I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire:
The day is hot, the Capels are abroad,
And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl,
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.
He is nervous and worried that a fight may start.
I think Tybalt gives the impression of him being a villain in the Baz Luhrmann interpretation. I think this as his clothes are black and his hairstyle with lots of gel gives out the impression of him as a villain. The way he talks in the Luhrmann interpretation also has a tone of evil in his voice. In the Franco Zeffirelli interpretation Tybalt gives the impression that he has a reputation to keep. As when Mercutio insults him by saying, “Tybalt, you rat-catcher”. Both houses laugh at what Mercutio says and I think Tybalt feels like he is the joke and he gets angry. Tybalt then starts off the fighting again. When he does kill Mercutio, Tybalt’s face expression makes it look as if the death of Mercutio is an accident.
The language in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is quite difficult to understand as it is different to how we now communicate. I have also noticed that the more important characters have a set phrase. “Romeo slew him, he slew Romeo;/ Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?” It is not just written in a block. Whereas, the less important characters just have a block of writing.
No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door,
but ‘tis enough, ‘twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall
find me a graveman…
It has no rhyme scheme or structure. It is written to the end of the line which is unusual as, Shakespeare usually starts a new line with a capital letter but in this case, because the character is not as important he has not. I think Shakespeare writes like this for the less important characters as they have a low status and are therefore thought upon as not very clever, they use the common language and speak with no structure.
There are themes in the play to do with fate and destiny. For example, when Romeo quotes, “I am fortune’s fool.” I think the audience takes this as Romeo doing what fate wants him to, as if he is playing into the hands of destiny. I also think this makes the audience think about Romeo’s personality and what kind of person he is. This theme runs throughout the play.
In the Baz Luhrmann interpretation there is another theme developed. In the beginning of the scene the storm gets violent and it also becomes violent after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. This gives the audience bad vibes and makes them think something bad is going to come from this, and it does because Romeo dies in the end. The storm is like a symbol for bad luck and a sign of danger. Also in the Luhrmann interpretation is whilst Romeo was shooting Tybalt. It had a quick shot of Juliet turning her head around to look behind her as if she has a sixth sense and can sense danger, like she could hear the gunshots.
The Zeffirelli version, the older interpretation was produced in 1968. At around this time myths and folk tales were quite a popular subject so many of the themes would have been popular with Shakespeare’s original audience, they are the people of 1594-1596 which is when Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written. Shakespeare’s original audience would be able to easily relate to the themes. They will also have more of an understanding with the language. The Luhrmann interpretation, which is the modern version, was produced in 1997. The Zeffirelli interpretation is set in medieval times in Verona. The Luhrmann interpretation is in modern times set on Verona beach in the States. There is a storm on the beach, which adds tension to the play; this makes the play more serious. In the Zeffirelli interpretation there are not as many features that add tension to the play. For example, after Mercutio’s death there is music played which adds tension but I think the thing that works the best is when Romeo, his feelings in turmoil shouts, “This day’s black fate on moe days doth depend, /This but begins the woe others must end.” The fact that it has a rhyme scheme adds importance to it, as it draws attention to the words. But the thing that works best is the way Romeo says it, his face expression adds feeling to the play. He really makes emotions run high and makes the audience sympathize with him. This is also a theme in the play. I think Romeo is saying that more bad things are going to happen as a result of this fight. The fact that what Romeo says has a rhyme scheme adds importance to it because it draws the audience’s attention to what he is saying; especially the words ‘depend’ and ‘end’. If you look at those two words together it makes you feel as if it is important in the play and has a valuable meaning. It is like a message from destiny, like another puzzle piece closer to the big picture, the end.
In the Zeffirelli interpretation the costumes they wear are very different from the Luhrmann interpretation. For example, in the Zeffirelli interpretation the men wear tights and medieval clothes; whereas in the Luhrmann interpretation the characters wear modern clothes e.g. open shirts, trousers e.t.c. The similarities with the costumes are that the villains e.g. Tybalt wear dark coloured clothing and the good characters e.g. Romeo wear light/bright coloured clothing.
When Mercutio dies Romeo says “With Tybalt’s slander-Tybalt, that an hour /Hath been my cousin…” Romeo is saying that he has only been related to Tybalt for an hour and he has already insulted him. By first, trying to fight him. Secondly, he killed Mercutio who is Romeo’s best friend. When Mercutio dies Romeo has to choose between Mercutio and Juliet. Because if he goes after Tybalt it will upset Juliet, as they are cousins. But, Romeo feels he has to go after Tybalt because he feels he has to keep Mercutio’s dignity. Romeo chooses Mercutio. This shows where his loyalties lie; with Mercutio.
In the Luhrmann interpretation there is a distinctive drum roll before Tybalt and Mercutio fight. This makes the fight have more importance and gives the audience the idea that something bad will happen as a result of this. When Tybalt and Romeo are fighting climax and highlights have been used in the music. For example, when there was a high peak in the fighting like when Tybalt held the sword up to Mercutio’s throat, the music beat changes and this makes this part of the scene more effective.
In the two interpretations of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, there are differences and changes. The main difference is the time it is set in. Because the Zeffirelli interpretation is in medieval times and the Luhrmann interpretation is in more of a modern day setting. The play for me is more acceptable in medieval setting because I think it is more likely that a girl would get married at the age of just thirteen. It is also more likely that a priest would secretly marry a couple and give a girl a sleeping draft potion. When we watch the play we see it differently to how Shakespeare’s original audience would have seen it. We see it as a love story that in our modern daytime is not very likely to happen. But at the time the themes would have been very popular with the original audience e.g. petraschen love, fate. Also in the Zeffirelli interpretation it seems that Tybalt accidentally stabbed Mercutio, as his face expression looked shocked and worried as he realized what he had just done. Whereas in the Luhrmann interpretation it looked like the killing of Mercutio had been done purposely. Also, only in the Baz Luhrmann interpretation while Romeo is shooting Tybalt, when the shot of Juliet is shown of her turning around, it shows another side of Romeo’s personality. Because we have Juliet waiting for whom she thinks is sweet and innocent Romeo, but then we have Romeo who is killing her cousin. I think Luhrmann directed that part of the scene with a shot of Juliet to show a contrast of Romeo’s personality.
Another difference in the two interpretations is the way they fight and the props they use. For example, in the Zeffirelli interpretation they fight using swords, and in the Luhrmann interpretation they fight using knives, guns, pieces of glass and even their bare hands. In the Luhrmann interpretation the fighting is more physical and they have more body contact with each other. Whereas in the Zeffirelli interpretation the only contact they have with each other is with their swords.
In my point of view I find the Luhrmann interpretation more emotional. I think this because when they are fighting the camera shows close ups of their faces, especially their eyes. Their eyes make it emotional because they give you an idea of how they are feeling. It is like a mirror reflecting their soul.
From my research I have concluded the significance of Act 3 scene 1 within the play as a whole and can evaluate the success of the various interpretations that I have seen. The significance of that scene within the play as a whole, I have found that the scene is a turning point in the play. This is because if you question the things that take place in the scene you will find there will be another way out. For example, when Tybalt killed Mercutio instead of Romeo going after Tybalt he could have walked away and got Tybalt banished but because of what he did the consequence is Romeo is banished. I have also concluded that pride has a lot to do with what happened. For example, Mercutio is proud of Romeo because he won’t do as Tybalt says to fight him. Romeo refuses to do this. Although Mercutio is proud that Romeo stuck by what he wanted to do not what Tybalt wanted him to do, Mercutio’s pride got in the way, his sense of dignity and respect, not just for himself but the Montague house too makes him feel that he has to fight Tybalt. I think he feels that if he does not fight he will loose his dignity and self-respect, I also think he’s afraid that people will think of him as being less of a man because he did not fight.
There are also many themes in the play to do with love, hate, fate and destiny. This has a big part in the play. As when Shakespeare wrote ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the themes would have been popular with the audience and the audience would be able to relate to some of them.
Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli have created the two interpretations of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. These interpretations are based around Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. But they would have had to create the stage directions, as Shakespeare did not include many of these in his script. Both interpretations were successful but because of the time they were produced in one may be more popular than the other. For example, nowadays the Luhrmann interpretation is more popular as we understand the language. However the Zeffirelli interpretation wouldn’t be seen as much now as the language is quite difficult to understand, as it was not produced in our time.