, get up and DO SOMETHING. 

Yes I'm talking to you, teenage boy playing minecraft with Internet friends you'll  never meet. 

I'm also talking to you, retired third grade teacher with the aptitude for golf. Get up! Go golfing. Don't sit and think about it. 

Thinking about something is not going to make it happen. Action makes things happen. 

Think of this:

 

If I talk to you in ten years and ask if you regret anything, are you going to regret a decision you made today? Maybe you'll regret a decision you didn't make. 

The call you didn't make. 

The secret you didn't share. 

The lie you didn't admit to. 

The guy you didn't say hello to. 

The smile you didn't smile. 

Don't regret anything. But don't be afraid to make mistakes. Our mistakes DO NOT define us. They make us better people. 

So in conclusion, if you want something, get off your butt and do it, and listen to this advice from Thomas Jefferson: