romeo & juliet the tragedy of. setting the play takes place in verona. verona is located in...
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ROMEO & JULIETTHE TRAGEDY OF
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SETTING• The play takes
place in Verona.
Verona is located in Italy. But it wasn’t “Italy” at the time.
Italy wasn’t a unified country yet. Individual city-states were ruled by princes or dukes
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IT’S AN OLD STORY
– Plague (Black Death) – Life expectancy = 40-50 years– No electricity– No running water– No distance travel– Values dominated by church– Intense class system
(poor, middle-class, rich)
•14th century (1300’s)− 200 years before Shakespeare lived
•Medieval Industrial Revolution•Time between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
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IT’S AN OLD STORYPopulation of Verona now: 263,964
(7.5%)
• Population of Michigan now: 9,876,187
• Population of Oakland County: 1,202,362• Population of Farmington Hills: 80, 258
Population in Verona in the 14th century? About 20,000
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BUT NOT A NEW STORY
• Shakespeare based his most popular tragedy, ROMEO & JULIET, on two real people.
• These young lovers lived in Verona, Italy (just like his characters) and died in a real-life tragic love story in 1303.
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BUT NOT A NEW STORY• Shakespeare uncovered their story in literature. •Masuccio Salernitano recounted the story of the tragic young lovers in "Mariotto and Gianozza of Siena" in 1476. • The poet William Painter penned “The Goodly History of the True and Constant Love of Rhomeo and Julietta.”•Matteo Bandello had written a novella of the story in 1554, revising Luigi da Porto's "Guiliettee Romeo" ("Juliet and Romeo"). • A poem, "The Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet," by Arthur Brooke, was written in 1562. • 1597 – earliest print of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
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RIVAL FAMILIES• In this small, Italian
community ruled by a prince, there were two rival families
• Why were they rivals?– Because they HATED each
other
• Why did they hate each other?– We never find out– ANCIENT grudge
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RIVAL FAMILIES• the Montagues & the Capulets
- REAL LIFE: Prominent citizens of Verona at the time.
- They are involved in a family feud that goes back years before any of the current family members were born.
• Civil people - Both are wealthy - friends with Prince Escalus (the ruler of Verona)- popular in the city
- BUT THEY HATED EACH OTHER
“Civil blood makes civil hands unclean”
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RIVAL FAMILIES
• Calm for a while but:“From ancient grudge break to new mutiny”
• They are really fighting again– Even the townspeople are involved now
because the families have been seen fighting in the public streets.
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VIOLENCE IN VERONA• In the first scene of the play: o They disrupt the peace of Verona and Prince Escalus personally has to break up a fight.
o The families are heavily fined and given a warning that another public fight could result in death.
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VIOLENCE IN VERONA
• Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet focuses on two themes:
Violence & Love
• It’s not simply that the families of Romeo and Juliet disapprove of their love for each other
• The Montagues and the Capulets are on opposite sides in a blood feud and are trying to kill each other on the streets of Verona
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VIOLENCE IN VERONA
• Every time a member of one of the two families dies in the fight, his relatives demand the blood of his killer
• So if Romeo were to be discovered with Juliet by her family, he would be killed
– Six of the ten main characters die
• Very violent play – (tragedy)
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BUT IT’S A LOVE STORY
• A violent, tragic love story– Considered the ultimate
story of young love
• Fate – Astrology
• Age – very young love• Strong feeling of infatuation• That you would rather die
than be kept apart• Love against all odds• Love at first sight
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A CRAZY LOVE STORY• “LOVE” played a different role in relationships
at the time
• Shorter life spans = earlier marriages– Parents often made marriage plans for children long
before they actually reached the proper age.– Romantic love would’ve been recognized as a
powerful force, but society did not generally view it as the basis of a sound marriage.
– Most European marriages, especially among the upper classes, were arranged by families for social and economic reasons
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A CRAZY LOVE STORY• JULIET – Age 13– The daughter of Lord Capulet– Ready to be married (by society’s terms)– Parents already have plans for her
• ROMEO– Age unclear (18-22)– The only son of Lord Montague– A love-sick dreamer & thinker– Major player in the violence in the streets of the
city without even being there (friends & family)
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LANGUAGE BARRIER• Remember: Shakespeare’s language was
tricky for audiences even at the time they were created– But we are missing a lot of the contextual
understandings and inferences that would have been second nature to viewers at the time(inside jokes)
• But he used language as an art form and the play is full of double meanings and sexual innuendos
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LANGUAGE BARRIER• Mercutio - A kinsman to the Prince, and Rome
o’s close friend. – loves wordplay, especially sexual double
entendres. – hotheaded, and hates people who are
pretentious, or obsessed with the latest fashions.
– finds Romeo’s romanticized ideas about love tiresome, and tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite.