William Shakespeares The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Introduction and Background

William Shakespeare l Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. l He grew up in a town called Stratf 0 rdon-Avon and later moved to London to become an actor and playwright.

The Plays l Shakespeare’s plays include comedies, histories—and tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet. l Some of his other famous plays include Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. l In addition, Shakespeare wrote love poems called sonnets.

Will the real Shakespeare please stand up? l Some scholars have suggested Shakespeare, who had little formal education, could not have written such powerful and creative plays. l However, nobody in Shakespeare’s day thought to question his authorship. Apparently, he was just a genius!

Theater l The theater in Shakespeare’s day was tremendously different from what we see today. l Being an actor was not a highly regarded profession; actors were looked down upon in society.

The Globe Shakespeare’s plays were performed in a theater called the Globe— sometimes called “The Wooden ‘O’” because of its circular shape.

l Theaters had no lighting, so performances took place during the day. l There were few special effects or props; Shakespeare used detailed verbal description to paint a picture of his scenes. The reconstructed stage of the Globe

Actors and Actresses l In Shakespeare’s time, it was considered immoral for a woman to appear onstage. So the female roles in Shakespeare’s plays were performed by young men. Queen Elizabeth I

time period in Context which Shakespeare l Elizabethans believed lived—Elizabethan the earth was flat. England, named for the queen— influenced the content of his plays as well as the way in which they were performed. l The

The Four Humors l In Elizabethan times, people believed that a person’s mental, physical, and emotional state were determined by the balance of the four “humors” in the body: blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile. They believed the humors gave off vapors that affected the brain, so whatever humor dominated would determine your personality type.

Marriage l In Shakespeare’s day, marriages were generally contracts set up by the parents. l When Juliet’s parents arrange a marriage for her, it seems strange to us; Shakespeare’s audience would have thought it was completely normal.

Tragedy l Shakespeare’s tragedies also follow a pattern that would have made sense to his audience. l Elizabethans believed that people’s decisions and mistakes always had consequences, and that people sometimes had to pay a high price for their mistakes. l In Shakespeare’s tragedies, the main characters make decisions that upset the proper order of their world and so affect them and everyone around them. The situation is resolved only when others learn lessons from the main characters’ deaths.

Why we read… l So why do we still read plays like Romeo and Juliet? When Shakespeare’s world was so different from ours, what can we learn from his plays? l Well, the plays are not only great, powerful stories—they also teach lessons about life that apply to people in all cultures and time periods, and those lessons can help us when we come across hard times in our own lives.

Keep in Mind: l Don’t be alarmed by the old-fashioned language: this is really l And remember, the a play about people play is POETRY: who are a lot like us, it’s not supposed to and the difficult words, be written exactly when you look at them carefully, the way people talk. express emotions The poetry is part anyone can of what makes it understand. beautiful and powerful—and

Two things to know: Reading the Play l Sometimes a character will give a l Shakespeare’s plays long speech all by were meant to be herself, revealing her performed—they were secret thoughts to the some of the most audience: this is popular entertainment of called a soliloquy. their time. So when we l Sometimes a read the play, the point is character will just to try and imagine it make a brief comment happening onstage! to the audience that Because of the minimal props and scenery, the other characters the action in Shakespeare’s plays had don’t hear; this is to be conveyed through words and called an aside. conversations. A conversation between characters is called DIALOGUE.

So Who’s Who Here? First of all, all of the characters in Shakespeare’s plays can have LOTS of characters. Let’s try to get them straight in our minds… Romeo and Juliet are arranged around a central conflict between two rival families: the Montagues and the Capulets.

The Montagues Romeo Lady Montague Romeo’s Dad Romeo’s mother Mercutio Romeo’s best friend Benvolio Romeo’s cousin

The Capulets juliet Capulet Juliet’s father Lady Capulet Juliet’s Mother Tybalt Nurse Juliet’s cousin Juliet’s nanny

The Peacemakers: The Prince of Verona: Friar Lawrence: l This ruler tries to l This religious leader is mediate between the respected as a holy man by feuding families. both sides, and would like l He is pretty tired of all to see them reconciled. the bloodshed causedl As a friar, he’s interested by their “ancient not only in religion, but also grudge. ” in medicinal herbs—which becomes important later.

And finally… One other “character”: The Chorus is not a part of the action, but a speaker who comes onstage to make comments on the action. The Chorus is kind of like a TV announcer in contemporary life—as far as the characters know, the chorus doesn’t exist, but he helps explain things to us.

Shakespeare’s 5 Part Storytelling Pattern: Act III: Crisis/Turning Point A series of complications Act II: Rising Action A series of complications Act I: Exposition Establishes setting, characters, conflict, and background Act IV: Falling Action Results of the turning point; characters locked into deeper disaster Act V: Climax/Resolution/Denouement Death of the main characters and then the loose parts of the plot are tied up