It is my opinion that no one person can be held responsible for the tragic deaths of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Rather it is a combination of people and circumstances that contrive to form a tragic ending.
Final Draft for Coursework assignment. It is my opinion that no one person can be held responsible for the tragic deaths of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Rather it is a combination of people and circumstances that contrive to form a tragic ending. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, and thus has all the generic features of a tragedy; that there is a fatal flaw on the part of the main characters, in this case their passionate love at first sight for each other, "Did my heart love 'till now?" This passionate love means the two lovers cannot be separated, and their desperation to be together could be the reason for their plight. Alternatively, it could also be argued that Shakespeare built up dramatic expectation, via prophetic fallacy and short scenes accelerating to a climax, that the death was necessary as a dramatic ending. This structure can be clearly seen throughout the play as a whole as Shakespeare uses lower status characters (talking in prose) usually to speed up the pace, using riots and conflicts, whereas he uses the higher status characters (talking in verse) at balls or parties to slow down the pace and deepen the play. Therefore, due to Shakespeare's deliberately convoluted plot, it is imperative to discuss each topic in turn, evaluating how and to what extent, each factor was responsible; starting with, arguably, one of the most important reasons;
With reference to Romeo and Juliet what makes the play a tragedy?
With reference to Romeo and Juliet what makes the play a tragedy? Romeo and Juliet is undoubtedly the most famous love story in Western literature, and it also recognised as one of the world's most famous tragedies. Some argue that Romeo and Juliet could easily have been a comedy, baring similarities to other Shakespeare plays, such as A Midsummer Nights Dream. However, Romeo and Juliet, is a popular play, filled with elements of tragedy composed by writers such as Aristotle, that continues to capture the imagination and emotions of audiences around the world. The drama portrays the passionate, violent and often desperate lives of the youth of Verona. Even today, the tragedy resembles a blueprint of the problems that the adolescents of the twentieth century must face each day. In this play, Shakespeare explores the pitfalls of young love, and the consequences they receive from their actions. According to the English dictionary, a tragedy is described as a 'serious disaster or a sad event'. In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic hero. For a play to be a tragedy, there must be a tragic hero. In the play, Romeo is the tragic hero. In the Greek concept of the tragic hero as a great personage destroyed by some tragic flaw, referred to as the 'Fall of Princes', Romeo has no place.
Compare how Zeffirelli and Luhrman direct the ending of Romeo and Juliet.
Compare how Zeffirelli and Luhrman direct the ending of Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare's great tragedy Romeo and Juliet was written around 1595. For hundreds of years it was an incredibly popular theatrical performance, staged in thousands of theatres across world. However, in the last century improvements in technology have meant that the popularity of theatre has fallen dramatically as a result of the success of cinema. A world of possibilities was created with the breakthrough of cinema; no longer was the setting confined to one stage and the creativity of the set designers, people could be taken around the world and back whilst sitting in their seats. Endless different techniques could be used to provoke emotions in the audience with the variation of shot angles and distances, not to mention the quality of sounds and music and the incredible special effects that could be achieved as technology progressed ever further. It was inevitable that Shakespeare's enduring, classic yet tragic love story of "star-crossed lovers" Romeo and Juliet would one day make it up onto the big screen. In fact there have been many attempts to recreate the play as a film. Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrman are two of the most successful director's to date to have achieved this, despite the huge contrasts between the films' target audiences, setting and the thirty year gap between the
Baz Luhrman Coursework
Baz Luhraman's original name was Mark Anthony Luhrmann, but was later nicknamed Baz due to his resemblance to the character Basil Brush. He was born on the 17th September 1962 in Australia. Luhrmann is an Australian Film Director and is one of the best in the trade. Mainly for is use of flamboyant and colourful use of imagery. Baz is married to one of his production designers in which has helped him in all of his films. They have two children, Lillian, and William. The three films he has directed so far are; Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo & Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge (2001) and is currently working on his fourth which is called 'An Oz Gone With the Wind.' starring Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. Baz stated that Italian Grand Opera has a major influence in his work. Baz Luhrmann took the plot of Romeo & Juliet and brought it in to the 20th century. He did make one massive change in the last scene though. The part Baz changed was the timing of their deaths. In Shakespeare's original version, Romeo killed himself and then a couple of seconds later Juliet would wake up. But what Luhrmann did was to edit the timing of the deaths. The only other thing he changed to bring the storey into the 20th century were the swords, which were replaced with guns. We first catch a glimpse of Romeo in the second scene but not properly, due to the sun glare and the shadowing on his body. This
Theme's in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"
Higher English Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" General Analysis Although Romeo and Juliet is classified as a tragedy, it more closely resembles Shakespeare's comedies than his other tragedies. The lovers and their battle with authority is reminiscent of As You Like It and The Winter's Tale. "Characteristically, those comedies concern themselves with the inborn, untargeted stupidity of older people and the life-affirming gaiety and resourcefulness of young ones. The lovers thread their way through obstacles set up by middle aged vanity and impercipience. Parents are stupid and do not know what it best for their children or themselves . . . [Romeo and Juliet] begins with the materials for a comedy - the stupid parental generation, the instant attraction of the young lovers, the quick surface life of street fights, masked balls and comic servants" (Wain 107). Indeed, one could view Romeo and Juliet as a transitional play in which Shakespeare merges the comedic elements perfected in his earlier work with tragic elements he would later perfect in the great tragedies -- Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. This mixture of styles ultimately hurts Romeo and Juliet, exposing the immaturity of the playwright. The heroes of the play must contend with external forces that impede their relationship, but, unlike the great tragic heroes, they are devoid of the inner struggle that
Blood Wedding. How does the Playwright use Language to demonstrate the Characters' Personalities the Plot and the Style of the Play?
How does the Playwright use Language to demonstrate the Characters' Personalities the Plot and the Style of the Play? The plot of Blood Wedding is quite complex although it seems simple. The main focus is the wedding between the bride and bridegroom, however Lorca makes lots of references to blood and death as hints of what is to happen at the climax of the play. For example he is constantly referring to the death of the bridegrooms father and brother, who were killed by members of the Felix family. In the opening scene, the mother, after only saying 5 lines, immediately makes a reference to death, she says "Damn the Knife, Damn all Knives and the devil that brought them into the world." This is obviously a very powerful line and shows she obviously has had some sort of bad experience with knives. This also shows that the mother is quite insecure and, when we learn that the incident in question happened over 20 years ago, that she has extreme trouble letting go. When she tells the bridegroom "I want six grandchildren at the very least, now that your fathers gone." We understand that she feels very lonely and almost abandoned. We later learn that it has been 20 years since she has even been to the top of the street where she lives. We realise she is a lonely, fragile lady who's only company is her son and a neighbour who visits now and then. The Maid on the other hand is
Compare the opening scenes of Luhrmann and Zeffirelli film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
Compare the opening scenes of Luhrmann and Zeffirelli film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet Franco Zeffirelli was born in 1923. He was Educated at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, and Florence University (architecture). It was during his time at the university where he found about his love for the world of opera and theater. Zeffirelli's name is still most closely associated with his next film, 'Romeo and Juliet' (1968). In a bit of inspired casting, Zeffirelli chose two teenage actors, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, to play the leads. This version of Shakespeare's tragedy was consonant with the 1960s and included a nude love scene. A box-office smash, 'Romeo and Juliet' also earned Academy Awards for cinematography and costume design. Romeo and Juliet are not his only Shakespearian films; he has directed versions of Hamlet and Othello. Nearly all of Zeffirelli's films are adaptations, in which he uses exotic locations and grand costumes. Zeffirelli's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet was made for the audience of the 60s who expected a true adaptation of what 'Romeo and Juliet' would have been in the 16th Century Baz Luhrmann was originally born Bazmark Anthony Luhrmann in 1962 in New South Wales. He has taken on many roles in the film industry. During his career he has been an actor, writer, producer, songwriter, and director of theater, television, opera and films.
What literary devices are used to portray whether Romeo and Juliet is more about Love or Hate
What literary devices are used to portray whether Romeo and Juliet is more about Love or Hate? With reference to the audiences response Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare at a relatively early juncture in his literary career, most probably in 1594 or 1595. The play was an experimental stage piece at the time of its composition, featuring several radical departures from long-standing conventions. These innovative aspects of the play, moreover, reinforce and embellish its principal themes. The latter include the antithesis between love and hate, fate and destiny and the handling of time (as both theme and as structural element). The primary theme is, arguably, the contrast between love and hate. Shakespeare utilizes many literary devices as a way of representing love and hate; whether that is dialogue, the correlative use of a light/dark polarity or action. Each technique not only represents the two emotions, it represents which emotion is the dominating theme. The play begins, with a fourteen line sonnet, The Prologue. The obvious function of the Prologue - an introduction to the play - can obscure its deeper, more important function. The Prologue does not merely set the scene of Romeo and Juliet; it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen in the play. The Prologue creates a sense of fate, a key motif utilized by the bard throughout the play, by providing
Suicide Impulse in Romeo and Juliet.
Suicide Impulse in Romeo and Juliet Gurnek Bassi Student ID# 0342809 Religious Studies 1E03E TA - Justin Romeo and Juliet is a play created by William Shakespeare to conceptualize his idea of the highest form of love. This play is meant to show, through example, what real love is; and the desperate measures one would take to maintain such love. Love through Shakespeare's vision is meant to be the ultimate emotion, the one feeling which one would risk their very being to possess. Shakespeare captures that feeling in the final scene of the play when Romeo and Juliet both end their own lives when they believe they will never feel such powerful love again. However, this "suicide impulse" that both Juliet and Romeo exhibit does not relate to the play's theme of the highest form of love, but it relates to another theme in the play: the theme of young, desperate love. Not "young" as in the adolescent minds of Romeo and Juliet, but "young" in the sense that these two lovers have only known each other for such a small period of time. Throughout the entire play, which is based on the relationship of these two characters, Romeo and Juliet only have four encounters. The first at Capulet's feast; where the two first meet each other (1.5, 94-111), the second in the Capulet courtyard, in front of Juliet's window (2.2), the third encounter is in the secret garden where Romeo and
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, 1564-1606. Romeo and Juliet is one of the best-known and most famous plays by William Shakespeare, who himself is probably still Britain's best-known producer of literature, seem from a world point of view. It is one of what I suppose that I would call his Italian Plays. These are a group which are set, more or less, as far as I can see, in what we now call Italy, but which then I think was a group of little city-states or tiny little nations, each centred on a town or city - such as Venice (the Merchant of Venice is an example.) It describes the climate of fear, custom and emotion surrounding a bitter battle or feud between two warring families in the City of Verona, about the time that Shakespeare would have been writing it - say in about the early 1590s. The play is centred on the sudden and eep love of one young member of one family for one of the other. Shakespeare used a variety of scources for his dramas. The story of Romeo & Juliet was by all accounts taken from the poem, The trajical history of Romeus & Juliet written by Aurther Brooke (1562). The story has earlier origins. Brooke drew on the novella Rhomeo & Julietta by Boesteau, who, in turn had borrowed the main incidents from a story by Luigi da Porto, of vicenza (1535), called 'La Guillietta'. The main diffrences beetween Shakespeare's version of the story and that