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Romeo and Juliet Coursework 2009:

How does Shakespeare create dramatic effect in Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet?

What is the background of the play?

Unfortunately, we actually know very little about the great man himself save a few signed legal documents and a handful of secondary material relating to his whereabouts on just a few dates throughout his enigmatic life. It is strange to think that one Englands most beloved and internationally recognised writers should exisit in such obscurity, but sadly this is the case. 

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written sometime during the early part of Shakespeare’s career. In essence it is a tale of the teenage son and daughter of two feuding (fighting) families, and how their deaths end the fighting. It has been and remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, with the two main characters now regarded as archetypal teenage lovers.

It is believed that the original story of R&J is based on an Italian story The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet which was translated into English poetic verse by Arthur Brooke in 1562. It is story that Shakespeare would have undoubtedly heard, and the similarity of the titles and context does suggest that Shakespeare used the plot as the basis for his play. Like so much of Shakespeare’s plays we don’t know exactly when it was written, but experts believe it was probably written between 1591 and 1595 early in Shakespeare’s career and was published in a quarto version and later included in the First Folio (1623) a collection of Shakespeare’s works published some 7 years after his death.

In Romeo and Juliet we also see the beginnings of Shakespeare’s mastery of dramatic structure, techniques which would, in time, mark him out as a writer of singular ability. Shakespeare uses comedy to break-up sequences of intense drama (comic relief) and to heighten tension. The interruptions of the nurse in Act 2 Scene 2 not only add an element of comedy to this intense romantic meeting, but also reminds the audience that these are two young people still very much under the control of their families and that both are risking a great deal in their meeting. Shakespeare also introduces a variety of minor characters and lesser roles to add more realism to the plot and a sense of a larger community. He allows the audience to grow attached to minor characters before using their misfortunes and deaths to build dramatic tension and emphasise themes such as duty, honour and trust. Shakespeare also uses setting to introduce tension by way of surroundings, such as the orchard in Act 2 Scene 2 which is laden with symbols and imagery relating to the Fall of Man, natural chaos and the reproductive forces of nature, lest we forget the significance of the wood or forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

What is a tragedy

  Greek Theory of Tragedy: Aristotle's Poetics



Medieval Tragedy and The Wheel of Fortune


Elizabethan and Shakespearean Tragedy



The Problem Play or Drama of Ideas


