Summary:
In his plays, William Shakespeare foreshadows and emphasizes tragic love by making allusions to famous lovers, such as Dido, Cleopatra, and Thisbe, all of whom were torn apart by tragedy. Through these allusions, Shakespeare is able to enrich his work for his audience.
Shakespeare's Use of Allusions
"Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, Thisbe a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose." (Shakespeare,) This quote is from Mercutio, a character from Shakespeare's highly acclaimed "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," when he mocks the tragic love of famous mythological characters. Shakespeare foreshadows and emphasizes tragic love by making allusions to famous lovers, such as Dido, Cleopatra, Thisbe--all torn apart by tragedy.
Through the allusion to Dido, Shakespeare is able to emphasize leaving. Dido, Queen of Carthage, who had given Aeneas and his men refuge in Carthage after they lost the Trojan War, had fallen in love with Aeneas and gave him more love than he could take. Aeneas eventually left Dido because of his destiny to establish a new kingdom in Italy. When Aeneas leaves, Dido kills herself. This allusion emphasizes the tragic love of Romeo and Juliet when Romeo is exiled and leaves Juliet.
Cleopatra was Egypt's pharaoh and had fallen in love with Marc Antony of Rome. When Marc Antony left Rome for Cleopatra, the Emperor of Rome, Octavious, began his invasion of Egypt. Marc Antony's fleet eventually fell to Octavious, and Antony fled to Cleopatra; but, believing she was dead, he stabbed himself. On learning that Cleopatra was still alive, he carried himself to her and died in her arms. Then, Cleopatra allowed herself to be bitten by a venomous snake and died. This miscommunication foreshadows the miscommunication in "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" when Friar Lawrence's letter does not reach Romeo, and Romeo, believing Juliet to be dead, rushes off to kill himself.
The story of Thisbe and Pyramus is very similar to the one of Juliet and Romeo. Thisbe was the fairest maiden in Babylon, while Pyramus was the fairest man. They loved each other dearly, but their parents opposed their love. They soon ran away, and one day, when Pyramus had left Thisbe alone in the woods, a lion came up and attacked Thisbe. Luckily, Thisbe was able to evade the lion, and ran off, leaving a bloody scarf behind. When Pyramus returned, he grieved for Thisbe, thinking that she had been devoured by the lion, and stabbed himself. When Thisbe returned, she found Pyramus lying there, dead. In her grief, she too stabbed herself. This tragic story links together the fate of Thisbe and Pyramus and the fate of Juliet and Romeo. Juliet had planned to be carried away to Mantua by Romeo, where they would live together happily, but a miscommunication occurred, and Romeo believed Juliet to be dead, killing himself; Juliet, too, then killed herself.
Through the allusions Shakespeare uses in his plays, he is able to enrich his work for his audience. Many of Shakespeare's allusions foreshadow tragic events.
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