1. Romeo and Juliet Background Notes

2. Introduction

3. Theme Tragic young love Star-crossed lovers

4. 1595 The year the play was written

5. Shakespeare “borrowed” from a lot of sources Tragedical History of Romeo and Juliet Arthur Brooke Brook borrowed the idea from an old Italian poem (just like the other writers of his day)

6. Shakespeare and his times

7. Actor

8. Other actors included: Richard Burbage Cuthbert Burbage Will Kemp John Hemminges

9. 1594 Lord Chamberlain’s Men 1603 The King’s Men

10. Theatres

11. Sets were not elaborate Before theatres, taverns and town halls hosted plays $$$ meant you could afford to sit in the balcony Groundlings paid one penny to stand in the pit

12. No artificial lighting Plays were usually performed in the afternoon Stage was a platform Groundlings threw garbage

13. Familiarity with the plots help the audience appreciate the performances Women were not allowed to be actresses so young boys played the female roles

14. Theatre troupes usually had 12 men

15. Actors needed to be versatile (multi- talented)

16. swordsmen

17. acrobats

18. singers

19. dancers/musicians

20. The Playwright’s Art

21. Staging

22. No outside curtains

23. Actors’ lines helped the audience understand the setting This is the forest of Arden.

24. Prologue an introductory speech spoken by a narrator also known as a chorus

25. Romeo and Juliet takes place is less than one week

26. Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy

27. contrasted in –characters – mood – setting Romeo and Juliet

28. Important Influences in Romeo and Juliet chance/fate time love

29. Language مسالم paz paix pace MNP ruhe pokój peace

30. action + language = good show pun

31. Iambic Pentameter five stressed beats and five unstressed beats per line Shall I compare thee to a summers day? ∕  ∕∕∕∕ 

32. Literary Criticism Shakespeare was popular with the people but not with the critics

33. Shakespeare broke the Rules of Good Writing

34. Instead of writing for the king and queen… …Shakespeare wrote for the “common folk”

35. Rather than avoiding the realities of life and not showing crime… …Shakespeare showed murder on stage

36. Instead of keeping genres of theatre separate… …Shakespeare combined comedy and tragedy to create a different form of entertainment

37. Rather than agreeing with other playwrights that theatre was to be serious and straight-laced… …Shakespeare ignored the rules of decorum and made theatre fun and accessible for all