"But Romeo may not. He is banishèd.
Flies may do this, but I from this must fly.
They are free men, but I am banishèd.
And sayst thou yet that exile is not death?
Hadst thou no poison mixed, no sharp-ground knife,"
In extract of the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo has just been banished from Verona, meaning he will never be able be able to see the love of his life, Juliet again.
This extract shows an example of frozen register, this is shown with the use of the word 'tis', however in today's world we would say this is or it's. The use of this makes the reader aware of the time period that this play was set in. The use of this archaic lexis also enables the audience to get an understanding of the the type of language that was used in the Shakespearean times and to explore other types of frozen register used in his work to further their vocabulary. Other examples of frozen register used in this are 'say'st', 'thou' and 'had'st'.
In this small extract, we also see a use discourse technique of the third person although Romeo is talking about himself and his experience. For example, instead of him saying 'I may not, I am banished' he instead says ' But Romeo may not. He is banished'. This is peculiar as it, custom that when you talk about yourself that you speak in first person. The use of the third person also creates the idea that he is furthering himself from the statement made, although there are no inverted speech marks to suggest this. Another way of looking at his is simply the fact that the use of third person when speaking about oneself is often used in Shakespeare's work. The use of the third person also allows the reader to get an idea of how Romeo is feeling about being banished, the use of this may also help the reader feel empathy towards Romeo.
Repetitive language is also used in this text, this is shown with the use of the word 'banished' occurring more than once. The use of the repetition of this word really expresses his disbelief in the fact that he has been banished from Verona and this also illustrates to the audience the misjustice he feels he's received from this punishment. This again enables to the reader to feel sorry for the character.
In this small extract, we also see a use discourse technique of the third person although Romeo is talking about himself and his experience. For example, instead of him saying 'I may not, I am banished' he instead says ' But Romeo may not. He is banished'. This is peculiar as it, custom that when you talk about yourself that you speak in first person. The use of the third person also creates the idea that he is furthering himself from the statement made, although there are no inverted speech marks to suggest this. Another way of looking at his is simply the fact that the use of third person when speaking about oneself is often used in Shakespeare's work. The use of the third person also allows the reader to get an idea of how Romeo is feeling about being banished, the use of this may also help the reader feel empathy towards Romeo.
Repetitive language is also used in this text, this is shown with the use of the word 'banished' occurring more than once. The use of the repetition of this word really expresses his disbelief in the fact that he has been banished from Verona and this also illustrates to the audience the misjustice he feels he's received from this punishment. This again enables to the reader to feel sorry for the character.
lovely, I love that you have pointed out about the text being in third person!
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