1. Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet

2. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Born in April 1564 at Stratford-on-Avon
John Shakespeare (father)
tanner, glover, dealer in grain
town official (alderman, and later mayor)
Mary (mother)
daughter of Robert Arden, a prosperous gentleman-farmer.

3. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Married Anne Hathaway in 1582
Three children born: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet
By 1590, he was an actor and playwright
Leader of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and the King’s Men
died April 23, 1616

4. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
He was buried in Stratford; the inscription on his tombstone reads. . .

5. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
“Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake, forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here;
Blest be the man that spares these stones
And curst be he that moves my bones.”

6. Best Known For…
37 plays, including Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and of course, Romeo and Juliet
The exact year in which William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet is unknown, but it is definitely one of his earlier works, and one of only two tragedies written in the period from 1590 to 1595
155 poems, all written in the same style, known as The Shakespearean Sonnet

7. The Shakespearean Sonnet
14 lines
Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
Iambic pentameter
The last two lines are a rhyming couplet
Shakespeare’s plays are also written in couplets and iambic pentameter, except for when the servants or comical characters speak. There are even sonnets in his plays.

8. All the World’s a Stage…
Shakespeare wrote hundreds of poems, but he is best known for his plays.
The playwright develops a story through dialogue, monologues, and staging.
The director helps actors perform the play the way it was intended.

9. The Globe Theater

10. The Globe Theater
He wrote his plays to be performed in the Globe Theater.
It was built in 1599 and burned down 14 years later in 1613.
It was an 8 sided building with a central yard.

11. The Globe Theater Spectators’ price of admissions was
one penny - to stand in yard around stage (these were called the groundlings)
two pennies - to sit in 2nd and 3rd floor galleries
three pennies - to sit in the first floor galleries

12. The Globe Theater Stage 1/3 of yard was filled with 6ft high platform
no curtain
no artificial lighting
back wall had at least two doors
balcony was used for hilltops, walls of cities, or second story scenes.
trapdoors were used to raise or lower actors and props.

13. The Globe Theater Take a tour of the new Globe Theater. . . .
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

14. Romeo and Juliet
The plot was based on a fourteenth-century Italian short story, or novella, written by Matteo Bandello, that included elements of history, tradition, romance, and fable.
Both the short story and the play bear many similarities to the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe from ancient Greece

15. Review of Important Literary Terms
Plot (exposition, rising action – including internal and external conflict, climax, falling action, resolution)
Characterization (round, flat, dynamic, static, protagonist, antagonist)
Foreshadowing
Epithet
Irony (situational, dramatic, verbal)
Figurative language (including hyperbole, simile, metaphor, personification, etc)
Imagery

16. New Terms We Need to Know:
Foil~ a secondary character who has enough in common to serve as a contrast to point out traits of a primary character
Example: Who would be Atticus’s foil?
Pun~A play on two words similar in sound but different in meaning.
Example: I work as a baker because I knead dough.
See punoftheday.com
Oxymoron~ term formed by joining words that seem to contradict one another
Example: deafening silence, bittersweet

17. Extended Metaphor~ metaphor extended throughout a stanza or an entire poem, usually by using multiple comparisons between the unlike objects or ideas (also called conceit)
Couplet~ Two lines -the second line immediately following the first- of the same metrical length that end in a rhyme
Enjambment~ running over from one line to the next without a pause / punctuation break
Shakespearean Sonnet~ 14 line poem with an ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme
Iambic Pentameter~ see later handout
Blank Verse~ see later handout

18. Aside~a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while the other actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker's words.
Tragedy~ a narrative about serious and important actions that ends unhappily (usually w/ the deaths of the main characters).
Soliloquy~ a speech that a character gives to himself – no other characters are onstage
Dialogue~ lines spoken between characters
Monologue~ a speech that a character gives alone – but others may be onstage
Stage Directions~ parts of the script written by the playwright as unspoken directions for the characters

19. CHARACTERS The Montagues The Capulets
Lord Montague Lord Capulet
Lady Montague lady Capulet
Benvolio, nephew Juliet, daughter
Romeo, son Tybalt, nephew
Servants Nurse (Juliet’s nanny)
Servants
The Others: Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend
Escalus, Prince of Verona
Paris, count of Verona
Friar Lawrence, spiritual leader of Verona
Friar John, friend of Friar Lawrence
Apothecary

20. Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is as much about hate as love
Although Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the world’s greatest love stories, it can be argued that the love story is only a vehicle for the resolution of the story about hate, that is, the feud between the two families.

21. Themes in Romeo and Juliet
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
Unit Essential Question: How can literature explore universal themes of love and loss?

22. Themes in Romeo and Juliet
1. The Forcefulness of Love and Attraction
Focus on romantic love
Nature of infatuation vs. lasting love
Love is blind (for better and worse)
Love as overpowering force
Family
Friends
Can lead to violence

23. Themes in Romeo and Juliet
2. The Individual Versus Society
Romeo and Juliet against. . .
Family
Law
Religion
Honor

24. Themes in Romeo and Juliet
3. The Inevitability of Fate
Straight path or series of crossroads?
“Star-crossed Lovers”
Feud
Series of Unfortunate Events
Bad Timing

25. Themes in Romeo and Juliet
3. The Generation Gap
~ Parents just don’t understand
~ Youth is pure

26. Prologue
CHORUS: In the beautiful city of Verona, where our story takes place, a long-standing hatred between two families erupts into new violence, and citizens stain their hands with the blood of their fellow citizens. Two unlucky children of these enemy families become lovers and commit suicide. Their unfortunate deaths put an end to their parents' feud. For the next two hours, we will watch the story of their doomed love and their parents' anger, which nothing but the children's deaths could stop. If you listen to us patiently, we'll make up for everything we've left out in this prologue onstage.