... essay by Susan Snyder, she speculates that the play of Romeo and Juliet, dubbed in its entirety a tragedy, begins in fact as a comedy. Never having considered this notion before, and now considering, it is very clear early on in the play that the characters speak and act in a lighthearted, humorous, manner. It isn't ... comedy. Comedic plot is more fickle in its ultimate concluding results, while the events of a tragedy are irreversible, "they will never happen again, and one by one they move the hero closer to the end of his own personal time." (ibid) His own personal time ending is some...

• Word Count: 430
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... he is a lord until they tell him he has a wife, at which point he immediately reverses himself "Am I a lord? And have such a lady?" Shakespeare emphasises Sly's pattern to blank verse, which is spoken primarily by Shakespeare's noble characters. Before Sly only spoke in prose. The humour of the situation is obvious, though Sly is at first pre-occupied ... Shakespeare here playfully introduces a number of ideas of marriage is something that people use at there own benefit rather than a reflection of some deeper truth about the named couple. As a romantic comedy, the play focuses principal...

• Word Count: 1236
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate