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Romeo And Juliet Shakespeare Background A Romantic
Tragedy Written by
William Shakespeare
5 Acts 2 Hours of
entertainment
Shakespeare’s Life
Birth date – April 23, 1564 (assumed) Christening (Baptism) – April 26, 1564 Death – April 23, 1616 Theater Company – Lord Chamberlain’s
Men Name of theater company changed in
1603 to The Kings Men (after King James I)
Wrote 37 plays
Elizabethan England Reign of Queen Elizabeth I London was a dirty, brutal,
noisy city No sanitation laws – Food &
human waste was thrown into the alleys.
Garbage was left to be eaten by rats.
Between 1592-1594 the Black Plague struck London
The Plague shut down theaters for a while to avoid large groups of people from infecting each other.
Shakespearean Theater
The audience's seats and part of the stage were roofed, but much of the main stage and the area in front of the stage in the center of the circle were open to the elements.
About 1,500 audience members could pay extra money to sit in the covered seating areas, while about 800 "groundlings" paid less money to stand in this open area before the stage.
Poor play goers were called the penny public or groundlings, because they paid a penny to stand and watch the plays in the area in front of the stage called the courtyard.
Wealthier playgoers paid 2 pennies to sit in the galleries around the courtyard.
Plays contained no scenery, no artificial lighting, few props, and no curtain.
The Globe Theater
The Stage
Built of wood, these theaters comprisedthree tiers of seats in a circular shape, with a stage area on one side of the circle.
At the back of the main stage was a curtained inner stage.
Above the main stage was a balcony.
Audience members surrounded the stage on three sides.
There was no curtain, so the action moved quickly from one scene to the next.
In the middle of the main stage was a trapdoor, used for exiting ghosts, graves, etc.
Seating at the Globe
The theater had three tiers or balconies where wealthier playgoers sat.
History of the Globe
The design of the stage was developed from the courtyards at the inns where plays were first produced.
Actors would enter in wagons which would serve as their stage.
The audience would observe the plays from the balconies outside their rooms.
The poorer people would stand or sit in the center of the yard near the wagon.
History of the Globe
In 1613, a cannon was shot off during a performance, and sparks ignited the thatched roof. The Globe Theater burned down.
It was rebuilt and remained open on its original foundations until the Puritans closed it in 1642.
It was rebuilt on the south banks of the Thames River.
Two Years later it also was torn down. The foundation remained buried until the mid-
twentieth century.
The New Globe Theater
Today a New Globe theater is situated on the banks of the Thames.
On September 19, 1999, Shakespeare's Globe theater complex opened on the south bank of the Thames, 500 years to the day since the first recorded performance of a play at the original theater.
CharacteCharactersrs
The Montague’s
Romeo Montague: and Juliet Capulet are
immature teenagers, who fall deeply in love even though their families are bitter enemies. Impatient and rash, they seize the moment and marry in secret. Further efforts to conceal their actions go awry and end tragically.
Lord Montague and Lady Montague
Mercutio: Kinsman of the prince and friend of Romeo.
He understands that overpowering, passionate love–the kind of love that ignores reason and common sense–can lead to tragedy.
Benvolio: Nephew of Montague, and friend to Romeo He is known as a peacemaker.
The Capulets
Juliet Capulet: Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are immature teenagers–in fact, Juliet is not yet 14
Nurse of Juliet: The nurse is Juliet's attendant, confidante, and messenger. Her homely language and her preoccupation with the practical, everyday world contrast sharply with the elevated language of Romeo and Juliet and their preoccupation with the idealistic world of love.
Tybalt: Headstrong nephew of Lady Capulet.
Ever ready to fight the Montagues at the slightest provocation, he personifies the hatred generated by feuding families.
Other Characters
Paris: Young nobleman, kinsman of Escalus.
The Capulets pressure Juliet to accept his marriage proposal.
Escalus: Prince of Verona.
Friar Laurence:Romeo’s PriestFriar Laurence marries Romeo and Juliet, hoping the marriage will end the Montague-Capulet feud, and tries to help them overcome their problems with a scheme that, unfortunately, goes awry.
Balthasar: servant of Romeo
Apothecary:“Drug Dealer” – Pharmacist
Poverty-stricken with "famine" in his cheeks, he illegally sells deadly poison.
Rosaline: The girl with whom Romeo is infatuated before he meets Juliet. Rosaline does not appear in the play, but is referred to by Romeo, Benvolio, Mercutio, and Friar Laurence.
Chorus: The chorus recites the prologue preceding the
first act. The prologue sets the scene, Verona, and tells of
the "ancient grudge" between the Montague and Capulet families.
It contains two of the play’s most famous lines:
– “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.”
Literary Terms________________________________________
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Aside –Lines whispered to the audience or to another character (not heard by all the characters on stage)
Soliloquy – One character gives a long speech
Irony – Contrast between what appears to be and what really is
Dramatic Irony – audience knows something the characters don’t
Verbal Irony – Meaning is different from what is said (sarcasm)
Situational Irony – Situation is not as it appears to be
Personification – Give human qualities to non-human things
Allusion – reference to another literary work, a historical event or person
Pun – play on words
Tragedy – play in which the main character suffers a major downfall
Prologue – Introduction to a play in which one character sums up & foreshadows future events
Prose – regular paragraph format with no rhyme or rhythm
Metaphor – comparison of 2 different things
Foreshadowing – hints or clues to future events in a story
Inference – Draw conclusions as to what has already happened
Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds Alliteration – repetition of consonant
sounds
Connotation – meanings we assign to words
Denotation – dictionary definitions
Malapropism - unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, esp. by confusion with one of similar sound – (Mrs. Malaprop, a character noted for her
amusing misuse of words in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy The Rivals.)
