I intend to analyse and describe how Baz Luhrmann has converted William Shakespeare's written play of 'Romeo & Juliet' into a modern play.

Authors Avatar

GCSE English coursework-Unit 2

-Unit literature: Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet 

Introduction

In this essay I intend to analyse and describe how Baz Luhrmann has converted William Shakespeare’s written play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ into a modern play, I will show proof and understanding of how he has succeeded in bringing the play into the modern world.

The play ‘Romeo & Juliet’ is known as a legendary romantic play written by a well-known writer named

‘William Shakespeare’. This writer reformed the interest in poetry and plays, by experimenting with words and making his own technique of back-to-front words to mystify and play with the reader’s mind and thoughts, which made his plays interesting for readers, this is how he changed English history and people appreciate his plays.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564, the time when the famous scientist named ‘Galileo’ was experimenting with modernism. At the time of this famous writers birth, after a few years the ‘Battle of Lepanto’ started. During the birth of the writer in China the Ming Dynasty’s pottery work was taking place. Shakespeare’s birth was at a famous time as this was the time when the ‘Renaissance’ was occurring.

The Renaissance was the rebirth of ancient culture and the period of when the European history had a renewed interest in arts. Literally the term renaissance means ‘the rebirth’, and this rebirth started in the 14th century and started spreading till the 17th century.

From all these events taking place, it can be determined how Shakespeare’s childhood would have been as everything was still in the process of formation and rebirth.

Shakespeare would have been an ordinary person taking over his father’s business, which did not happen because of financial situations. As Shakespeare got older he was devoted to English literature, in 1582 he got married to a women named ‘Anne Hathaway’, but after his marriage his devotion to literature increased and he came London in 1588, where he had all the opportunities he needed to become famous. In 1592 he attained success and became an actor and a playwright, after three years of success he wrote the famous play Romeo & Juliet.

Each play written by Shakespeare has a particular point, which it tries to make to the audience and this point is made to resemble with the real life themes. As Shakespeare wrote more and more plays he got famous and most of his plays where acted out and presented at the London Globe theatre.

The Globe theatre was a very famous theatre in Shakespeare’s time, this theatre was octagon in shape and it was divided into three columns, each column higher then the previous one. People where allowed to choose which seat they want and in which column, depending on how much money they are going to spend on their ticket. There was the groundling level, and then the column levels and as the columns went up the better the view was and the more the ticket would costs. The main best features of the theatre was the trap door, the balcony and the unique shape of the theatre, whenever there was a play being presented a flag would be risen up located at the top of the theatre.  

After William Shakespeare wrote a series of plays he tragically died in 1616 and he was buried at the Stratford church, but his plays are still acted out and appreciated by people. Even though Shakespeare’s not in the modern world, his plays are being presented in the modern world and other writers and directors are making evaluated versions of his plays, trying to reform the plays in the modern world, and Baz Luhrmann is one of the reformers of his play. 

The Prologue

In the opening of the play ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare makes the play clear to the audience by giving the audience a preview of where the scene is set, who is the main characters or in this play the main families starring in the play, and he makes it clear that two star-crossed lovers die in the play.

Shakespeare does this through the use of a prologue, but he could not use techniques or special effects, which would entertain and be appealing to the audience, which is why he has used powerful and imaginative words to create interesting abrupt sentences. He has used words that are likely to attract the audience, words such as:

‘Alike’, a hypocritical word used to describe the two households as being similar in manner, but in the story it is revealed of how different the two families are to each other, by special features used such as the Capulet boys seem to be more violent then the other household. This would create a picture in the reader’s mind of two families who are the same and the families are friends.

‘Dignity’, a word that describes a calm and serious manner or style of a person, a person showing suitable formalities and the word can also mean a person with a high ranking.                        

‘Fair’, a word that Shakespeare has used to describe the place ‘Verona’ where the scene is set, but this word describes the place in a hypocritical way as this is found out later on in the story.

‘Ancient’, is a word giving the audience an idea of a very long history of something.

‘Grudge’, an attractive word, a word that is describing the state of the war between the two households, a word meaning a feel of resentment, or allowing something to happen.

‘New’, a word used by the writer to contrast with the word ancient.

‘Mutiny’, a powerful word as well as attractive, meaning a change.

‘Blood’ word, that Shakespeare has used to create the picture in the reader’s head of non-stop violence and people getting hurt for the reason of the quarrels between the two households.  

‘Fatal’, a word that changes the atmosphere and the mood, this word means something lethal or deadly.

‘Loins’, this word means two sides and it is a pun, in this play Shakespeare has used this word to make the reader image of the two buildings standing side-by-side with a small gap in between, this word can also mean the two sides which is love and hate.  

‘Foe’, another superior word meaning enemy. 

‘Strife’, a word meaning trouble and fighting

‘Star-crossed lovers’, a word which has the ability to adjust the mood, a word used by Shakespeare to play with the readers thoughts and illusions, this word suggests a completely different outcome to the beginning of the prologue.

'Misadventured’, means a bad luck, or a death caused unintentionally by a deliberate act but with no crime involved. Shakespeare chooses this word because this one word can briefly explain of what happens to the star-crossed lovers.

‘Piteous’, means an act of sadness or something pathetic, this word is a pun (words with two meanings) because it can mean to describe the sadness of the story and also the pathetic act of the lovers. Shakespeare might have chosen this word because it has got two meanings (a pun).

‘Death-marked’, something intended to die, these are interesting descriptive words used by Shakespeare.

‘Two hours’ traffic’, Shakespeare has used interesting imaginative words in order to grab the reader’s attention to the story and he has used these words to describe how the two household arguments has become a public issue, and how it affects the city.

In contrast Baz Luhrmann had the advantage to use modern techniques as well as special effects and this is how he made his prologue much more attractive through the use of pictures and sounds.

Shakespeare’s play is script version, and Baz Luhrmann’s version is video version, which is easy to understand and can be viewed by anyone, as it can be viewed on the modern appliance, which is a television, an appliance which was not invented in Shakespeare’s time.

Baz Luhrmann has taken his modern version of the play further, by presenting the prologue in a very rare and unique way as he has starts to bring the play into the modern world by presenting his prologue with a technique of a television within a television to create special effects.

Join now!

Baz Luhrmann has and has created an effect, which would have been impossible in Shakespeare’s time and this would be attractive to the modern world as it is something out of the ordinary.

Baz Luhrmann presents a distant television for the prologue and the prologue itself has been shown in a very unique and modern way. The television is flicking through the channels, the ‘twentieth century fox presents’ and ‘a Bazmark production’ signs are shown on two channels and the television flicks to a news channel, this suggests Baz Luhrmann is flicking through the channels until he finds something of ...

This is a preview of the whole essay