By William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare

Comedy and Tragedy Romeo and Juliet begins as a comedy but ends as a tragedy Elements of a comedy Elements of a tragedy Must have a tragic hero/heroine Ends in the death of many of the main characters A struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty that is often presented by elders Separation and unification Heightened tensions, often within a family The shift from comedy to tragedy is what sets Romeo and Juliet apart from the rest of Shakespeare’s plays

Tragedy in Shakespearean Plays Elizabethans believed that people’s decisions and mistakes always had consequences, and that people sometimes had to pay a high price for their mistakes. 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.

Writing Style Parts of Romeo and Juliet are written as a sonnet, a poem of 14 lines written and rhymed in iambic pentameter. Each sonnet ends with a couplet. In a Shakespearean sonnet the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG A couplet is two consecutive lines that rhyme. Iambic pentameter refers to the rhythm of each line. It is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. “Bŭt sóft! Whăt líght throŭgh yóndĕr wíndŏw bréaks?”

Plagiarism!? Shakespeare did not invent the story of Romeo and Juliet. A poet named Arthur Brooks wrote the story of Romeus and Juliet as a long poem that was itself not original, but rather an adaptation of adaptations that stretched across nearly a hundred years and two languages. Many of the details of Shakespeare’s plot are taken directly from Brooks’ poem.

WHY DO WE READ SHAKESPEARE?! 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.

“The Play’s The Thing” Two things to know: Sometimes a character will give a long speech all by herself, revealing her secret thoughts to the audience: this is called a soliloquy. Sometimes a character will just make a brief comment to the audience that the other characters don’t hear; this is called an aside. Because of the minimal props and scenery, the action in Shakespeare’s plays had to be conveyed through words and conversations. A conversation between characters is called DIALOGUE.

The Feud Montagues vs. Capulets “Two households both alike in dignity…” (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue, 1)

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

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

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

And finally… One other “character”: The Chorus 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.

Setting The story is set in the late 1500’s mostly in the town of Verona, Italy. However, there are a few acts set in Mantua, Italy a smaller town just a few miles away.

Interesting… The Italian city of Verona, where Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day. “Star-crossed lovers” refers to two people who are in love but have conflicting astrological signs. In Shakespeare’s times, people believed the course of their lives was determined by the exact second they were born.

Verona Today Today, Verona has an incredible amount of graffiti, which is legal, provided that you are writing about your love for someone.

Timeline Sunday – Act One Monday – Act Two Tuesday – Act Three Wednesday – Act Four Thursday – Act Five

Themes The power of love Love as a cause for violence Fate The inevitability of fate Hate Hate as a forced emotion