Intensional Or Accidental Similarities Of Romeo And Juliet T Essay, Research Paper
Intensional or Accidentall? Similarities between Romeo And Juliet and Much Ado
About Nothing!
There are many similarities between Shakespeare’s Much Ado About
Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. Was this Intentional or Accidental? Even though
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, and Romeo and Juliet, is one of his
saddest tragedies, the two plots share many common incidents. Did Shakespeare
mean to have these coincidences or did they happen by accident? In both of his
dramatic works, the Masque is a key element furthering the infatuation of the
lovers. Also the balcony scenes in both plays are crucial because without them
the plot could never have reached its denouement. It seems that God came into
both of the plays in the spirit of the friars, because they had good plans to keep
love together.
In both plays, the masque functions as a dramatic device which initiates
the love plot. It occurs in a social gathering, but not without the help of costumes.
If it were not for costumes the result of love might have been drastically different.
How was the masque used to get lovers together? In the case of Romeo and
Juliet, Romeo hears about the masque and decides to go, thinking that he might
be able to get away with this scheme. Upon entering he sees Juliet and right
away, he knows it is love. If he had not worn the costume, the hosts might have
ejected him from the party and he might not have met Juliet. Much Ado About
Nothing has a similar but also different approach towards love at the masque. In
Much Ado, Count Claudio is not able to gather the courage to court Hero. Instead
Don Pedro, who is one of Claudio’s very close friends, offers to go and woo Hero
for his friend. This point is illustrated by Don Pedro for his great plan to get
Claudio and Hero together
“Thou wilt be like a lover presently/ And tire the hearer with a book of words. …
That thou began’st to twist so fine a story? “1 Don Pedro’s costume allows him to
woo Hero, posing as Claudio.
Balcony love scenes are familiar from both plays. The love was disparate
in each of Shakespeare’s plays. How are these scenes different but also similar?
In Romeo and Juliet, the balcony scene leads towards good love because Romeo
and Juliet are actually falling in love with each other. In Much Ado About Nothing
the scene is an act towards bad love and also to separation. We see that it is a
set up that Borachio between Don John had a scheme to damage the entire love
between Cluadio and Hero the night before their wedding. This evil point is made
clear by Borachio “Go then; find me a meet hour to draw Don Pedro and the
Count Claudio alone;… and there shall appear such seeming truth of Hero’s
disloyalty that jealousy shall be called assurance and all the preparations
overthrown.”2 Without the balcony scene in Much Ado, the heart of the story
would of been missing. If the Balcony scene had not happened in Romeo and
Juliet there would not have been a story.
The Friars seem to be the smartest people. It seems as they act as god in
both plays. How are the friars similar in the ways they present their great plans?
In Romeo and Juliet, the friar is the person who sits down and thinks of an idea
how the two lovers can be reacquainted with each other. He reveals his idea,
they agree with it, and all goes well until the timing fails. Timing causes both
Romeo and Juliet to lose their lives. In Much Ado About Nothing, it is the friar who
reveals his plan to save the love, and all worked well, because at the end of
Much Ado they marry and live happily thereafter. The friar illustrates his
confidence in his plan to save the marriage. “Marry, this well carried shall on her
behalf … Out of all eyes, tongues, and injuries.”3 The Friar causes both plays
proceed the way that they did and they are the ones who make the plays finish
successfully.
The masque brings love together because it is unknown who is beneath
the disguises. The balcony scenes had much to do with building suspense and
adding to plot in both plays. They were similar but also different for the reason
that one brought the two together, and the other ripped them apart. The Friars
speak like God in both plays, with their outstanding plans. There are many
similarities between both plays. Did Shakespeare purposely make these
similarities or were they coincidence? I believe that Shakespeare did not intend to
make both the plays similar in romance but what happened was that he liked the
ideas he used in the first play and unknowingly used them in variation in the
second book. Did William Shakespeare personally require to have similarities in
love in both play or was he just forgetful about what he had written in his other
stories?