Thread by @GCSE_Macbeth

#SummerOfJuliet

Act 1 Sc 5

Now let's get onto that famous joint sonnet between Romeo and Juliet.

A few ideas to upgrade your students' analysis:

1/

The imagery foreshadows the tragic end of Romeo and Juliet. The description of Juliet as a "shrine" foreshadows the golden statue that Lord M promises to erect as a tribute to her in 5.3.

2/

Similarly, the passing of their "sin" from one set of lips to the other foreshadows Juliet's attempt to consume the poison from Romeo's lips before her death.

3/

It's interesting to compare the sonnet to the different poetic register of Lady C's advice to Juliet in 1.3. There she dispenses aphorisms in trite rhyming couplets:

"The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride
For fair without the fair within to hide"

4/

The careful pattern of R&J's love sonnet demonstrates how much more intimate, interesting and intense this experience is compared to the safe world of parental designs.

5/

Reading this scene today I was struck by just how erotic it is. The phrase that stood out was R: "give me my sin again." The passing of desire backwards and forwards via the mouth...it's pretty powerful stuff.

And remember Juliet is only 13...

6/

Leading to my next point. The imagery of saints, pilgrims, purity and defilement is *DELIBERATELY* chosen by Shakespeare to push at the audience's boundaries and anxieties about these young, vulnerable characters.

7/

I've said before that if parents knew anything about Shakespeare we wouldn't be allowed to teach it in school.

Teenagers don't just feel attraction, Shakespeare tells us. They fall FULLY into love, and lust, with desires already formed, and completely beyond your control.

8/

Coming up: some very close analysis you can steal if this passage ever appears in an exam.

9/9