Download Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

What is a Play
Introduction to William Shakespeare’s
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
DIALOGUE

The conversation between characters
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Provides the substance of a play
Can further the plot
 Provide clues about character or theme (indirect
characterization)
 Heighten the overall dramatic effect
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STAGE DIRECTIONS
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The written instructions that explain
how to perform a play
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Stage directions contain crucial information
that will help you visualize the action
Includes how the characters should look,
speak, move, and behave
 Stage directions can also specify details of the
setting and scenery
 Usually written in italics & within parentheses
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Structure
Play
Scene 1
Act I
Act 2
Scene 2
Scene 3
Prologue
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Establishes the setting
Introduces main characters
Explains background
Introduces character’s main conflict
Spoken by the chorus
Chorus
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During the Elizabethan era in England, the
chorus was portrayed by one actor
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Spoke the prologue and epilogue to the play
Spoke directly to the audience
Exposition
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Establishes the setting and the characters
Introduces the conflict
Rising Action
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Consists of a series of complications
These occur as the main characters take
action to resolve their problems
Crisis
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Turning point
Moment when a choice is made by the
main character
Determines the direction of the action
Dramatic and tense moment when the
forces of conflict come together
Falling Action
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Presents events that result from the action
taken at the turning point
Usually lock the characters deeper and
deeper into disaster
Climax
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Occurs near the end of the play
Usually ends in tragedy with the death of
the main characters
Play ends with the resolution immediately
follows & ties up the loose ends of the
play
Tragedy
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A play in which the main character suffers
a downfall
In most tragedies, the main characters are
in some ways responsible for their
downfall
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Tragic hero
Tragic Flaw
Aristotle’s Six Elements of Tragedy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Plot
Diction/Language/Dialogue
Music/Rhythm
Theme
Spectacle
Character
Elements of Tragedy: Plot
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Plot: what happens in a play
Elements of Tragedy
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Diction/Language/Dialogue
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The playwrights’ word choices and the actor’s
enunciation while delivering the lines
Elements of Tragedy
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Music/Rhythm
 Not music as we think of it, but rather
the sound, rhythm, and melody of the
speeches
Elements of Tragedy
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Theme:
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What a play means, as opposed to what
happens
Elements of Tragedy
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Spectacle
 the scenery, costumes, and special
effects in a play
Elements of Tragedy

Character
 The person an actor represents in a
play
Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo and Juliet is based on a long
narrative poem by Arthur Brooke
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Published in 1562
Based on popular Italian stories
Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo was a very young man
Juliet was a 14-year-old girl
They fall in love at first sight
Caught up in an idealized, almost unreal,
passionate love
In-love with love
Star-crossed lovers
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Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as
“star-crossed lovers”
Doomed to disaster by fate
In Shakespeare’s time, they believed in
astrology
(Zodiac signs)
Fate
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More than mere victims of fate
Romeo and Juliet make decisions that lead
to their disaster
Romeo and Juliet
By: William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
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Baptized April 26,
1564 (thought to be
born on the 23rd)
Born in Stratfordupon-Avon (England)
Did not attend college
At age 18 married
Anne Hathaway (on
November 27, 1582)
1585-1592: Seven
Lost/Dark Years
William Shakespeare, The Lost/Dark Years
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During his “lost” or
“dark years,”
Shakespeare has
been said to be:
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An attorney's clerk
Teaching
Joined a theater
company and was
acting and writing
plays (firmest
argument)
Shakespeare's Early Career
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At some point during the “dark
years,” Shakespeare began his
career with a London theatrical
company—perhaps in 1589
He was already an actor and
playwright of some note in
1592
Shakespeare apparently wrote
and acted for Pembroke’s Men,
as well as numerous others, in
particular Strange’s Men, which
later became the Chamberlain’s
Men, with whom he remained
for the rest of his career
Theatre Timeline
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1576 - The first permanent theatre, The Theatre,
was built.
1577 - The second theatre, The Curtain, was built.
 1592-1594- Theatre closes due to plague
 1599 - The Globe Theatre was built. Shakespeare
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was one of 7 owners.
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1613 - The Globe Theatre accidentally burns down.
This sketch was drawn
in 1596 by a Dutch
student named
Johannes de Witt.
He attended a play in
London at the Swan
Theatre.
It is the only surviving
contemporary
rendering of the
interior of an
Elizabethan-era
public theatre.
The Theaters Close, 1592-1594
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Theaters close because of
plague, and in the
theaters people were
constantly breathing on
each other
Shakespeare continues
writing and becomes a
part of a theater
company in 1595,
(becomes known as “The
King’s Men” when King
James takes the thrown
in 1603)
The Globe Theater
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Originally built in
1599
Most famous of all
playhouses in London
Public Playhouse
The Globe Theatre
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Shakespeare's
company erected
the Globe Theatre in
London's Bankside
district.
One of four major
theatres in the area.
Others:
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Swan
Rose
Hope
Open-air, octagonal
amphitheater
London and
The Globe Theatre
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At the time of the
construction of The
Globe Theatre, the
population of
London was
approximately
150,000 people.
The approximate
capacity of The
Globe was 2,5003,000 people.
Seating
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There were three floors of galleries where
people watched the play.
The cheapest way to see the play was as a
"groundling," standing in the central yard
or “pit.”
As you paid additional money, you could
ascend to higher galleries.
Architecture
 Behind
the stage was a three story
facade.
 Pillars were located midway
between the facade and the front of
the platform to support a half roof.
 The stage included a balcony and a
trap door.
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The stage was bare; no
scenery.
Costuming and props were
fairly elaborate, though.
No hidden microphones.
Actors would have to
overstress their actions and
yell their lines to try and
make it easier for all to
hear.
No spot lighting, so plays
usually took place in the
early afternoon, typically
starting around 1 p.m. or so
and ending at about 5 p.m.
Scenery
The Globe Today
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Reopened on August 21, 1996
with a short, unofficial season
performance of The Two
Gentlemen of Verona.
December 1996, Shakespeare's
Globe was voted the best
attraction in Europe and was
awarded the European Tourism
Initiative Golden Star Award by
the European Federation of
Associations of Tourism
Journalists.
The new Globe theatre’s
reopening season was in 1997
It is only 200 yards from the
original site
Fisheye view of The Globe Theatre
Shakespeare's Plays
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Shakespeare wrote 37 plays
Most famous = Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,
Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello
Most academics would argue Hamlet is
Shakespeare’s greatest and most famous
work
In popular culture, it would probably be
considered Romeo and Juliet
Shakespearean Language
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Shakespeare invented over
1700 common words
…by changing nouns into verbs,
changing verbs into adjectives,
connecting words never before
used together, adding prefixes
and suffixes, and devising words
wholly original.
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Examples:
Assassination
Bump
Skim Milk
Worthless
Blanket
Ode
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Shakespeare is said to have
had a vocabulary of some
29,066 words.
An average person today
might use just 2000 words in
everyday conversation.
Shakespearean Language
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anon—right now
art—are
dost or doth—does or do……“Dost thou
know the time?”
ere—before……“We must leave ere
daybreak.”
fain—gladly……“I fain would bake Mrs.
Baxter cookies if I could get an A.”
fie—an exclamation of dismay or
disgust……“You cheated? Fie upon it!” OR
“Fie! Are you mad?”
hark—listen……. “Hark! The herald angels
sing!”
hence—away…..“Get thee hence, beggar!”
OR “We must hence before the army
arrives.”
hie—hurry……“Hie thee hence, or lose your
life!”
hither—here…..“Come hither, young lad.”
thither—there……“Look to the east—thither
doth the sun arise.”
hath—has……… “He hath killed many a
man.” OR “He hath a horse.”
ho—hey (roughly equivalent). “Lucius, ho!”
[Brutus calling his servant]
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mark—pay attention to…….. “Mark my
words.”
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marry—indeed……“He says I should
respond quickly; marry, I want to.”
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pray/prithee—a polite way of asking
something……“I prithee answer the
question.”
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saucy—cheeky; sassy……“Hence, thou
saucy boy!”
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sirrah—a term of address used for
inferiors……“Sirrah, bring the letter over
here.”
thee—you……“When will I see thee next?”
thou—you……“Thou art a villain.”
thy—your……“Thy name is more hateful
than thy face.”
whence—from where…….. “Whence came
that news?” OR “Return to whence you
came.”
wherefore—why……“Wherefore dost thou
leave?” OR “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art
thou Romeo?” [As in, “why can’t you be
someone else, whom my family doesn’t
hate?”]
The characteristics of
ShakeSpearean Literature…
Shakespearean Tragedies
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2.
3.
Hero will be a high authority person, power source
Play will progress to death of a hero
Heroes will exemplify a tragic flaw(s)
1.
2.
4.
Hero will have more and longer soliloquies
1.
5.
Character trait that expresses itself in acting or refusing to
act, leading to ultimate downfall of hero
Usually has hubris, extreme pride
We can learn a lot more about the hero that they know
themselves
Follows Aristotle Idea
1.
Audience will experience tragic sympathy, pity and fear
Shakespearean Unity
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Multiple plots with common themes
Actions and characters that mirror each
other (have a parallel contrast)
Major motifs of imagery that run
throughout the entire play
Certain characters that will appear in all of
the plots
Romeo and Juliet
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Full title: The Most
Excellent and
Lamentable Tragedy
of Romeo and Juliet
Takes place in
Verona, Italy in the
1300s
Was first published in
1597
Written in Blank Verse
Shakespeare Retires, or does he?
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Shakespeare writes his
last play, The Tempest, in
1611 and retires from the
theater
Yet, it is said that
Shakespeare helped the
new author for the
“King’s Men” write new
plays for the company
THE DEATH OF SHAKESPEARE
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Died in 1616 on his
birthday, at Stratfordupon-Avon
He was 52
Two different sources….
First one says his cause
of death was unknown.
The second one says he
died after drinking with
his theater friends.
Buried at the Holy Trinity
Church in Stratford-UponAvon
INTERESTING FACT:
Shakespeare’s
will was very
generous, but unlike most wills of his
day, he didn’t leave much to the ones
he was closest to. He gave money to
colleagues and the poor. He left his
youngest daughter, Judith, a silver
bowl. He gave a sword to a friend
who was a lawyer. He gave Joan, his
sister, all his clothes, and to his
granddaughter he gave his
silverware. The strangest part of his
will was to his wife. To her he left his
"second-best bed" and to Susanna,
his oldest daughter, and John, her
husband, he left the best bed and
new place.