Question

Paradoxes explain the duality of human life. For example, the saying “you have to be cruel to be kind” rings true to every parent: if a child never hears “no” or is never punished, he or she will be a monster. Think about the paradoxes in Romeo and Juliet. What might Shakespeare’s message be through all the oppositions he presents to us? Love is wonderful and agonizing; dreams are pleasing and terrifying; parting is sweet and sorrowful; plants make healing medicine and killing poison; characters are affectionate and salacious, wise and foolish, sensitive and silly. Is Shakespeare sympathetic or critical of our contradictory human impulses?

Write a paragraph exploring what message you glean from all these paradoxes. Begin with a claim as a topic sentence.

Answer 1

Shakespeare's message in Romeo and Juliet is that our contradictory human impulses make us both sympathetic and critical of love. On the one hand, love is wonderful and agonizing; on the other hand, dreams are pleasing and terrifying. Parting is sweet and sorrowful; plants make healing medicine and killing poison. Characters are affectionate and salacious, wise and foolish, sensitive and silly. Shakespeare's message is that our contradictory human impulses make us both sympathetic and critical of love.

Step-by-step explanation: