If you've enjoyed this video, please consider making a small donation. Thank you.<br />https://www.patreon.com/literature_walkthrough<br /><br />Breakdown of Romeo and Juliet Act 5 Scenes 1 and 2<br /><br />Nutshell Summary: Scene 1<br /><br />- In Mantua, Romeo describes another foreshadowing dream. This time, the dream foreshadows his apotheosis — the resurrection of the sacrificed Hero.<br />- His servant, Balthasar, arrives and informs Romeo that he’s seen Juliet's corpse laid in the Capulet vault.<br />- Romeo vows to return to Verona, reunite with Juliet one last time, and kill himself.<br />- He visits an apothecary to purchase poison.<br /><br />Nutshell Summary: Scene 2<br />- Friar Laurence hears that, due to quarantine (plague!), Friar John was unable to send the message to Romeo.<br />- Friar Laurence writes a second letter and runs off to the vault, where Juliet will soon awake.<br /><br />Themes Discussed:<br />(For more detailed discussion of THEME in Romeo and Juliet see https://dai.ly/x80qt0r)<br /><br />- T8 Dualism: juxtaposition of opposites; union of opposites; only through the process of passing life through death and death through life is the world reinvigorated<br />- Apotheosis: worthy Hero transcends human limitations; from death, hero is reborn as god.<br />- T8 Duality: dual nature of money<br />- T4 Love as healer of wasteland<br />- T5 Sacred Marriage<br />- T11 Fate: Cosmic, bad luck, fate of personality — Romeo is the lover<br />T11 Fate: cosmic, bad luck, not fate of personality, dramatic irony <br />- Imagery, mood, tone: external environment reflects internal psychological state <br /><br />Characters Discussed:<br />(For more detailed discussion of CHARACTER in Romeo and Juliet see https://dai.ly/x80pud8)<br /><br />- C1 Romeo: adolescent, idealistic fool, rich kid lecturing poor man; would Juliet or Benvolio do this?<br /><br />This video on Shakespeare’s LANGUAGE might also help: https://dai.ly/x80qtdh<br /><br /><br />All commentary in this series is designed to help students:<br />— Prepare for GCSE, A-Level, IB, and AP evaluation<br />— Prepare for general high school and college quizzes, exams, and essays<br />— Generate ideas for analysis essays<br />— Participate knowledgeably in class discussions
