1. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Shakespearean Drama
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

2. Shakespearean Drama
Refers to the 37 plays written by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Characteristics include:
Soliloquy: a speech that a character gives while, or as if, alone on stage.
Aside: a character’s remark, to the audience or another character, that others on stage are not supposed to hear.
Soliloquies and asides reveal a character’s private thoughts and feelings.

3. Shakespearean Drama
When Shakespearean actors say their lines, they don’t just speak lines of dialogue. Often, they’re also speaking lines of dramatic poetry that are written in a sound pattern called iambic pentameter (invented by the Greeks):
When these lines don’t rhyme and are not grouped in stanzas, they’re called blank verse: a line has five instances of unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable.
“Romeo and Juliet” features much more rhymed iambic pentameter, often with punctuation at the end of each line to make the rhymes even stronger.
Adapted from Barron’s “Simply Shakespeare”

4. Shakespearean Drama
An iamb contains one unaccented (or unstressed syllable) and one accented (or stressed) syllable in that order. It borrows from the natural swing of our heartbeats to go ker-THUMP, ker-THUMP.
Five of these ker-thumping units in a row make a line of iambic pentameter.

5. Shakespearean Drama Here is a line of perfect iambic pentameter:
“He WENT to TOWN toDAY to BUY a CAR.”
That can get monotonous. So writers like Shakespeare change the iambic pentameter pattern of their blank verse to keep things interesting – and to make poetry.
“In SOOTH/I KNOW/not WHY/I AM/so SAD” (Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 1)
Adapted from Barron’s “Simply Shakespeare”

6. Shakespearean Drama Review
An allusion is a brief reference within a work to something outside the work that the reader or audience is expected to know.
Shakespearean drama contains allusions to historic and current events, Greek and Roman mythology, and the Bible.

7. Shakespearean Drama
Characters in Shakespearean drama can be categorized not only as major and minor but also according to these types:
REVIEW:
Protagonist: central character or hero.
Antagonist: character who opposes the protagonist. Might also be a force of nature or set of circumstances the protagonist faces.
NEW:
Foil: a character whose personality or attitudes are in sharp contrast to those of another character in the same work.
Comic relief: inclusion of humorous character, scene, or dialogue to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

8. Shakespearean Drama
Line citation: When you cite lines from Romeo and Juliet, you cite the act, scene, and line(s) in that order, using numerals.
Consider this example, using the version of the play in our textbook:
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? (2.2.33).
That’s Act 2, Scene 2, line 33.

9. Romeo and Juliet Act 1: Introduction
Under the summer sun in Verona, Italy, two families battle in the streets. The grudge is older than most people who are doing the fighting.
Most characters are tied in some way to these two families: the Capulets (Juliet) and Montagues (Romeo).
The Prince of Verona, Prince Escalus, tries to keep the peace between these bitter enemies.
One odd “character” is the Chorus: a group of people that speak as one. The Chorus is like an actor who helps the audience understand what will happen in the play.

10. Romeo and Juliet Important things to note:
Shakespeare mixes dreamy images of love with language that is much more sexual, which often includes off-color humor and puns. Pay attention to the Nurse (Juliet’s nanny).
Shakespeare’s audience understood that marriage did not always need love. It is acceptable to marry to increase or protect wealth and status. It is not so acceptable to marry only for love. Rich parents from two different families often set up marriages between their children.