the tragedy of romeo & juliet by william shakespeare
TRANSCRIPT
The Tragedy of
Romeo & Juliet
By william Shakespeare
Who’s Who inVerona
Lord Montague
Head of the family; Romeo’s father
Lady MontagueRomeo’s mother
Romeo Montague
only child of the Montagues
BenvolioRomeo’s friend and cousin
The Montagues• Lord & Lady Montague• Romeo• Benvolio (friend/cousin)• Balthasar (servant)• Abram (servant)
Lord CapuletHead of the family; Juliet’s
father
Lady CapuletJuliet’s mother
Juliet Capulet
daughter of the Capulets
TybaltJuliet’s cousin; hates the Montague family
NurseJuliet’s caretaker since
birth
The Capulets• Lord & Lady Capulet• Juliet• Tybalt (cousin)• Nurse (caretaker)• Peter (servant)• Sampson and Gregory
(servant)
Prince EscalusThe ruler of Verona
MercutioRomeo’s friend; relative of the prince
Friar Laurence
Franciscan monk; mentor to Romeo
Parisa nobleman; in love
with Juliet
Setting•Verona, Italy•5 days (Sunday-Thursday)
• July, 1300s
Verona, Italy
Shakespeare• Birth: Stratford-upon-
Avon, April 23, 1564• Death: April 23, 1616
(on 52nd birthday)• Education: left school
at age 14• Family: married Anne
Hathaway; children were Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
Grave
• On his grave is written:
• Good friend for Jesus sake forebeare,To digg the dust encloased heare.Blese [blest] be ye man yt [that] spares thes stones,And curst be he yt [that] moves my bones.
Shakespeare• Jobs: actor, writer, playwright• Famous for three types of plays: histories,
comedies, and tragedies• Partner of the popular acting company
Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
• The Bubonic Plague: struck in 1592; killed 1/3 of London; closed the theater doors as a precaution
Shakespeare Trivia• Nickname: The Bard
(bard means professional poet)
• 38 – number of plays he wrote
• 154 – number of love sonnets he wrote
• 2000 - number of words he invented (like assassination)
• Invented phrases like “laughingstock” and “for goodness sake”
• 135 – number of times the word “love” appears in R&J
• 260 – hours it takes to read the 936,443 words in The Complete Works of Shakespeare
• 4042 – number of lines in Shakespeare’s longest play, Hamlet
The Globe Theater• built by the LCM; trap
doors and winch lines used for gods and demons; a balcony; no curtain
• Circular; three stories; wooden; open-air amphitheater;
• Capacity: 3000
The Globe
The Globe• Costumes: quite elaborate – velvet, silk,
silver, gold, and lace• Little or no scenery; a few props
• Plays performed during the afternoons (stage was open to the sky)
• Acting companies consisted of all males, so boys played women’s roles.
The Globe• Spectators:
– seated according to social rank– very noisy– crowded– smelly and obnoxious– threw rotten vegetables at actors if they did
not like the performance
• Open-yard or Pit: the poor, or “groundlings,” (or ‘stinkards’) paid 1 penny to watch from the base of the stage
• Middle Gallery: 2 penny seats• Balcony: higher-priced seats
The GlobE
• The globe went up in flames in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII after a cannon misfired
• The Globe was rebuilt but later torn down by the Puritans who held a strict code of conduct
The GlobE
• A brewery stands where the original Globe theater stood
• A modern-day replica of the Globe opened in 1997 with daily performances
The Renaissance • Shakespeare lived during the Renaissance (word means “rebirth”)• It was a movement that was marked by a renewed interest in
science, philosophy, and the arts. • Basic Renaissance thinking was a new emphasis on the individual
and on freedom of choice.• The Renaissance reached it’s peak during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I.
Queen Elizabeth I
• Shakespeare started his literary career during Elizabeth’s reign, a period that lasted from 1558 to 1603 and is often called the Elizabethan Age.
• Elizabeth I was a strong supporter of English culture. As a result, artists of all types – playwrights, poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, and architects – were held in high esteem.
Life in Renaissance England• Cities were crowded
and dirty• No sanitary sewers or
purified water• Dung carts passed
through the cities daily to remove human and animal waste
• No indoor toilets or toilet paper (grass or hay was used)
• People bathed a few times per year
• People were ignorant about germs- they thought bad smells were the culprits of disease, so they would use flowers & herbs to mask odors
• Life expectancy reached about 42 years
Life in Renaissance England
• Arranged marriages were common – some couples did not see each other until their wedding day
• Males and females were allowed to marry at the ages of 14 and 12
• Most grooms were given a dowry
• Women were expected to marry
• Women were regarded as second-class citizens
Conspiracy Theories:
Authorship Since his death, there has been some speculation whether Shakespeare really wrote all of the plays himself or they were written by groups of people. Some have questioned whether he really existed at all.
“The works are too learned to be the product of a man from Stratford who did not go to a university.”