Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Pre 1914 Drama / Shakespeare Assignment

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Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Pre 1914 Drama / Shakespeare Assignment

At the beginning of the sixteenth, century the great art form of the Elizabethans was their drama. The Elizabethans inherited a passion for play acting form the Middle Ages and they then reinforced this by reading and translating popular work by roman play wrights.

During this period plays were performed by an all male cast, using young males to play the female roles and therefore play wrights had to ensure that the audience was fully committed to watching the play. Many other problems arose whilst trying to put on a successful play in the Elizabethan era. Such as creating simple but convincing scenery, showing a night time scene during the day and trying to create an atmosphere using weather in the play when the weather was the opposite to what was being described.

There were also other distractions throughout the play like thieves and people selling food amongst the already rowdy audience. Whether the playwright could overcome these problems determined the overall success of the play being performed.

One of the most influential playwrights of the sixteenth century was William Shakespeare, who provided a Shakespearian audience with everything they could possibly ask for; Romance, laughter, villains, a good plot, violence and engaging storylines that the audience could relate their own problems and feelings to. Shakespeare wrote many different plays during his time as a playwright one of his most famous being the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, which is still performed approximately four hundred years since is was first written.
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As there were so many distractions during the Elizabethan times Shakespeare wrote a prologue in place of a modern day 'trailer' to give the audience viewing his plays a glimpse of what they were about to see. Prologues were generally performed by a single reader who was not part of the main play. In Romeo and Juliet the prologue takes a significant part in the play which constantly reminds the audience that 'a pair of star cross'd' will 'take their lives' and their love is set to end in tragedy as it is 'death mark'd'. Once the prologue ...

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