Essay Sample On Foreshadowing In Romeo And Juliet

In this essay I'll discuss a literary feature in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Imagery, Irony, and Foreshadowing are only a few of the literary elements used by William Shakespeare. In this essay, I'll be discussing foreshadowing. What does it mean to foreshadow? When you are provided specific hints throughout the novel, you are given an idea of what will happen in the future. In this essay, I will discuss three major plot events in the play that contain foreshadowing examples.

Act 2, Scene 3, Line 9-10 is the first example of foreshadowing I'll give.

The line is as follows, ( The earth , which is the mother of nature, is also a tomb, both a grave and a womb). To me this is an example of foreshadowing which plays a big role in the book, because Friar Lawrence is saying that and Romeo enters his cell. This is foreshadowing because later on in the play something is going to happen which leads to both Romeo and Juliet . This is foreshadowing because you can’t say that in a conversation you’re having with someone. This is something that you would say when someone is either going to die or is at their last stage and there is no chance of them surviving. The reason I chose this example for foreshadowing is as follows.

I chose that example because this has something to do with both R&J later on in the play. Which is a great plot twist in the play, because Juliet takes a sleeping potion which Romeo didn’t know about, so Romeo and everyone else thought she was dead and did the rituals of burning people. Once Romeo saw that the other people did that, Romeo saw poison by Juliet he took that poison and welcomed death his way. Friar Lawerence who said this foreshadowing came to Juliet's so called “tomb” because that was the she was going to awake.Once she woke up she saw Romeo lying dead, she was not happy, she cried and did not want to go with Lawrence, she loved him so much that she couldn’t live without him so she decided to stab herself with a sword.

The second example I will be talking about is (1,4,112-115). This is an example of foreshadowing because Romeo in this scene doesn’t feel safe entering at the Capulet party because he is a Montague. The reason for this is foreshadowing is because later on the scene Romeo meets Juliet at the party, and this foreshadowing tells the reader that something will happen to Romeo which could lead to his death. The reason behind me choosing this foreshadowing is because later on in the play we find out that both R&J are dead, Romeo dies because of the Capulets, Juliet dies because she couldn’t live and Romeo dies. That is the reason I chose this example for foreshadowing.

Another example I have for foreshadowing is (2,2,81-82). I chose this example because later on in the story this happens, when Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead at her tomb. He says in those lines (It would be better to be killed by their love, than have my death postponed without your love). This is foreshadowing because Romeo basically predicts his own death by saying that, and this happens when Romeo goes to Juliet's tomb, where she is actually sleeping from the potion and Romeo thinks she’s dead. After Romeo sees that he proceeds to take the poison that lies beside Juliet. He dies because he couldn’t receive her love, which was not true she did love him, it's just that Romeo thought she was dead. That is the reason why I chose this example of foreshadowing.

In conclusion for this essay I would like to say that, there are a lot of examples of foreshadowing, and most of foreshadowing is true before R&J die at the end of the play, which was a heart melting ending of the play. Foreshadowing is an element that is used a lot in this  play written from Shakespeare, which I didn’t know what it meant until I did an assignment on R&J.