All Pun Intended: an Examination of Shakespeare's Use of "Pun" in Romeo & Juliet

All Pun Intended

Samantha Garapati
Period 4: English
Date: thirtieth May 2010

Prick retire for pricking, and you beat love work through(1.4.28); it doesnt take the mind of a rocket scientist or a teenage boy to figure out the ingratiation behind that name. Thats precisely Shakespeares genius; multitude raise enjoy his plays, whether they have the intellectu on the wholey tuned minds of inventors or the less(prenominal) stimulated minds of cottars. Puns are one of the tools add-inh which he accomplishes this popularity in all spectrums. Not only does he expenditure puns to add vulgar humour to scenes with bawdy jokes to enhance the enjoyment of the public, he excessively uses it to indirectly characterize, adding dimension to characters. Finally, he also uses it to foreshadow attack events, creating anticipation and tension in audiences.

William Shakespeares primary use of pun is to add humour to scenes with bawdy jokes, thus providing audiences and readers jovial relief and dissolving some of the tension of the previous and quest scenes [T]. In the following quote, Shakespeare manages to both create the sexual vision concerning virgins in readers minds and suggest that the best kind of wit is wit that is able to mould itself and accommodate many levels of meaning.



Applying this to a bigger subject, Shakespeare is suggesting that the best way to live life is to live on every level, base or intellectual. Our perception of life is essentially our personality, and our perspective is limited or broadened by our experiences, so in order to understand ourselves and others fully, we have to do all that we can and experience all type of emotion [M]. Reading the quote at first makes us laugh, amused, reading into it however, makes us more thoughtful and open to the ideas presented in the play [E]. O heres a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an/ inch narrow to an ell broad! (2.4.86-87). Another mannequin of Shakespeares use of pun as humour is: For this driveling love is like a great/ natural, that runs...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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