A little flower's immature rind carries both poison and medicine. That is a paradoxical yet truthful statement. It's also a parable. A person is being compared to the baby rind of a little flower. The more you try to destroy the flower, the more it will grow. So too with Romeo and Juliet. If they had not been young love, nor Romeo heartbroken, nor Juliet grieving, then nothing bad would have happened to them or their families.
Paradoxes are interesting ways for writers to show us new things about characters we think we know pretty well. They often reveal secrets about what makes people tick. What are some examples of paradox in literature?
Oscar Wilde wrote many novels and plays during his lifetime. He is known for being a poet, essayist, novelist, philologist, critic, and social satirist. One of his most famous works is "The Picture of Dorian Gray". In this novel, a handsome young man is seen by others as beautiful but over time his true character is revealed through his portrait which becomes emaciated and old while he remains young and attractive.
Wilde used irony and paradox to great effect in this story. Dorian sins against nature by painting himself every year without fail on his birthday. As a result, he ends up looking older and older while his guardian angel continues to be youthful.
"Death hath laid with thee." There she lays, a flower deflowered by him. "A rose without a thorn" - such a flower is not to be found anywhere in the world- "is like a person who lives alone. The more friends you have, the happier your life will be." Such are some of the many metaphors used by Shakespeare to explain what happens to Romeo and Juliet.
Death has laid with thee. Death, which says more than people think, because everyone dies. And yet not everyone speaks of death when it comes to them. We all speak about others dying, but not about ourselves. Even though everyone dies, no one likes to talk about it. This is why death has laid with thee: because nobody wanted to face up to it, they looked elsewhere for answers. Today too we look for ways to avoid talking about death, but there are times when it is necessary. He was telling Juliet that death had taken her away from life. Although she was only fifteen years old, Juliet knew that she would never marry. She also knew that her parents would never find another husband for her, so she decided to kill herself. Her family might have been noble, but she came from a poor family.
Juliet's initial concern as she prepares to drink Friar Lawrence's potion is that the poison will not work ("What if this concoction does not work at all?") and that she would wake up the next morning having to marry Paris. When she drinks the potion, however, her doubts are resolved.
Romeo's first concern is that Juliet may refuse him. When she agrees to marry him immediately, he feels relieved.
Juliet and Romeo both have doubts about their love for each other. They want to know if it is really true love before they act on it.
The healing power of plants and herbs is the subject of the Friar's soliloquy. He does, however, caution that certain herbs used for healing might also be toxic. This, of course, foreshadows the sad events that will take place later in the play. Plants provide nourishment to animals and humans, but they can also be harmful if not used properly. The same can be said of doctors and herbal remedies.
Romeo and Juliet are doomed from the beginning because they are two people who were brought up in different ways who therefore have no way of understanding one another. They go out into the world to find love and happiness, but it is impossible for them to do so because they are from two different worlds that would always remain apart.
Friar Lawrence's soliloquy reveals that love is the only thing that can bring two people from different backgrounds together. It shows that even though Romeo and Juliet don't know how they will ever find love, the friar believes that they are capable of doing so because love has the power to change everything.
In this part, Juliet employs two metaphors: she compares his pledge of love to lightning because it was made so rapidly. And she compares his love to a blossom, which takes time to bloom to its full glory. Lightning is quick and powerful, like love at first sight.
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