1. What do you know…
About William Shakespeare? About the play Romeo and Juliet?

2. William Shakespeare in 8 Minutes
“William Shakespeare: Brief & Naughty” (youtube)

3. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote: Comedies Tragedies Histories

4. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Written between 1594 and Based on a basic story known to many people of the time. Plays then are like movies or TV today.

5. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Several film versions.
1968: Zeffirelli.
1996: Luhrmann.
Other variations including musicals and movies “inspired by.”
At any given moment, it is in production in a theater (as a play) somewhere in the world.

6. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Lurhmann (1996) version uses Shakespeare’s original language, but sets its scene in modern times.
We will watch this version in its entirety when we finish reading the play.

7. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Zeffirelli (1968) maintains both Shakespeare’s original language as well as an authentic setting.
We will watch selected scenes as we read in order to understand the original play.

8. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
An overview:
The Setting
The Plot
The Characters

9. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Setting:
Verona, Italy
(Shakespeare lived and worked in London, ENGLAND)
Why ITALY?

10. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Setting:
Verona, Italy
Set in the late 1400s to early 1500s, though the date is never really stated.
The ENTIRE plot of the play takes place over less than a week of time!

11. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Plot Basics:
Two families (Capulet and Montague) have a long- standing feud.
As fate has it, the Capulet daughter (Juliet) and the Montague son (Romeo) meet at a crazy party and fall immediately in love.

12. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Knowing they cannot be together, they secretly make plans to marry.
Juliet, however, is already being married off to a guy named Paris.
People start to kill each other, and Romeo ends up kicked out of Verona.

13. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
With Romeo banished, the crazy kids still try to find a way to get together.
Unfortunately, something goes terribly wrong, and the audience gets their tragedy...

14. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Lord and Lady Capulet (parents of Juliet)
Anxious to get their daughter married off to a worthy gentleman (named Paris)
In a long-standing feud with the Montague Family
A distinct parenting style…

15. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Juliet Capulet
Barely 13 years old
To be wed to Paris any day…
Has never been in love before

16. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
The Nurse
Has raised Juliet
Has a dirty sense of humor, if you read carefully…
Plays a crucial role in Juliet’s happiness

17. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Tybalt Capulet
Juliet’s older cousin
A braggart and a hot-head
A “saucy prince” if there ever was one

18. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Lord and Lady Montague
Parents of Romeo
Engaged in the feud with the Capulets
Not major players in the drama

19. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Romeo Montague
A boy of 16 of 17, sometimes interpreted as old as late 20s or older
An emotional romantic
Falls easily in and out of love

20. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Benvolio Montague
Romeo’s cousin
Level-headed and honest
Cares for Romeo like his own brother

21. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Mercutio
Romeo’s best friend
His name is based on the word “mercury” or “mercurial” which means volatile or quick to change
An “actor’s favorite”
Watch out for his jokes…

22. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
The Friar Lawrence (spelling varies)
The local religious leader
Is tired of the Feud
Plays a key role in the drama

23. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The CHARACTERS:
Paris
The “suitor” who is to marry Juliet
Prince Escalus
The Prince of Verona
Apothecary
The local “pharmacist” or chemist

24. What is Tragedy?
In Shakespeare, tragedy tends to follow five stages (five acts):
Act I, Exposition (establishment of character and conflict)
Act II, Rising Action (complications develop, culminating with a “point of no return” at which point some tragedy is al but guaranteed)
Act III, Climax (different than in stories; tragic climax marks the beginning of the tragic collapse)
Act IV, Falling Action (the chain of tragic events befalls the protagonist, gaining momentum and deepening the tragedy)
Act V, Resolution (the fall to ruin is complete)

25. What is Drama? Drama is meant to be seen and heard, not read.
We will be viewing, speaking, listening, and reading this text.
When you read (silently or aloud) you must realize that all action was communicated through dialogue, thus you must picture what is happening.

26. Drama Terms
Literary Allusion: an author refers to something that the audience probably knows—such as a reference to the Bible, a common fairytale, or pop culture.
Soliloquy: an unusually long speech where a character speaks private thoughts aloud.
Aside: words are spoken by a character in a play to the audience, or to another character, but are NOT supposed to be heard by others on stage… a “secret.”

27. Drama Terms Pun: a joke that comes from a play on words.
Ex: “The fertilizer business is a growing industry.”
Ex: “You can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish.”
Foil: a character who is used as a contrast to another character (Romeo & Mercutio)
Oxymoron: descriptions that pair together contradictory terms, like “sick health” or “cold fire.”

28. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The FORM:
The whole play is written as a poem, in a form which is called “iambic pentameter.”
An iamb is a pair of syllables where the first is unstressed and the second is stressed, like in the word confused (con FUSED). Think of your heartbeat! (da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM)
A foot is another word for each iamb.
(con FUSED is one foot)
Meter the organizes rhythm that is present in poetry.
Penta- means “5.”

29. Iambic Pentameter Example
But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

30. Inverted Syntax
Grammar was often inverted, or flipped, in order to make the language fit the rhythm: He found the dagger in the dark closet. ...becomes… In closet dark did he the dagger find.

31. His Process: I want to say: Add in some common slang of the times:
Wait a second, what is that light coming through the window over there?
Add in some common slang of the times:
But soft! (wait a second!)
Yonder (over there)

32. His Process: Add in some creative wording:
I don’t want to just say the light is “coming through the window…”
How about, it “breaks” through the window all of the sudden and grabs my attention??

33. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The end result…
But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

34. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Remember Shakespeare’s FORM of choice:
Iambic pentameter:
A line of FIVE IAMBS in a row, meaning each line of poetry has 10 syllables; count all 10:
But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

35. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The FORM:
Iambic pentameter=
Count the 5 iambs (stressed/unstressed syllables):
But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

36. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Review video: “How to Identify Meter in Shakespearean Sonnets” (youtube)
(6 minutes)

37. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
So now you know the basics of rhythm, but what about RHYME?
Rhyme Scheme is the name that we use to describe the pattern of rhymes in a poem, which we base on the last word in each line.

38. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
To figure out the rhyme scheme, you must know how to count stanzas. Stanzas are groups of lines in a poem.
Stanzas can be in groups of 2 or 4.
Groups of 2 are called couplets.
Groups of 4 are called quatrains.

39. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
To identify rhyme scheme, look only at the last word in each line of poetry.
The first line is always assigned the letter “A.”
Look down the lines and find any other word that rhymes—if it does, it gets a letter A, too.
When you’ve gone through the whole poem, begin with the second line and assign it the letter “B.”
Follow the same process until all lines have a letter.

40. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st; So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

41. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Review video: “How to Identify Rhyme Scheme in Shakespearean Sonnets” (youtube)
(7 minutes)

42. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The FORM:
Sometimes the lines rhyme, but sometimes they don’t. When the lines rhyme, Shakespeare is trying to get the audience’s attention:
A major point has just been stated
A character is leaving the scene
When the lines do not rhyme, the poetry is called BLANK VERSE.

43. The Language:
Is really not all that different from modern 21st century language… but people think it is so they get intimidated and give up. Just like in today’s vernacular, there are patterns:

44. Hither, thither, whither
Come hither! (hither = HERE) Go thither! (thither = THERE) To whither did she go? (whither = WHERE)

45. It’s what you do…
Didst = DID Doth or doest = DO Hath = HAVE or HAD

46. Pronouns Thou (you, in the subject of the sentence)
Thou art a fool! …you are a fool
Thee (you, as an object)
I love thee. …I love you
Thine, thy (your)
In thy soul; in thine eyes
My heart is thine

47. Truncations and Contractions
Truncations: words shortened “Ope your eyes” An apostrophe indicates a missing letter, either to match the rhythm of the line or to reflect speech patterns: O’er (over) Can’t (cannot)

48. Sentences go beyond the ends of lines.
Too many readers see each line as a “sentence” or complete thought, and therefore are thrown off when the words they read do not make sense. In reality, these readers have not completed the thought, so they end up very confused and unable to understand.

49. Sentences go beyond the ends of lines.
Notice this passage from the first scene:
I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids, and cut off their heads.
If you stopped your thought at “I” in the first line, it wouldn’t make sense. A thought is not complete until you reach a punctuation mark.

50. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Speaking in VERSE (poetry)
Follows iambic pentameter closely…minor variations
Sometimes words are switched around to maintain the “beat”
Words are sometimes contracted to get the right number of syllables
VERSE is used in most of the play, when major characters speak.
Speaking in PROSE
Prose is unrhymed, with no rhythm, no meter
Minor or unimportant characters speak in prose
Bawdy (dirty) humor may appear in prose instead of verse/poetry

51. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Speaking in VERSE
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.
Speaking in PROSE
Find them out whose names are written here! It
is written that the shoemaker should meddle with
his yard and the tailor with his last, the fisher with
his pencil and the painter with his nets; but I am
sent to find those persons whose names are here
write, and can never find what names the writing
person has here writ. I must to the learned.