-With detailed reference to Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, explain how Baz Luhrmann has adapted the scene to appeal to a modern audience.

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Becky Jenkins 10EN01

-With detailed reference to Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, explain how Baz Luhrmann has adapted the scene to appeal to a modern audience.

Romeo and Juliet, written in 1595 by William Shakespeare is now studied and respected by people of all ages, in 1997 the play was modernised and adapted by Baz Luhrmann into a box office hit. He succeeded in his aim of creating Shakespeare to appeal to a younger and wider range audience, Luhrmann kept the Shakespearean language, twisted with modernised society in such a way that Shakespeare became easily understood. Guns, cars, violence and drugs were used and included to appeal to a younger audience so that they became interested in Shakespeare. My personal response to this adaptation was positive, I myself found Shakespeare quite hard to understand at times, and to have a modernised film to watch, I believe it was a great choice. With a good selection of settings and characters, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, I think that the film for me was very successful; it identified the issues of the play in an understandable way for this generation.

Some historians and researchers believe that Romeo and Juliet was based on a real Italian love story from the 3rd century, and the “real families” were named the Capeletti and the Montecci, however Shakespeare based his plot on the poem written by Arthur Brooke in 1562.

Romeo and Juliet was set in a very religious period, it was a Catholic society with strong belief in damnation for mortal sin, suicide and bigamy were known as mortal sins, Shakespeare maybe created the plot to rebel against the sins, to forward the consequences of falling in love with the wrong person, another reason could be to forward the message of how making life’s own choices should not be labelled as a sin, however on the other hand Shakespeare could have included these themes because he could portray an important message of the problems committing these sins could cause.

The theatres in the Elizabethan era were dirty and unhygienic, this was due to the peasants and people that were in the standing area, they excreted and dump waste on the floor of the theatre, they had the right to throw food or substances at the actors they did not like, in Elizabethan times this was a regular thing to do, however these days it is very frowned upon.

The excitement, vitality and participation of audiences in Shakespeare's London are in sharp contrast to the more reserved and formal gatherings of the theatre in our own time, these two different aspects imply that we are expecting a different outcome and entertainment to that of the Elizabethans. Popular subjects for Elizabethan theatre were stories about love, witchcraft, poison, conspiracy history, assassination, revenge and murder, having said that we do still enjoy murder and assassination, but however we now group aspects of films into different genres such as romance, comedy, thriller and horror.

The first audiences at the Globe consisted of people from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. Peasants, prostitutes, merchants, labourers, wealthy citizens and lords and ladies visited the playhouses of Shakespeare’s London frequently, in contrast to our generation most people do still visit the theatre but we do not have a very serious social hierarchy such as in Elizabethan times.

The Elizabethan’s would not expect such professionalism or the play to be precisely perfect, they were interested in going to the theatre for a social gathering, entertainment and also because they might have a chance of seeing some members of nobility, however in this era we expect a very high standard film with special effects, good actors, cinematography and realistic castings.

During Elizabethan plays, all of the actors were male, however homosexuality was thought of as a sin, so therefore there were no love scenes, the furthest the actors would serenade was a slight kiss on the hand, to us and our generation this seems strange, we are looking for respectable actors that can act well and therefore are able to work under any pressures of genre, even a love making scene. Elizabethan’s did not expect realism, no kissing was expected and therefore no sexual implications, young boys were used to play the woman characters because they had not been through puberty and therefore their voices were at a higher pitch.  

In Shakespeare’s play, the actors wore elaborate costumes; they wore specific colours to accentuate their characters personality and also to make the play visually exciting. In Baz Luhrmann’s production he did the same, during Act 1 Scene 5 the costumes were very elaborate, this was due to the fact that the characters were at Lord Capulet’s gathering or party. Lord Capulet wore the colour purple, this shows royalty, there was also a similarity to that of Caesar, known as the master of the roman world, and dressing like this could over exaggerate the fact that Lord Capulet is a powerful man. Lady Capulet dressed similar to Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian ruler, this also shows power and that she is a dominant female, seeing as they are both dressed as powerful leaders. Caesar and Cleopatra show two powerful people united by marriage and increasing the power. In the film Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Capulet kisses Tybalt, Caesar and Cleopatra had an affair or alliance and this could explain why she kisses him, this also reflects her personality and could be seen as quite daring and flirtatious. Juliet, one of the main characters, innocent and soft she wears a white dress and dresses up as an angel to forward her personality to the audience. Dressed as an angel and in white shows virginity, purity and that she is beautiful and innocent, this could relate to Romeo’s speech in Act 1 Scene 5 that relates her to a bright light, “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright” line 43 this is a poetic exaggeration, since torches can't really be taught. It is important for Romeo to say this, as the audience cannot see Juliet's beauty directly because in Shakespeare's theatre a boy, perhaps seen at some distance, played Juliet. But the metaphor also tells us that it is night, as Romeo can see the torches he compares her to. The audience would imagine this, as the play was performed in daylight, and no lighted torch would be safe in the theatre, this explains that she is the founder or the power of light and light relates to purity, exactly like her costume of an angel. Another quote that explains this is also in the same scene and speech, “Like a rich jewel in a Ethiop’s ear” line 45 this compares her to light and that she is the beauty of it, along with “So shows a snowy dove drooping with crows” line 47, comparing her to a dove also shows purity and innocence, especially describing that she is the only beautiful woman in the crowd, with the use of “snowy dove drooping with crows” he is quoting that no one else is as beautiful to her because they are all crows and she is a beautiful dove. This could also be compared to light and dark, the crows are not beautiful and therefore dark and relating to the colour black which is known to be scary, seeing as most people can be afraid of the dark, and then to say she is a snowy dove, white and pure contrasts to that, Shakespeare is describing her as a saviour to the dark fears.

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Romeo Montague played by Leonardo DiCaprio mainly appears in pale blues or, dressed in Act 1 Scene 5 as a knight, this could show that he is strong and brave, charming and Juliet’s saviour and prince charming, Romeo and Juliet both wearing simple tones would emphasise that they are in a way like spectres, the ones that hold on to life and are happy with the simple things, The colour white shows that not just Juliet but also Romeo is youthful with a pure nature, and the colours create a strong contrast with the people around them. With Benvolio as ...

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