Act 5 Scene 1

Act 5 Scene 1 is a huge scene in the play of Romeo and Juliet. This is the scene where Romeo finds out that Juliet has "died" and he plans his own death accordingly. One literary device used many times in this scene is shared lines. As soon as Romeo found out about Juliet's "death" he would quickly respond to Bathlasar, creating a shared line. This shows how Romeo's feelings are fired up because he has such true love for Juliet and he is concerned about her death; he needs to know information immediately. Also, a lot of personification is used in this scene. One example is when Romeo says, "misery had worn him to the bones." Misery cannot wear down anything. Another example is when Romeo says, "oppression starveth in thy eyes." Oppression cannot starve anything, this is an example of personification. The theme of love comes up many times in this scene as well. Romeo says, "but love's shadows are so rich in joy." Earlier in act 4, Romeo switched the theme of love and dark versus light, saying that light love is more difficult. Here, he is exclaiming how love's shadows can have many dark and hidden things to it, but it is still worth it. Finally, the theme of true love comes up because Romeo is willing to kill himself due to the fact that he cannot live without Juliet. Life has no meaning if she cannot be apart of his.