Shakespeares Romeo Juliet The Globe Theatre This was

Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet

The Globe Theatre This was where Shakespeare’s plays were performed. It housed everyone from common drunks to the Queen! It had no roof and plays were performed at 2 pm because they had no electricity to light the stage.

The Globe The floor was muddy and made worse by people urinating on it (because they’d been to the local tavern before). You had to pay extra for a cushion on your seat (but if you had a seat you were pretty rich anyway!).

The Globe Most people watching the play were illiterate and if they didn’t understand or didn’t enjoy the play they would throw whatever was handy at the actors on the stage! Objects ranged from their shopping or shoes to clumps of wee soaked mud from the floor.

The Globe So, to ensure they didn’t get heckled off stage, Shakespeare used the most dramatic words, included some very shocking themes, and created some very intriguing and entertaining characters. The fact that his plays are still extremely popular over four hundred years later proves he was doing something right!

What’s it all about? The story is about a pair of star-crossed lovers. Two teenagers pursue their love for each other despite the fact that their families have been at odds with each other for decades. The story combines sword fighting, disguise, misunderstanding, tragedy, humour, and some of the most romantic language found in literature all in the name of true love.

Who’s Who? Capulets • Paris – a young nobleman. • Juliet – daughter to Capulet. • Capulet – Juliet’s father and head of the family. • Lady Capulet – wife to Lord Capulet. • Nurse – servant & Nurse to Juliet. • Tybalt – nephew to the Capulets.

Juliet • Is a Capulet, 13 yrs old • Begins as a naïve child, • She doesn’t have as much freedom as Romeo because she is a girl • She sneaks around to see Romeo; trusts Romeo • Juliet is very close with the nurse.

Nurse • Has cared for Juliet since she was born • Vulgar, long-winded, loyal and a confidante to Juliet • At end though, they have a falling-out over Romeo

Lord Capulet • Juliet’s dad • He truly loves Juliet, but does not know her feelings and dreams • Bad temper when things don’t go his way • He commands respect and propriety • Patriarch of the Capulets

Lady Capulet • Juliet’s mom • Ineffectual mother- relies on the nurse to “mother” Juliet • She married young, had Juliet around age 14, and is eager for her to marry Paris

Tybalt • Juliet’s cousin • Vain, fashionable, very into proper etiquette, proud • He is well-trained in sword fighting and someone to fear • He loathes the Montagues

Gregory & Sampson • Servants to the Capulets • Start a fight w/ Montagues at the beginning of the play

Who’s Who? Montagues • Romeo – son to Montague. • Benvolio – nephew to Montague & friend to Romeo. • Balthasar – servant & friend to Romeo. • Mercutio – friend to Romeo. • Lady Montague – wife to Lord Montague. • Montague – Romeo’s father and head of the family. • Friar Lawrence – a local priest, friend of Romeo.

Romeo - Is a Montague 16 years old Cute, smart, sensitive Impulsive and immature He doesn’t care about the feud Romantic heart

Balthasar - Romeo’s servant - You could say that the turn of events is all Balthasar’s fault, even though he didn’t know what he was doing.

Benvolio - Romeo’s cousin & friend - Tries to break-up fights. Keep the peace. - Counsels Romeo about love and make him feel better.

Mercutio - Related to the prince Good friends w/ Romeo Bad temper Doesn’t like emotional people Believes love is about the physical contact and nothing else.

Lord Montague - Romeo’s dad - Worries about Romeo’s sadness - Patriarch (head man) of the Montagues

Abraham - Montague’s servant - Fights Sampson and Gregory in the beginning

Lady Montague - Romeo’s Mom - Dies of grief after Romeo’s death

Friar Lawrence - Friend to Romeo and Juliet (but mostly Romeo) - Kind, civic-minded - Secretly marries R & J in hopes that their marriage will end the feud. - He is a holy, Catholic man and also familiar with potions and herbs.

Count Paris - Related to the prince - Preferred by the Capulets to marry Juliet - He treats Juliet inappropriately after Capulet says he can marry her.

Prince Escalus • Prince of Verona • He is concerned with maintaining public peace • Related to Mercutio and Paris

The Main Themes in R&J Love at first sight A common 16 th century belief that if you didn’t fall in love at first sight, then you weren’t really in love.

Hate The two families hate each other and are constantly fighting, causing many deaths. No one really knows why they are fighting as they fell out so long ago. Are they right to continue to hate even though they don’t know why?

Fate Another common belief was that your future was mapped out in the stars and you couldn’t influence the future in anyway. Just like us reading our horoscopes really. Do you believe in fate? Why?

Loyalty Some characters have certain loyalties, like the Nurse to Juliet, the Friar to Romeo and the Montagues and Capulets to their own blood relatives. These loyalties become hard to maintain when certain decisions have to be made. Do you think you have to be loyal to someone just because it is expected of you?

Honesty Many of the characters lie and deceive to get what they want such as The Friar, Romeo and Juliet.

Look for… Puns Allusions Metaphor Personification Oxymorons Paradoxes Foreshadowing

VOCABULARY Aside • A character’s quiet remark to the audience or another character that no one else on stage is supposed to hear EXAMPLE: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Blank Verse • Written like poetry but tells a story; more freeflowing (doesn’t have a rhyme scheme or set # of lines); written in iambic pentameter Meter • A recurring pattern of stressed (accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or short) syllables in lines of a set length. Iamb • A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

VOCABULARY • When there are five feet/iambs in a line, the meter of the line is iambic pentameter. The line will consist of 10 syllables. EXAMPLE: Iambic Pentameter 1 2 3 4 5 Shall I| com PARE| thee TO| a SUM| mer’s DAY? Couplet Epithet • A pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought; Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet. • A rhetorical term for an adjective (or adjective phrase) used to characterize a person or thing. EXAMPLE: Alexander the Great

VOCABULARY Pun Oxymoron Paradox • A play on words that have similar or identical sounds but very different meanings. EXAMPLE: "Vandals destroyed many road signs. They really pulled out all the stops. ” • A figure of speech in which two contradictory words or phrases appear side by side. EXAMPLE: Deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, act naturally • A statement or situation with seemingly contradictory or incompatible components. EX: “Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded. ” “You shouldn't go in the water until you know how to swim. ” “If you didn't get this message, call me. ”

Puns A pun is a humorous play on words. Mercutio – “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance. ” Romeo – “Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes / With nimble soles; I have a soul of lead…” (Act I Sc. 4)

Allusions An allusion is a reference to a well known work of art, music, literature, or history. “At lovers’ perjuries, they say Jove laughs. ” (Act II, Sc. 2) Jove is another name for Jupiter, the Roman King of the Gods.

Metaphor A metaphor is a direct comparison between two unlike things. Romeo – “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. ” (Act II Sc. 2)

Personification occurs when an inanimate object or concept is given the qualities of a person or animal. Juliet— “For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night / Whiter than new snow on a raven’s back. / Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow’d night” (Act III Sc. 2)

Oxymorons An oxymoron describes when two juxtaposed words have opposing or very diverse meanings. Juliet – “Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!” (Act III Sc. 2)

Paradoxes A paradox is statement or situation with seemingly contradictory or incompatible components. Juliet – “O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!” (Act III Sc. 2)

Foreshadowing is a reference to something that will happen later in the story. Juliet – “Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun. ” (Act III Sc. 2)

The Play The Prologue – Remember the play was written to be performed, not read. Also, the majority of the audience members weren’t as intelligent as you so they needed a bit of a helping hand. The Prologue, (meaning ‘before speech’) gave them a few hints about what they were about to see and asked them to try and understand even if it didn’t all make perfect sense. Just what I’m asking you to do! You don’t have to belch & wee on the floor like the groundlings though. . . Please! And if you throw anything at me I WILL give you a detention!

The Montagues & Capulets Both very wealthy & powerful families. Italian city The old feud between the families. No one knows the reason why they fell out. The feud continues with new generations of Montagues & Capulets Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Suggesting that many civilians are guilty for killing others.

Loins are your privates! What they do with their loins results in their death. Their meeting was destined to happen through fate. suicide enemies It was an adventure that went wrong From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. But one good thing came from it in that it stopped all the hate & bloodshed

The time they had together was very dangerous Suggests they died at the hands of fate. Rage at the other families. Their parents never knew of the romance until they were dead. Only the death of their own children would make them stop hating the other family & make them call a truce. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

The play lasts for two hours You need to listen & be patient If you don’t quite understand what I’ve just said in this prologue. . . I’ll work hard to help you understand in the action that’s about to happen! Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

The End