Archetypes In Romeo And Juliet And Ovid's Pyramus And Thisbe

In every story you’ve ever heard we find archetypes, we find the “damsel in distress”, “the savior”, “the wise old leader”, “the forbidden lovers”. These famously known figures are found everywhere. We see these very precise archetypes especially in William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, and in Ovid’s “Pyramus and Thisbe.” Now, we are going to look at some of the biggest similarities between the two stories. The first thing we see here is the pair of lovers. In each story we find two young people who are in love, sadly though, both loves have been forbad. Our main point here is the divider which separates the lovers. In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare writes, “from ancient grudge break to new mutiny” (1.1.2). Then in “Pyramus and Thisbe” Ovid writes “They longed to marry, but their parents forbade.” (947). Now that the divider has been brought to attention, we must also know that when love is restrained, it finds a way to come through. Though both sets of lovers are told to be apart, they both find some mean of communication, in Romeo and Juliet the two lovers communicate through the Nurse by sending messages back and forth. "O, find him! Give this ring to my true knight And bid him come to take his last farewell" (3.2.142-143). Then in “Pyramus and Thisbe” the two lovers communicate through the small chink in the wall. Ovid writes, "In the wall both houses shared there was a little chink" (947). Ovid continues, "Our two young people discovered it and through it they were