“Romeo and Juliet’ was written by William Shakespeare,
The narration “Romeo and Juliet’ was written by William Shakespeare, and in this film, he describes the love episode of two unlikely, young lovers. The marriage of these two youths is widely opposed by the two families, with these families advocating for other marriage partners. However, despite the widespread opposition, the two lovers manage to marry secretly, thus winning against the social expectations of their families. The play, “Romeo and Juliet” opens with a fight between two families, the servants of Capulet and Montague families. Feeling saddened by this act, the Prince of Verona, Prince Escalus, threatens to punish any further acts of breach of peace with death or banishment. The narration is filled with numerous acts of rebellion against authority and the set standards. Juliet and her lover Romeo show rebellion against the odds in their path of love. In the great awakening, the preachers advocated for personal dedication rather than the formal cue in Christianity. In “Romeo and Juliet,” the rebellion of these two lovers was against the official or the acceptable way of love and marriage. The lovers advocated for a new way of making love and marriage personal, rather than a formal obligation. Through rebellion, Juliet and Romeo were able to bring a new belief, love in marriage. Similarly, in the great awakening, the preachers rebelled against the traditional beliefs that Christianity was about the doctrine and rituals of the church. The great awakening advocated for personal devotion to God, thus causing division within the traditional Christian church. This awakening marked the emergence of protestant churches across the world. Connectedly, this paper discusses how Juliet in the narration relates to the doctrines in the great awakening.
In understanding how rebellion worked in this narration, it is critical to consider the narration’s plot. Romero is a member of the Montague family, while Juliet is a niece to Capulet. Initially, Count Paris is fated to marry Juliet, with an agreement for the marriage to take place (Shakespeare 54; Act 1). However, during a ball party, Romero sneaks into the Capulet family to see a girl he admires, Rosaline. On the contrary, Romeo cannot trace her but instead meets Juliet, with whom they fall in love. Opposition arises against the lovers when Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, realizes the sneaky Romeo. Romeo is beaten by Tybalt and thrown out of the party but returns to Juliet’s window, where they vow to love each other. Friar Laurence, in his bid to unite the two families, secretly marries these two lovers. However, Juliet has to marry Paris, and again Laurence intervenes by giving her asleep poison. Romeo thinks she is dead and poisons himself, and when Juliet wakes from her comma, she has to deal with her dead lover, thus killing herself.
The first comparison between Juliet and the great awakening can be made within the first instance when Juliet meets Romeo. In this episode, Juliet observes the possibility of having to leave her pre-arranged husband, Paris. In this episode, Juliet sees Romeo as a better option for him when compared to Paris. For instance, Romeo shows compassion, and Juliet loves him, while Paris is imposed on her by her family (Shakespeare 87; Act 1). Similarly, the teachings of the great awakening show aspects of reflection between the old doctrine and the prospected doctrines. History, (2) states that the initial stages of the great awakening, the protestant preachers show their disappointment in the existing doctrine, thus stirring the need for a new doctrine. In this traditional doctrine, the teachings focused on the church and its beliefs, rather than the spiritual well-being of the members. Thus the great awakening occurred to counter this notion that the church was a higher being than personal needs in religion. Comparing Juliet and the happenings in the great awakening, it is evident that the initial stages witnessed reflection between the existing situation and the situation presented to them. The great awakening participants wanted a change in the way the church perceived its members. Similarly, in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet has to decide between loving someone she loved or abiding by the set guidelines and marrying a figure presented by the family. Thus these two scenarios depicted their first rebellion to the existing guidance in their initial stages.
Both Juliet and the participants in the great awakening faced massive opposition from the society and church, In Juliet’s case, the conflict between individuals versus the community played a crucial role in shaping the outcomes of the narration. The society, represented by Capulet and Montague families, was always at wars, and for this reason, marriage between members of these families was viewed as unlikely to happen. The society represented by these families opposed Juliet’s bid to tie the note with her lover Romeo (Shakespeare 300). In the great awakening, the conflict was between the church and individuals. The Protestants advocated for personal devotion in this great awakening while the church advocated for the beliefs and traditions of the church (History, 3). In these two scenarios, Juliet and the Protestants waged a rebellion against society and the traditional church. Thus these two scenarios show similarity in the way individuals were faced with opposition from social organizations like the church or the society.
The final episodes of the narration, “Romeo and Juliet,” present the audience with the death of Romeo. In this episode, Romeo commits suicide after realizing that her lover, Juliet, is dead. On the contrary, Juliet is in an induced coma to evade the marriage with Paris (Shakespeare 400; Act 5). Awakening from her comma, Juliet finds out that Romeo is dead, and she too commits suicide. The symbolic awakening from her comma represents the emergence of a new marriage system whereby love would determine the choice of partners. This awakening symbolically represented the defeat of the social beliefs that family members established marriage. In the great awakening, the phrase “great awakening” symbolizes the realization by Christian members that the doctrine was not concerned about them, but rather the church (History, 5). The outcome was a great revolt against the traditional norms and advocacy for new ways of perceiving the Christian Religion. Thus Juliet and the great awakening show similarities in the way they symbolically represented the emergence of new norms.
In relating Juliet and the great awakening, some scholars may find no correlation between the two. Critics of this comparison may argue that Juliet exercised no rebellion like witnessed in the great awakening. However, Juliet depicted her resistance towards the planned marriage with Paris. First, agreeing to be in love with Romeo was a massive stride towards the opposition of the existing norms. Essentially, marriage to Romeo was illegal according to society, yet Juliet decides to indulge in the marriage. Juliet also depicted rebellion by allowing herself to be in an induced coma. In this scenario, Juliet took the riskiest act of rebellion by subjecting her body to poison, and without considering possible outcomes of the act. Juliet thus rebelled in numerous ways, just like the participants in the great wakening portrayed rebellion; therefore, the comparisons between the two are justified.
In conclusion, the narration, “Romeo and Juliet,” shows huge episodes of rebellion against the existing norms. Juliet’s act of agreeing to marry Romeo was a massive step towards rebellion against society. With the expectations that she would marry the spouse of her family’s choosing, deviating from this expectation was an enormous show of rebellion. In the great awakening, the beliefs that the church was important than personal spirituality was rebelled against by the protestants. The great awakening and the actions of Juliet show great rebellion to the existing beliefs, thus a good avenue for comparison.