Wednesday, July 23, 2014

What emoji would you use to describe/represent Juliet from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?

While selecting an emoji (a digital icon) is an arguably subjective decision, there are several good arguments for choosing certain images to represent Juliet Capulet over others. The same guidelines for interpreting literature and forming an argument for an essay can be applied to selecting an appropriate emoji to represent a literary figure; that is, a good choice draws evidence and support from the text itself. It does not make sense to choose an alien or an octopus to represent Shakespeare's Juliet, and so the best method is one which surveys the many options available and selects one based on what is known from Shakespeare's play. (Integrating technology into the learning experience is both worthwhile and innovative, but we should not stray far from the educational objective.) Let's look at some examples:

The heart-eyes emoji seems to be a particularly representative example of Juliet's character, as within the play she falls in love with Romeo Montague. (View here.) A quote which supports this decision can be found in Act I, Scene V:



JULIET: Go ask his name: if he be married.
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.
NURSE: His name is Romeo, and a Montague;
The only son of your great enemy.
JULIET: My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy (Shakespeare, Act I, Scene V).



The crying emoji is also a pick which can be supported with textual references, as Juliet, believing Romeo dead, mourns for him and takes her own life. (View here.) Evidence supporting this decision can be found in Act V, Scene III:



JULIET: What’s here? a cup, closed in my true love’s hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make die with a restorative (Shakespeare, Act V, Scene III)



The female emoji serves as a visual representation of Juliet Capulet as it features a youthful feminine figure, and from the play we know that Juliet is just shy of fourteen. (View here.) A quote which supports this decision can be found in Act I, Scene III:



NURSE: Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.
LADY CAPULET: She’s not fourteen.
NURSE: I’ll lay fourteen of my teeth,—
And yet, to my teeth be it spoken, I have but four—
She is not fourteen. How long is it now
To Lammas-tide? (Shakespeare, Act I, Scene III)



Similarly, the bride emoji reflects Juliet's character in the play, as she secretly weds Romeo. (View here.) Evidence supporting this decision can be found in Act II, Scene VI:



FRIAR LAURENCE: Come, come with me, and we will make short work;
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till holy church incorporate two in one (Shakespeare, Act II, Scene VI).


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