| Theme 1 | Love ultimately led to death. Romeo and Juliet’s love is pure, but it is also destructive in leading to their deaths, as well as family member’s deaths. |
| Theme 2 | Romeo and Juliet cannot escape their fate of death. It is said in the prologue that they will die, and as much as they fight that, they do die in the end. |
| Theme 3 | Dishonestly leads to fatal consequences: keeping Romeo and Juliet’s marriage a secret |
| Theme 4 | Everyone’s hasty decision making leads to their deaths (tragic flaw). This fits with “Dishonesty leads to fatal consequences” theme |
| Dramatic Irony Example 1 | We know that Romeo is a Montague, when him and Juliet first meet in the ballroom scene, but Juliet does not know yet that Romeo is a Montague, her only hate. |
| Dramatic Irony Example 2 | We know that Capulet approves of Romeo, but Juliet doesn’t know this. |
| Dramatic Irony Example 3 | Tybalt is Romeo’s family now that Romeo is married to Juliet, but Tybalt doesn’t know this, and doesn’t understand why Romeo tries to break up him and Mercutio. |
| Dramatic Irony Example 4 | Juliet doesn’t know yet that Romeo killed her cousin, Tybalt, while she goes into a soliloquy about her love for Romeo. |
| Verbal Irony Example 1 | Mercutio makes fun of Benvolio and calls him unreasonable (Act 3, Scene 1, line 5), when it is actually the opposite (Benvolio is the voice of reason) |
| Verbal Irony Example 2 | Mercutio got stabbed in the heart and called it “just a scratch” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 90) |
| Situational Irony Example 1 | Of all the people Capulet’s servant could’ve brought the guest list to, he brought it to Romeo, a Montague. |
| Situational Irony Example 2 | On all of the days that Juliet could’ve died, she “died” on her wedding day. |
| Situational Irony Example 3 | Romeo goes to the ball for Rosaline, but ends up with a new love, Juliet. |
Romeo and Juliet: Irony & Themes
July 26, 2019