“We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.” ? Stephen Jay Gould. In the plays Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and The Diary of Anne Frank by Albert Hackett, Romeo, Juliet, and Anne Frank went through numerous of conflicts. In both plays, the exposition starts off in a controlled situation.
With time, unfavorable plot events impede and influences the prosperity of the protagonists. These events limit their ability to reach their destiny. When Mercutio curses the Montagues and the Capulets, the theme of Romeo and Juliet transforms from comedy into tragedy. Stabilization, peace, and joy fade as tensions arise through opposing forces as the climax comes and the resolution nears.The tragedy of Romeo comes from hatred and feuding. In Romeo and Juliet, the protagonists fell in love with each other.
The couple felt distraught upon discovering their partner’s names. The love ironically causes more violence. Antagonistic forces make an appearance the time Romeo met Juliet, expanding as the story progresses. Tybalt’s hatred on the Montagues triggers a duel when he spots Romeo in the ball. The duel leads to Romeo’s banishment. Lady Capulet responds to Tybalt’s death by saying “Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother’s child! O Prince! O husband! O, the blood is spilled Of my dear kinsman. Prince, as thou are true, For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.
O, cousin, cousin!” (3.1.142-146) Lady Capulet uses positive connotative diction to claim that Tybalt was innocent while using negative connotative diction to guilt Romeo and the Montagues. Romeo’s banishment separates him from Juliet. Capulet’s further hatred on the Montagues forces Juliet to marry Paris. Juliet’s arranged marriage forces her to fake her death. Juliet’s fake death causes Romeo’s dramatically ironic suicide. Therefore, forces against Romeo and Juliet’s destiny leads to the ultimate tragedy: death.
The tragedy of The Diary of Anne Frank comes from anti-Semitism. Anne’s a Jew; her family hid in the Annex to avoid execution. The Gestapo brought Anne’s destiny to an end. “Oh, Pim. I dreamed that they came to get us! The Green Police! They broke down the door and grabbed me and started to drag me out ….
” (49) This quote was from Anne Frank after her nightmare, foreshadowing the raid that’s to come. The following scene, a thief broke into the Annex and stole cash and the radio. “Thanks to this clumsy fool, there’s someone now who knows we’re up here! Someone now knows we’re up here, hiding!” (62) This marks the climax of the play, where the people in hiding’s fates are already determined. No plot event can change the outcome.
“It was the thief… the thief who told them” (101) This quote proves the thief to be anti-Semitic—he dislikes Jews, as Tybalt loathes Montagues. As a result, anti-Semitism leads to the death of numerous Jews.Relationships in Romeo and Juliet build instantly, despite the feud. When Romeo crashed the mask party, he fell in love with Juliet upon seeing her. He says “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (1.
5.50-52) Romeo uses positive connotative diction to emphasize his affection first-hand. Unaware that their families are enemies, Juliet and Romeo kissed each other with no second thoughts or hesitation. Their love remains despite learning each other’s names.
The love increases tensions as Juliet detaches from her family and matures. Eventually, the two take their lives over death of their partner. This uncovers that the two were effectively influenced by just one plot event. Normally, it takes more than beauty to construct a relationship. One can be delightful, appealing, or rich, yet the adoration and fondness lack certainty—the likelihood of separation and disloyalty stays obscure. Romeo lucked out and got Romeo’s mind is the ideal accomplice—Shakespeare implemented this concept to contrast between hatred and love, as one of the themes. Overall, love is a force that overlaps background hatred.Unlike Romeo and Juliet falling in love at first sight, it took years for Anne and Peter to build relationships with each other.
Anne is 13, she’s not age-ready for relationships. Despite the two having corresponding ages to Romeo and Juliet, both Anne and Peter lack consideration of love. Anne’s childish and prankster conduct tend to upset Peter.
Anne’s move on stealing Peter’s shoes represents childhood, and in response, Peter calls her “Mrs. Quack Quack” (26) for intimidation. Anne Frank describes her frustration against Peter, saying, “you are the most intolerable, insufferable boy I’ve ever met!” (27) Anne Frank uses negative connotative diction against Peter to show her hate against him. Following the climax, Anne demonstrates profound frustration to grownups as order collapses. Lacking proper support from grown-ups, Anne resides with Peter. “Here we’ve been seeing each other every minute for almost a year and a half, and this is the first time we’ve ever really talked.
It helps a lot to have someone to talk to, don’t you think? It lets you to let off steam.” (76) Anne and Peter kiss as a sign to show the two have changed. They hugged each other as the Gestapo broke in. Anne and Peter’s relationship is not a magnetic bond, compared to Romeo and Juliet’s relationship—it is a relationship formed through isolation. The Diary of Anne Frank was not meant to be a love story, its to describe life in WWII.
Overall, love in the annex is achieved through time as characters mature from their younger selves.Romeo and Juliet take place in 14th century Verona. Juliet lives in a noble family. She seldom leaves Capulet’s home. Parents of noble families consider their children to be adults when they’re 8 and consider marriage around age 14. When Lord Capulet forces a marriage on Juliet to Paris, Juliet says: “not proud you have, but thankful that you have: Proud can I never be of what I hate, but thankful even for hate that is meant love” (3.5.146) constructively, in means of balancing the use of connotative diction to maintain Juliet’s respect towards Capulet.
Capulet responds by saying: “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church a’Thursday, or never after look me in the face.” (3.5.160-163) The connotations of “young baggage” and “disobedient wretch” gives a shoddy impression on Lord Capulet as a case of child abuse. Capulet limits freedom by his own will—not due to a WWII situation right outside his window. Because Capulet threatens to disown his daughter, Juliet descends into insanity, threatening to kill herself if help lacks presence.
Overall, noble parents tend to be unconstructive towards their children—without proper care—and will often force marriage with the child’s lacking right to veto.The Diary of Anne Frank resides in one location: The Annex. The Annex is no different to a concentration camp long-term. Outside the Annex means instant capture for the Jews. Anne Frank lives the two years in fear while coping with boredom, fear, and conflicts between other hiders.
With time, the members in the Annex slowly descend into insanity. After the climax, the characters became numb about the holocaust. Anne Frank has more time to complain out Peter’s parents instead of talking about the Nazis. “And yet you sacrifice your child to this man … Take your things and get out!” (88) This quote from Mrs. Frank is very similar to Capulet’s anger about Juliet’s rejection. This is ironic as the Van Daans were already in the annex prior to the Franks’ arrival.
The following scene Mrs. Van Daan considers suicide as a proper option. She says “I can’t stand it! I’ll kill myself! I’ll kill myself!” (96) Her use of repetition emphasizes her depression—in a situation paralleling to Juliet begging Friar for a solution. At the end, the playwrights added the crashing sound effects to create sympathy for the characters as they realize they are in a WWII environment after the mass amount of unrelated conflicts. Therefore, remaining in a confined space results in a slow descendance into insanity.Conflicts in both plays show presence as the plot progresses. Both stories describe how opposing forces heavily affect protagonists in the play. Conflicts in both plays show presence as the plot progresses.
Both stories describe how opposing forces heavily affect protagonists in the play. Conflicts in both plays show presence as the plot progresses. While love plays a role, being cramped up with haters is a no-good situation. “It is restful, tragedy because one knows that there is no more lousy hope left. You know you’re caught, caught at last like a rat with all the world on its back.
And the only thing left to do is shout.” – Jean Anouilh
