Romeo And Juliet
William Shakespeare, the famous playwright wrote the well known play Romeo And Juliet. The play was written over 400 years ago, but is still much loved by its modern day audiences as it was by the elizebethan audiences of shakespeare's time. Even though times have changed drastically since the play was first written, its themes and events are still relevent in todays society. Romeo and Juliet was written in a way which gave it the power to entertain an audience. Everybody could at least relate to one thing in the play, as the play has many themes. The themes of the play were used to attract the audience in many different ways. The themes which attract the most attention are hatred, love and death. No matter how much society changes, these three things will always remain. That is why i think the people of today still relate to Romeo and Juliet as certain things from the play are relevant in their everyday lives.
The play has a certain amount of mystery to it, the audience just doesn't know what to expect next, there are happy times in the play which are then followed by misery.
All of these things add together to create the atmosphere that the play has, without the atmosphere there wouldn't be much of an audience.
One of the main themes which runs all of the way through the play is the feuding families. The families have a divide between them and Romeo and Juliet cross that divide, willing to face any consequences which might come their way. The families have total hatred toward eachother, which is the negative side toward shakespeare's love story. Without the family feud Romeo and Juliet would be able to live happily, so i think Shakespeare included the negativity as an obstacle for Romeo and Juliet, and to show that love doesn't always turn out perfectly.
I think the Elizebethans, as well as modern audiences would have loved to watch the fast moving fight scenes which are due to the family feud. Also some of the audience may of been able to relate to the feud in certain ways, Elizebethan or modern. The feud also catches the eye of the modern day audiences as it can be quite amusing in the modern versions of Romeo and Juliet.
The Elizebethan society was a very patriarchal one. The fathers used to look upon their daughters as their 'property'.
"sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender of my childs love: I think she will be ruled in all aspects by me: nay more, I doubt it not."
Capulet, Juliets father believes that Juliet is his property, and that he has the right to rule what she does in her life. Women of the Elizebethan times had little power, even though they were ruled by a queen. Capulet believed, without a doubt that if he told Juliet to do something she would go ahead and do so.
The elizebethan females watching Romeo and Juliet would all have been able to relate to this matter as most of their marriages probably would have been arranged.
"It is an honour that i dream not of"
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Capulet, Juliets father believes that Juliet is his property, and that he has the right to rule what she does in her life. Women of the Elizebethan times had little power, even though they were ruled by a queen. Capulet believed, without a doubt that if he told Juliet to do something she would go ahead and do so.
The elizebethan females watching Romeo and Juliet would all have been able to relate to this matter as most of their marriages probably would have been arranged.
"It is an honour that i dream not of"
Most young girls in the Elizebethan Society were married by the time they were 14, the man chosen most of the time by their father. This quotation shows that Juliet is different to other girls of her time. This issue would have caused a lot of controversy in the elizebethan times. The matter is relevant to a certain extent today. Young girls of different cultures have arranged marriages, which are chosen by their father. This issue in the play helped all young women of Shakespeare's time be able to feel more involved in the play, as they could imagine themselves in Juliets position and understand what she was going through. The young men would of also been able to relate to either the character Romeo, who was always falling in love, or Paris, who agreed to an arranged marriage with Juliet.
Fathers of the Elizebethan time would also be able to put themselves in capulets place and be able to relate to his character.
There were many family matters in the play, not all of them involving the feud, but between Juliet and her own mother, Lady Capulet.
"Nurse give leave a while: We must talk in seceret. Nurse come back again."
This quotation implies that Juliet and her mother do not have a very close relationship, they cannot even stand alone and speak to one another without the nurse being there. You also see that Juliet and her mother don't have a good relationship as when Juliet meets Romeo she doesn't even think twice about going against her parents wishes.
This issue in the play is both relevant in Elizebethan times and Modern day times. Young teenagers go against their parents due to all kinds of different issues, so this issue in the play would draw attention from both kinds of audience as young people of both societys would be able to relate to the matter.
"My only love sprung from my only hate!"
This quotation shows that Juliet believes she is in love with one of her fathers great enemies. She feels like she is betraying her father for doing so. Juliet refers to Romeo as her only love, and also her only hate. This use of Oxymoron gives the audience an insight on the confusion and mixed emotions Juliet is feeling. Sometimes people fall for people they know they shouldn't, this is why i think both modern and Elizebethan audiences would be able to relate to this.
"If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed"
This quotation is taken from when Romeo and Juliet had first met, they seemed to have fallen for eachother in a matter of seconds, and in that short period of time Juliets feelings on marriage had changed drastically. Before she was not interested in marriage at all, however after meeting Romeo only once, she felt as though she either wanted to marry him or die. This is a complete turn around for Juliet. Shakespeare uses imagery of death to let the audience know how serious Juliet s about it.
This issue turns the play around completely, which regains the attention of the audience as they would start to feel more involved at this point.
The plays issues were not only what caught the attention of the audience, but this was also managed by the variety of characters in the play.
There were the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet, who added the romantic part to the play, but then there where the more comical characters, the nurse and Mercutio.
"go girl seek happy nights to happy days"
The nurse was portrayed as one of the more comical characters in the play. She came across as a rude, common woman, who the audience adored, both modern day and elizebethan. The nurse brightens the play up with her quick puns and sharp crude remarks which highly amuse the audience watching.
"good Peter, hide her face; for her fans the fairest face"
Mercutio was another comical character in the play. he was very sarcastic in his way of speaking, by making fun of the nurse he would amuse the audience, due to his total rudeness. The rude jokes or puns from the lower class characters also amuse both audiences, however some of the jokes are harder for todays society to understand and find as amusing as the elizebethan society would have, as the jokes were based on their society.
The play has a very dramatic beginning which ensures that the audience doesn't switch off at the start. There is also a variety in the type of scenes, for example fast moving scenes which may include fighting, or calmer romantic scenes. The constant changing of the scenes ensures that the audiences attention is always captured.
The Elizebethan society, even though ruled by a queen, was thought of as men having more power than women. The plays female characters would have been played by men as it was illegal for women to be on stage. The audience loved to watch the men play women as it looked and sounded amusing. Younger boys used to play the women as their voices hadn't broken yet. In modern versions of Romeo and Juliet however, the female characters are played by women, which i feel allows them to feel more involved.
In Elizebethan society a lot of people were illiterate. This meant that they never had a lot of money, and the money they did have they spent on the play so they expected it to be good. The Elizebethans only form of entertainment was paying money to see a play. Today people can enjoy the play using many different methods, which allows them to enjoy the play in the way they want to.
The way in which Shakespeare wrote the play is the key to how it captures the attention of the audience. Shakespeare created a lot of rythm throughout the important speeches in the play. This use of iambic pentameter meant that the speech included 10 sylables, 5 stressed and 5 unstressed, When the characters needed to express their inner most feelings shakespeare showed their confusion through the use of oxymorons.
"O brawling love, O loving hate"
This use of oxymoron gives the audience an insight on the way Romeo was feeling at the time, a contrast of two opposite words shows the conflict of his innermost feelings towards his love. By putting two words, one positive, one negative, expresses the confusion and different emotions the character is feeling.
The choice of language Shakespeare uses for the different relationships in the play is very interesting. There are aggressive characters, cold characters and also romantic characters.
Shakespeare seemed to use words to sum up the atmosphere at that point in the play.
"Fools paradise", "Gross kind of behaviour", "ill thing", "weak dealing".
The nurse uses negative words in her speech to Romeo when telling him about Juliet. By using such cold words she lets Romeo know that Juliet is not to be messed around.
Not all of the words were used to create a negative atmosphere.
"This holy shrine, the gentler sin is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand to smooth. That rough thouch with a tender kiss".
This quotation is taken from when Romeo and Juliet first met. Straight away Romeo claims to be in love with Juliet. He uses religous words to create an image of holyness. Shakespeare does this to let the audience know that Romeo really means what he is saying. He uses very soft words which give it a very soothing romantic feeling, which really attracts the attention of any kind of audience.
The conflict of the emotions of the characters is expressed through their choice of words. Shakepeare uses this to create an image in order for the audience to know what is going on.
Throughout the play there is a certain extent of dramatic irony, where the audience know something that the actors on stage don't, for example when Juliet drank the poison , only to be found by Romeo who though she was dead, so he killed himself. The audience feel more emotionally involved. This helps the audience to feel more involved and often can be amusing at times.
Throughout the play there are moments of tension and suspense. This adds to the whole trauma of the play and is often followed by a traumatic death.
The play also has a certain element of belief in fate.
"some consequence; yet hanging in the stars".
This quotation is taken from the part in the play in which Romeo experienced a prementition about death. Shakespeare included this to let the audience know that Romeo is worried and afraid that something might happen, it also gives the audience an insight to what is going to happen next, which helps them feel more involved.
Fate plays a big part in the play, whether it is good or bad and it shows that everything happens for a reason.
Overall i feel that each different theme helps to give the play the power that it needs in order to capture the attention of the audience all the way through the play. The events in the play were relevent in the Elizebethan times, as it was influenced by that society, but even though it is 400 years later, people of a modern day society can still also relate to the events in the play Romeo and Juliet. The main theme of the play is love, and that is something that at some point in their life, everyone can relate to.
