Access Type

Online access to this book is only available to eligible users.

Files

Download

Download Full Text (1.4 MB)

Description

By studying the diction of Romeo and Juliet, Robert O. Evans examines this, the most rhetorical of Shakespeare’s plays, in terms of an Aristotelian critical category, which has been neglected in modern times. Inherent in his methodology is the assumption that Romeo and Juliet is best regarded as drama, not as pure poetry, though essentially it is the rhetorical brilliance of the poetry that is considered.

Evans begins with an analysis of the important speeches of Romeo and Juliet and defines the controlling devices Shakespeare wove into them, especially oxymoron. He then follows with a discussion of the role of Friar Laurence, whom the author finds is a catalyst between the warring houses and between the lovers and the outer world of Verona. Evans concludes with an examination of Mercutio’s famous Queen Mab speech, which, he points out, has an integral relationship to the structure of the tragedy as a whole.

An analysis of the rhetorical devices of the play, Evans believes, demonstrates the thesis that the tragic effect of Romeo and Juliet is one of fulfillment, with the tragedy arising from the character of the protagonists rather than from circumstance.

Robert O. Evans is an associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky. He is the editor of Graham Greene: Some Critical Considerations.

Publication Date

1966

Publisher

The University Press of Kentucky

Place of Publication

Lexington, KY

ISBN

9780813151922

eISBN

9780813162621

Keywords

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Disciplines

Literature in English, British Isles

The Osier Cage: Rhetorical Devices in Romeo and Juliet
Read Sample Off-campus Download for UK only

Consortium members may access while on their campus.

Share

COinS