Literature Comparison

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Introduction
A literary theme refers to a main idea or ideas expressed in a literary work. This can be conceived as an underlying meaning or a moral point of a literary genre such as a poem, a play, a drama, a song and others. A literary theme refers to the reason an author, a novelist, a playwright, a poet or a dramatist created a particular literary genre. It is a point in which a writer or a poet is trying to put across, which is a concept or an idea that inspired him or her. It is a reflection on human experience or human nature. There may be one theme or there could be more than one themes overlapping in a literary genre. The essay explores the works of Rupert Brooke’s poem ‘the Soldier’ and the Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In both Rupert Brooke’s poem ‘the Soldier’ and the Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the characters are convinced that conflict is an experience that is honorable. In the poem ‘The soldier’, the word ‘richer’ shows the glorious rewards of war while in Romeo and Juliet’ the main trouble makers like characters such as Mrecutio and Tybalt are convinced that they should continue fighting in order to remain honorable and they like fighting to prove their masculinity, and therefore they are portrayed as noblemen in the play. This paper aims to choose a literary theme and shows how the theme can be demonstrated in two different literary forms. Conflict is the literary theme that the paper explores in the works of Rupert Brooke’s poem ‘the Soldier’ and the Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
The Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’
‘The Soldier’ is a two stanzas poem. The meaning of the poem is naturally about war. The poem was created shortly after the beginning of World War I (Brooke 21). The theme of the poem ‘The Solider’ is conflict/warfare. The poet, Rupert Brooke, paints in the poem a more optimistic picture. The solder’s death is talked about in the poem, which happens to celebrate the idea that the soldier’s death grants England a piece of land. The poet thinks that this warfare business is a victory and big win. The soldier fights for Britain, and eventually dies in the foreign land, and that land becomes a territory of Britain. The poem tells how it is grateful for a person to die for his country. Brooke opines that the soldier has nothing to regret and encourages young men to fight in war (23). The poem also indicates that the soldier has devotion in God and thus shows the significance of Christianity.
Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’
In William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, conflict is one of the major themes in the play. There is a long feud between Capulet and Montague families, which is an incident that causes disruption in the city of Verona, and results into tragedy for Romeo and Juliet. A secret marriage, love and revenge compel the young lovers to grow rapidl...