Dramatic Foil in Romeo and Juliet Essay

In the play Romeo and Juliet written by Shakespeare, two young adults, Juliet and

Romeo, fall in love. But theres a problem; they come from two different families that have had an ongoing hatred for each other for many years. Throughout this play Shakespeare uses dramatic foil to not only bring out the characteristic traits of these two death-bound lovers, but to bring out the traits of all the other characters as well.

An example of Shakespeares dramatic foil would be in the scene where Romeo and Benvolio are discussing the loss of Romeos only love Rosaline. Romeo is depressed that the girl he loves will not love him back because she hath Dians wit. Benvolio is Romeos dramatic foil because Romeo is super bummed and Benvolio is telling him to just get over her by giving liberty unto thine eyes, examine other beauties.

Another encounter between these cousins in which Shakespeare uses dramatic foil is when Romeo is telling Benvolio that he never even wants to look at another girl. Benvolio on the other hand is just like, Hey! Come to this party with me and I will make thee think thy swan a crow. In retaliation to this, Romeo is acting as if that is impossible because to him this girl is the most beautiful thing in the world. He tells this to his cousin by saying, Shes fair I love.

The final example of dramatic foil is when Romeo is keeping all of his emotions inside and Benvolio just wants him to open up and talk about everything. Tell me in sadness, who is that you love? is a quote Benvolio uses to try to get Romeo to open up but Romeo replied, Tut, I have lost myself, I am not here. That quote means, Hey, Im not really feeling good and Im not really in the mood to talk right now. Even after Romeo says this, Benvolio keeps on pressuring Romeo to talk by asking Romeo to sadly tell me who. But yet, Romeo continues to stay hush about his emotions.

As I have shown you, dramatic foil can, and often will, be between friends. But, it is sometimes used among enemies. It is how Shakespeare brought out his characters main traits just about every time. You can learn a lot about yourself by watching your opposite.