Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale of two families embroiled in a bitter feud, passed down through generations.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale of two families embroiled in a bitter feud, passed down through generations. This 'ancient grudge' ignites countless passionate fights, captivating the many civilians of 'fair Verona'. But whilst this rivalry and hatred is in dispute, love still manages to find its path amid two naïve family enemies, resulting in disastrous consequences for both households. Ironically the deaths of two grudged family members unite the households with sorrow and mourning.
The play by William Shakespeare involves many religious references that are still valid and understood in society to this day. Romeo and Juliet has successfully become a play that many people can relate to, and have the same emotions to as the audience who watched it centuries before. The tragedy involving the two lovers makes a great storyline and so has been interpreted into many films. I will be commenting on the dramatic effectiveness of the play and how successfully it is conveyed in the movies produced by Baz Luhrman and Zeffireli.
I have chosen two key moments to comment on how they can be interpreted in a performance and their dramatic effectiveness. The first moment I have selected is act 1 scene 4 to 5 - the party scene. This is a pivotal moment in the play as Romeo meets Juliet for the first time. This occurs when the Montague's arrive uninvited at the Capulet party with the help of Mercutio, the prince's 'kinsman'.
Raiding an enemy's congregation is a very risky thing to do and the audience would know this, therefore adding tension to the atmosphere. Baz Luhrman enhances this tension by including spectacular fireworks exploding. Although this could not have been done in the original performance, they could use roaring flame torches such as Zeffireli used for the same effect. Also torches could have been used to show the audience it was nighttime in the scene, as they would have no idea otherwise.
The appearance of the Montagues enrages Tybalt, the aggressive, hot - headed cousin of Juliet. Tybalt pleas to his uncle for action to be taken immediately concerning the intruders; "I'll not endure him", "Why uncle, 'tis a shame", but Capulet orders him to hold off and to not show up the family; "be patient, take no note of him", leaving him fuming and swearing revenge; "I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall."
At first sight Romeo and Juliet fall in love, which is quite surprising since Romeo, at the start of the play, is deeply in love with a girl called Rosaline; "she's fair I love", and Juliet is in the middle of dancing with her husband to be, Paris. This would make the audience consider if Romeo's love is just superficial, as he doesn't even know her yet and he's already elapsed Rosaline. This would have been an interesting argument for the people both at the time of the production and now, as it ties in with the religious belief of some people that fate and the positioning of the stars controls our life and what happens to us.
In the Luhrman and Zeffereli versions they make the mood calm for when the couple meet by having soft melodies played in the background. This is done in the original by Capulet saying; "Come musicians, play." Having the actor to say this would set the scene for the audience who had to use their imagination, as there was actually no music playing. This would create an effective atmosphere in the theatre. Also in the Baz Luhrman film there is a theme of water around the household when both Romeo and Juliet meet, resembling peace and tranquillity between them, ...
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In the Luhrman and Zeffereli versions they make the mood calm for when the couple meet by having soft melodies played in the background. This is done in the original by Capulet saying; "Come musicians, play." Having the actor to say this would set the scene for the audience who had to use their imagination, as there was actually no music playing. This would create an effective atmosphere in the theatre. Also in the Baz Luhrman film there is a theme of water around the household when both Romeo and Juliet meet, resembling peace and tranquillity between them, which emphasises the fact the couple feel naturally calm in each other's presence. Some examples of this is when they first notice each other in the Baz Luhrman film, they are looking through a fish tank, then in the hall Juliet is dancing near a water fountain and finally when Romeo seeks out Juliet they fall into a swimming pool. This is an effective use of props and surroundings as whenever the two meet, the audience can associate water with a sense of tranquillity between them.
Romeo describes Juliet as "a dove among the crows"; this metaphor is a good language device to use as it portrays clearly how he sees Juliet; an intriguing contrast to the otherwise boring crowd of "crows". This could have be shown to the audience by Juliet wearing a white dress and the rest of the party goers wearing drab clothing so that character would stand out as looking particularly angelic such as Zeffereli did. Another effective metaphor used by Romeo is; "as a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" this would be particularly vibrant as an Ethiop's ear would be very a dark colour and a jewel would sparkle white, standing out dramatically. The way Romeo described Juliet as a "jewel" shows how highly he thinks of her.
The use of clothing to embody the character is used throughout the party scene to a dramatic extent by all the films, but Luhrman takes this to the extreme, with all the characters. Juliet is wearing a pair of white wings, which depict her as angelic and heavenly as she is portrayed in the script and Romeo is wearing metal armour to make him look like the typical 'knight in shining armour'. Tybalt's costume at the party is black in the Zeffireli film and in the Lurman film he has a pair of red devil horns, both characterising him as aggressive and devil-like. The audience would have been very religious at the time and so would have reacted even more strongly to this reference to angels and the devil therefore keeping their attention fixed on the play.
Mercutio is dressed as a woman, wearing a sparkly dress in the luhrman version. This and the fact he is coloured, portrays Mercutio as not being in either of the families and a bit in the middle of the two groups. Zeffereli does the same by casting someone with fair hair and everyone else as having dark hair, for the same reason. This could also be done in the original by having Mercutio looking different to the rest of the actors so the audience could distinguish him easily from the two families.
At the end of the scene the 'star crossed lovers' discover they are born into families, sworn enemies of each other; "my only love sprung from my only hate." Romeo and Juliet are horrified by this cruel twist of fate, but still seem interested in each other; "my grave is like to be my wedding bed." The fact they seem occupied with each other after the announcement of their origins, suggests they believed in the power of chance and the positioning of the stars determining their destinies. This would have been the general belief of the time and so can be related with the audience.
The end of act one is finished by Juliet using poetry to portray her feelings to the Nurse; "My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy."
This rhyming quadruplet emphasises Juliet's emotions to the audience so it seems more dramatic.
The second pivotal scene in Romeo and Juliet is Act three-scene one, the fight scene. In this act Romeo and Juliet have been married and the Montague boys and Mercutio come into contact with their hated foes, the Capulets. "By my head, here come the Capulets." Shakespeare makes Benvolio say this, so the audience knows whom it is arriving on the stage. It also builds tension, as they know the two groups are prone to fighting each other so the audience will be delighted as in those days they loved the gory fight scenes.
In the Zeffireli film the scene takes place in a traditional courtyard near a church, keeping in the theme of religion, whereas in the Baz Luhrman production it is set on a beach with a stage like structure in the middle. Luhrman could have included this structure to link in with how the original performance might of looked.
A sense of disturbance in the atmosphere is achieved by the unsettled weather, such as the thunder and black clouds. This is a pathetic fallacy. The sense of disturbance is backed up by Mercutio's gunshots, conveying that something dramatic and influential is about to happen.
When Tybalt and the others enter the scene, Mercutio jokes around with them mocking their seriousness to fight; "Here's my fiddle-stick; here's that shall make you dance. 'Zounds, consort!" At this point Romeo arrives at the scene and Tybalt immediately starts his insulting; "thou art a villain." However Romeo does not retaliate as he has just been married to Juliet and so is part of his family; "Tybalt the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting." Romeo despises the hatred between the families and at first has no intention of harming Tybalt, as he is now one of his own 'kinsmen' and harming Tybalt would mean harming his beloved Juliet. This unwillingness to retaliate is shown in the Lurhman production by Tybalt kicking Romeo whilst on the floor and Romeo doing nothing in response.
Tybalt's rage is amplified when Romeo proclaims he loves him; "But love thee better thou canst devise". Mercutio at this point can't stand it and challenges Tybalt to a fight; "Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?" Tybalt then draws his sword and they begin to fight. During this duel Romeo tries to intervene and stop it but Mercutio is wounded under his arm. "I am sped."
Mercutio curses both the families for his death; "A plague o' both your houses!" This would be quite dramatic to the audience as they were religious and very superstitious at that time. This statement is repeated by Mercutio many times therefore enhancing the superstition.
Some comedy is introduced by Mercutio, pleasing the viewers and keeping them interested; "ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch," "ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man." Mercutio is on his deathbed and yet he still makes jokes.
The effect on Romeo is dramatic and evident, from denial to shock; he turns his attention to Tybalt as he becomes increasingly furious about Mercutio's death. Romeo's realisation of what he has to do can be seen before Benvolio re-enters. The audience can see that Romeo is very distraught; he refers to "this day's black fate," which is linked to Romeo's tragic flaw, his belief in fate, and the medieval belief in 'fortune's wheel', Romeo being 'fortune's fool' which determines his bad luck. The audience sees Romeo's mood change dramatically.
Tybalt and his group then flee rapidly, after realising the extent of Mercutio's wound. Mercutio then dies; "Brave Mercutio is dead! That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds," The theme of religion is present again here when Benvolio says Mercutio has ascended to heaven. In the Luhrman version Thunder can be heard again when Mercutio dies, adding symmetry to the scene.
The spectators would be thrilled again, with the arrival of Tybalt; "Here comes the furious Tybalt back again." as they see the deaths as great entertainment. Romeo takes revenge on Tybalt by murdering him. At this point in the Baz Luhrman production he decides to have it rain when Tybalt dies. This is to show that God is angry about these brutal killings, again corresponding with the theme of religion. After killing Tybalt, Romeo flees Verona to avoid confronting the prince and his punishment. "Romeo, away, be gone! The citizens are up, and Tybalt is slain." Romeo blames the death of Tybalt and the terrible situation he's in on fate again; "O, I am Fortune's fool." This again reverts back to the belief that his destiny is controlled and he has no power over it.
After the slaying of Tybalt, the Prince, the Capulets and the Montagues arrive at the scene. "Where are the vile beginners of this fray?" The prince would appear dramatically, looking powerful and authoritative to the characters and the audience. This could be done by him arriving on horse, so he is positioned higher and therefore looks more important than the civilians and the gathering of households. The Prince is disgraced by this barbaric disintegration of social order, and asks who started it. Benvolio replies with a rhyming verse; "O noble Prince, I can discover all the unlucky manage of this fatal brawl. There lies the man, slain by young Romeo, that slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio." Benvolio rhymes what has happened, so the message is stands out and is clearer to the audience.
At this moment Lady Capulet discovers that her cousin, Tybalt has been killed; "Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child! O prince! O cousin! Husband, O, the blood spill'd..." Lady Capulet gives a dramatic speech using many 'O's. This emphasises her distress and shows the audience the grief involved within the play. She also asks for revenge on her despised foe, the Montagues; "For blood of ours shed blood of Montague." Benvolio then describes what happened in lots of detail for 26 lines. Benvolio's detail displays how vividly he sees the whole event; this is because he has watched enmity kill two individuals, which shocks Benvolio as he is quite a peace-keeping character, and is not as hot-headed as the rest of the boys; " I do but keep the peace, put up thy sword."
Lady Capulet is still upset and is not happy with Benvolio's description of events as she feels he is being bias towards Romeo, his family member; "He is a kinsman of the Montague; Affection makes him false, he speaks not true."
After listening to both families' cases, the Prince decides for Romeo to be banished from Verona or he will be killed; "Immediately we do exile him hence."
Romeo and Juliet is an engrossing play covering many styles and themes. It's main genre, I feel, is tragedy as the storyline has a deeply catastrophic ending, with the couple both killing themselves after trying to break the ancient grudge between their families. Romance, obviously has a major role in the play through the pair of children, lusting to be with each other even knowing their households are bitter enemies. I feel the film Directed by Baz Luhrman has been extremely well converted from an Italian based 16th century play to a modern day American based movie, and in some place with some quite comical values. All the references and themes from the original have been amplified and so are easier to distinguish in the Baz Luhrman production, which makes the film into more of a spectacle. However I prefer the Zefirelli film as it is pure Shakespeare and is an accurate production that has not been altered or tampered with. This gives the remarkable, famous storyline a chance to be shown to the audience, without been diverted by other details introduced.
By Tom Reeves 10FR
