If we begin by looking at Act 3, Scene 4, in line 18, Paris notes that the day at that time is Monday. We also know that by backing up a bit to Scenes 2 and 3 of that same act, both Romeo and Juliet reference being married on that same day, a few hours prior. They only met the day before. So the timeline looks like this:
Sunday: Romeo is pining over Rosaline when he attends the Capulet ball. He sees Juliet, and they fall immediately in love. The famous balcony scene entails.
Monday: Romeo and Juliet are married. That same evening, he kills her cousin and is banished.
Tuesday: Romeo leaves for his banishment after spending the night with Juliet. The friar hatches a plan with Juliet; she should take a drug to make her appear dead and escape to be with Romeo. Juliet drinks the drug on Tuesday evening.
Wednesday: The Capulets find Juliet's "dead" body.
Thursday: Romeo learns of Juliet's "death" and heads back to her tomb. He kills Paris, kills himself, Juliet awakes, and then she kills herself.
These star-crossed lovers only shared 5 days together—and even all 5 were not shared in physical presence. Likely this was Shakespeare's intent—to show his audience that time is fleeting and is quickly passing us all by.
An interesting consideration is the role of time in Romeo and Juliet. The star crossed lovers' story is characterized by haste and rush. The entire play takes place over a span of about four to six days. Romeo and Juliet fall in love and die tragically in less than a week! Shakespeare was clearly trying to emphasize the alacrity and headlessness of the rush into passionate love, especially amongst the younger generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment