 Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford to a prosperous wood & leather merchant.  Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 – had three children with her.  Wrote 37 plays, but not all were published during his life.  Died on his birthday in 1616

 Shakespeare’s plays were written mostly in blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter  Unrhymed lines consisted of 10 syllables, alternately stressed and unstressed  Romeo & Juliet has extensive rhyming  Rhyming often used to signal the end of a scene or lines he wanted the audience to remember

 Situated outside of town to avoid conflict with the authorities  “Authorities” disapproved of players and play going, partly on moral and political grounds.  Partly for the danger of spreading the plague  The Globe Theater  Small, accommodated 2-3 thousand people  Weather had to be suitable – a flag flew when the play was going to happen  No females allowed! (by law) Performed by all male casts  No scenery…audience had to rely on their imaginations

 Probably written and first acted in 1595  Shakespeare’s company performed as “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men”  During Elizabethan England  One of the most popular and long-reining monarchs in English history ( )  Queen Elizabeth was a shrewd politician with curly red hair.  Daughter of Anne Boleyn & Henry VIII of England  Became Queen of England after her half brother and half sister each briefly reigned and died.  Her sister, Mary, reigned brutally – her persecution of Protestants earned her nickname “Bloody Mary”.

 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.

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

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 –two lines that rhyme. In a Shakespearean sonnet the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG Iambic pentameter refers to the rhythm of each line. It is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, five times in a row. “Bŭt sóft! Whăt líght throŭgh yóndĕr wíndŏw bréaks?”

 When citing a quote from Shakespeare:  (III.iv.13) Act Number – capital Roman numeral Line Number – number Scene Number – lower case Roman numeral Parentheses

 Pun: a joke based on the use of a word or words that have more than one meaning but the same sound.  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… (I.iv 13-15)  Personification: When inanimate objects or concepts are given the qualities of a human or an animal.  Juliet: For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night… (III.ii.18)  Oxymoron: when two juxtaposed words have opposing or very diverse meanings (jumbo shrimp)  Juliet: Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical! (III.ii.77)

 Allusion: indirect reference by casually mentioning something that is generally familiar to the reader (ex: mythology, the Bible, history, etc.)  She’ll not be hit/With Cupid’s arrow; she hath Dian’s wit (I.i )  Paradox: a statement or situation with seemingly contradictory components. Seems opposite or backwards at first, but it is actually appropriate.  Juliet: O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face! (III.ii.75)  Aside: lines that a character says secretly to the audience or to another character on stage (not meant to be heard by all of the characters)

 Soliloquy: a single character on stage thinking out loud (lets us know as an audience what is in the character’s mind)  Catastrophe: the final event in a play (a death in a tragedy; a marriage in a comedy)  Comic relief: humor injected into a serious play to relieve the heavy tension of tragic events.  Juliet’s nurse, for example, plays a comic part to relieve much of the tension throughout the play.

 Dramatic Irony: when the audience knows something that the character on stage is not aware of.  Ex: We know Juliet is not dead when Romeo kills himself.  Irony: a method of expression in which the ordinary meaning of the word is opposite to the thought in the speaker’s mind (called Verbal Irony)  OR events contrary to what would be naturally expected (called Situational Irony)

 Poetic Justice: The good deeds are rewarded, the wrongdoings punished.  Tragic Flaw: a character’s trait that leads to his or her downfall or destruction.  EX: Romeo’s hubris- his belief that he can cheat fate-leads to his death.  Hyperbole: exaggerating or making an extravagant statement.  “I can’t live without you!”

 Metaphor: comparing two unlike objects based on a similar trait (not using “like” or “as”…that’s a simile!)  Romeo: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun. (II.ii.2-3)  Foreshadowing: when a piece of dialogue or action refers to events that will happen later in the story.

 Love: the many manifestations or forms of love: courtly, physical, passionate, spiritual, platonic.  Hate: death and violence permeate the play but are always connected with passion  Fate: "a greater power than we can contradict" - how we are not always or fully in control of our own lives  Authority - of parents · of the law; · of the Prince, of society.  Youth and age – the folly of youth vs the wisdom of adulthood

 First and foremost it is a play about LOVE  Romeo initially portrays courtly love with his pining for Rosaline (Act 1 scene 1) – a superficial, childish form of love  This quickly changes to passionate, irrational adolescent love when he first meets Juliet (I.5)  Love becomes a violent, ecstatic, overpowering force that supersedes values, loyalties to family and rational thought.  “Deny thy father and refuse thy name” (2.2.)  “My only love sprung from my only hate!” (1.5.)

 Love causes R & J to act irrationally:  Examples: Romeo abandons Mercutio & Benvolio to go to Juliet’s Garden; Romeo returns to Verona after his exile by the Prince for Juliet’s sake  The love between R&J is a spiritual, romantic love as indicated by the use of religious imagery when they first meet (1.5.)  It is also described as a type of magic:  ‘Alike bewitched by the charm of looks’ (Prologue, 2.1.)

 Love between R&J is too powerful for words or definition:  ‘But my true love is grown to such excess/I cannot sum up some of half my wealth’ ( )  Death and violence are inextricably linked with the theme of love  Love is blinding and is as overwhelming as hate can be.  The passion between R & J is linked from the beginning with the inevitability of death as the outcome. Example: Tybalt is determined to kill Romeo at the feast at the same instance as Romeo falls in love with Juliet.  R & J are constantly consumed with thoughts of death:  ‘If all else fail, myself have power to die’ ( )  ‘By some vile forfeit of untimely death’ ( )  Friar Lawrence:  These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which, as they kiss, consume. ( )

 Nurse and Mercutio – vulgar, physical love- sexual puns and tawdry images (Act I.4.)  Paris represents a contractual love based on familial connections only. He has a platonic love for Juliet and is marrying her ‘name’ only.  Ultimately, love is a transforming factor in the play. Both hero and heroine undergo a clear change and an awakening. Romeo moves from the fickleness of courtly love to a profound and deep passion. Juliet is introduced to love and becomes resolute about her future – emerging as a strong and practical personality.

Hate – the two families hate each other and are constantly feuding 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? Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love ( )

 R&J’s love is threatened constantly by a society full of hate  The honour code that governs the feuding families sees the destruction of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris.  The selfless love between R&J is a strong contrast to the hate that fills Verona.

‘A pair of star-crossed lovers’ A common belief that your future was mapped out by the stars and that Fate determined your life.

 Mechanism of fate works in all of the events surrounding R&J:  The family feud  The encounter with the servant who cannot read  Romeo’s arm coming between Tybalt and Mercutio in the fight scene  Friar Lawrence’s letter being waylaid  The timing of Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s awakening  These events are not merely coincidences but manifestations of fate that bring about the unavoidable outcome of R&J’s deaths.

 O God, I have an ill-divining soul! Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. (Juliet, 3.5,54-56)  Or if you do not, make the bridal bed In that dim monument where Tybalt lies. (Juliet, 3.5, )  This day's black fate on more days doth depend This but begins the woe others must end (Romeo, 3.1, )  I dreamt my lady came and found me dead (Romeo,5.1,6)  Then I defy you, stars! (Romeo,5.1,24)  A greater power than we can contradict Hath thwarted our intents (Friar Lawrence, 5.3, )

 Death is never far away in the divided world of Verona  Images of death: ‘death-marked’, ‘untimely death’, ‘death-bed’, ‘canker death’, ‘Cold death’, ‘death-darting eye’, ‘cruel Death’, ‘present death’  Death is personified throughout as a powerful connection between hate and violence and ultimately, passion.  A vivid metaphor of Death as Juliet’s bridegroom is spoken by Capulet:  ‘Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir’ ( )

 There are contrasts throughout between the cautious, mature wisdom and the impetuous emotions of youth.  Example: Romeo’s passion ‘I stand on sudden haste’ is contrasted with the Friar’s advice to ‘love moderately, long love doth so’.  The influence of each of the adult characters on the fate of R&J is important.  Question: Is the fate of Romeo and Juliet a result of irresponsible actions undertaken by adults such as the Nurse and Friar Lawrence?

 Lord Capulet represents the familial power held by the father with importance placed on family honour.  R&J struggle against public and social institutions that oppose their love e.g. families, law and order, religion, masculine honour.  They renounce their “names” and resort to the cover of night (darkness and privacy) in order to escape the public world.  O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.  Their suicide is a result of their realisation that they cannot escape their public world and their family names.

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. Minor Themes:

Honesty – Many of the characters lie and deceive to get what they want such as The Friar, Romeo and Juliet. How far would you go to get what you wanted in life? Do a few lies here and there matter?