Compare Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth
For this essay I decided to select one the most famous writers in the world,
Shakespeare, and two of his best-known plays, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.
Around 1590 he started to work as a play-wright in London. Shakespeare then
become one of the most famous writers in England and in part of the world. During
his career he lived to reigns the one of Elizabeth I and James I (Enotes, 2011 .
Shakespearesbiography.[online]Availableat:http://www.enotes.com/williamshakespeare/shakespeare-biography [Access on 18 may 2011] ).
The two plays were written practically at the same period of time Romeo and
Juliet was said to be written in 1954 the year in which King Henry the IV was
crowned in France. While Macbeth was written and played for the first time in 1606
the year in which England, country in which Shakespeare lived in, agreed in adopting
the
Union
Jack
as
its
flag
(Grade
saver,
2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/romeoandjuliet/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).
Macbeth as I said wrote before was written in 1606, practically at the start of
James I reign. James I was a supporter of Shakespeareˇs acting company and the
story of Macbeth reflects the relationship the two had. He reflects the good
kingship of James and the way he was bust developing England (Grade saver,
2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/macbeth/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).
Romeo and Juliet was not invented by Shakespeare but from a poet who wrote a
poem called “Romeus and Juliet”. Romeo and Juliet is just an adaptation of other
works (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/romeoandjuliet/ [Access
on 18 May 2011]).).
 The two plays I have select have in common that they are both tr agedies. A
tragedy is a narrative that usually describes the defeat and ruin of the main
characters of it (Cambridge school, 2005. Macbeth. Cambridge: Cambrdge
university press).
In the plays there are lots of different similarities and differences and es pecially
they have very different themes.
Most of the differences between the two plays are obviously the events that
occur in the play and the relationship between the couples, Romeo and Juliet
and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Fate is one of the themes that can be seen in both plays, For example in Romeo and
Juliet when Romeo goes to the ball the audience already knows they are going to fall
in love with Juliet. The tragedy of the play doesnˇt actually start until the point in
which Mercutio is killed by Tyba lt; this is when the first character dies. This death
brings up to a series of deaths because Romeo wants to take revenge on his best
friend and kills Tybalt. In Macbeth we can see fate when the three witches gave the
prophecy and the audience understands that the main character of the story will
die.
The conflict although begins to build up when Lady Macbeth persuades her
husband to kill King Duncan so that he can become King.
Shakespeare decides to include fate also through the weaknesses of the characters
for example in Romeo and Juliet when Rosaline tells Romeo that sheˇd going to stay
in convent and Romeo look for Juliet which he thinks is the right women for him. In
Macbeth, his weakness is authority and greed and achieves what he wants not only
by kil ling King Duncan but the heir of Macduff and also his friend Banquo.
The two plays are set in two different periods of time Rome and Juliet in the 14 th
century. In the 14th century Europe was expanding very rapidly, there were lots of
wars and contrast between countries and probably Shakespeare wanted to
demonstrate this by using the two families the Capulets and the Motagues after
the 14th century there is a certain period of peace and this can be also
demonstrated at the end of the play where the two families decide not to fight
anymore. The period in which Shakespeare wrote the plays, people all though about
fate and love and passion this is why I believe Shakespeare decided to use these
themes in his plays.
When Shakespeare starting writing his plays, a strong influence was the popularity
of the plays of the Roman play-wright Seneca. Senecaˇs tragedies included
soliloquies, ghosts, witches and magic, violent events and moral statements. All
these features are present in Macbeth. It is said that Shakespeareˇs miracle plays,
such
as
Macbeth,
are
dramatised
Bible
stories
(Grade
saver,
2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/macbeth/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).
Another comparison that can be done between the two plays is that the
conclusion is similar. In Romeo and Juliet when the parents find out about the
deaths they decide to stop the arguments. In Macbeth, when Macbeth was finally
killed, the kingdom came back at peace and it came out that the witches
prophecies were true. Both deaths indicate that the realms went back to order.
It is common in Shakespeareˇs plays to bring everything back o order because at
that time the audience would have expected to have death and violence but at
the same time a happy ending.
However, in the play itself, there are also many differences. One of the differences
in the relationships between , Romeo and Juliet and the one between Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth. Romeo and Juliet have a sort of love connection. They are together
because they love each other. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are unnaturally
connected. The only thing that lady Macbeth wants is to be in power so she asks
he husband to do things she would never do for her to have a better social status.
She calls him weak when he hesitates and even assists him in the murders of the
king. The love between the two canˇt be called love because Lady Macbeth not only
wants to control Macbeth but she is with him just for power.
Another difference of the two plays is that Romeo and Juliet seems a true story
why you can clearly see that Macbeth is completely fictional.
Shakespeare works a lot on relationships in his plays between couples and I have
noticed that in Romeo and Juliet there is not a strong one in the couple while in
Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is stronger as a character and manages to control her
husband and manipulate him.
Shakespeare bases his plays a lot on how the audience expects a play to be and
gives them all they want to see, he always takes in count the time period he sets the
play in adding features from that period of time ( Enotes, 2011. Shakespeares
biography.[online]
Available
at:
http://www.enotes.com/williamshakespeare/shakespeare-biography [Access on 18 may 2011]).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Enotes,
2011.
Shakespeares
biography.[online]
Available
at:
http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-biography
 [Access on 18 may 2011]
 Shakespeare. W, 2005. Macbeth. Cambridge: Cambrdge university press.
 Shakespeare. W, 2005. Romeo and Juliet. Cambridge: Cambrdge university
press
 Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/macbeth/ [Access on 18
May 2011]
 Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/romeoandjuliet/ [Access
on 18 May 2011]