The passages that I chose from Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet serve as a contrast to each other, in terms of the atmosphere, language, images, symbols and the dramatic interpretations. Both are in blank verse, though the language (words) used in these passages bring out contrasting ideas. Both passages are a juxtaposition of extremes: Romeo's extreme love for Juliet and Tybalt's extreme hatred for the Montagues and the waking world of reality and the unnatural world of evil intermingle in the paranoid hallucinations in the insomnia of Macbeth.
             The atmosphere in Macbeth (the passage chosen, that is) is very tensed. The punctuation used in the dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth shows the level of tension they are in. The rhythm at this point is rather curt. This has been produced by staccato (quick-fire) dialogue between the performers, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth when they show their tension by rapid, almost monosyllabic of question and answer:
             Macbeth: I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?
             Lady Macbeth: I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry.
             The atmosphere in Romeo and Juliet, on the other hand, is very romantic (though it shows conflict at the same time). The use of figurative language has enabled the performers to bring out this aspect well. Shakespeare uses metaphor in the discussion between Romeo and Juliet about the 'holy palmer kiss' which compares lips to palms:
             Romeo: If I profane with my unworthiest hand
             This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this;
             My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
             To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
             Juliet: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
             Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
             For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
             And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.
             Shakespeare's use of lyric forms - his use of love sonnet conventions enabled the performers to characterise the moment and the relationship between themselves ...