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Today’s Lesson Objectives:

Explore the courtly love tradition and its impact on the action in Romeo and Juliet. Understand the social and historical factors shaping the play.

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Today’s Lesson Objectives:

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  1. Today’s Lesson Objectives: • To be able to relate to the courtly love tradition to the social historical factors of the play.

  2. What is Love today? • Under this heading, record one sentence in your books…

  3. ‘What is Love today? • In our culture we’re accustomed to the notion that marriage is based on romantic attachment resulting from physical attraction and intimacy. • However, this hasn’t always been the case, and as we know from living in a multicultural society, people from other cultural traditions have different attitudes to marriage and relationships between the sexes. • Arranged marriages based on money, land and power alliances used to be the norm among the ruling classes - ‘love’ didn’t come into the equation. Where do we see this in the play?

  4. A series of reflection opportunities • Record the title of each and write your response under it

  5. What is your response to this? HUMILITY A man is subservient to a woman, who treats him like a slave. The man is downcast and despairing.

  6. What is your response to this? COURTESY Love can only be felt by the ‘courteous’, therefore it is confined to the well-bred, Upper classes. Working class people cannot feel love.

  7. What is your response to this? • ADULTERY • Men are only allowed to fall for women who are unobtainable, such as another man’s wife

  8. What is your response to this? RELIGION OF LOVE Anyone suffering from the pain of love is saved from complete despair by faith in the God of Love, who unlike heartless partners never betrays his followers.

  9. If all of those things were true... • What kind of a society would we be living in? • A Renaissance One!

  10. The idea of courtly love was a European tradition, dating from the Middle ages, but well known to the Elizabethans It was a set of rules and expectations about the way that lovers from the aristocratic classes should behave.

  11. What is Courtly Love about? HUMILITY The man is subservient to the woman who treats him like a slave. The lover is downcast and despairing. Can you find a quote to support this in Act1, scene1? COURTESY The sentiment behind courtly love can only be felt by the ‘courteous’, therefore it is confined to the well-bred. Old fashioned etiquette which gives women precedence is a legacy from courtly love.

  12. ADULTERY The object of the lover’s attention is unobtainable, such as another man’s wife; this heightens the tragic and despairing nature of his emotion. The immoral nature of the passion is particularly significant given the importance of religion in people’s lives. RELIGION OF LOVE Courtly love is seen as an ennobling experience which cultivates the best impulses of the individual. The lover is saved from complete despair by his faith in the God of Love who unlike heartless women never betrays his followers.

  13. How is the relationship of Romeo and Juliet in the Courtly Love tradition? • Both Romeo and Juliet are aristocrats • Juliet is unobtainable because she is a Capulet and is almost betrothed to Paris • Romeo has already shown Courtly Love sentiment in his pursuit of Rosaline, another unobtainable lover • Romeo’s reaction when he first sees Juliet and his speech to her show that he is refined and courteous • Romeo shows by his behaviour that he values romantic love above everything else

  14. Back to the play ….. In Act I, scene 1, Romeo is pining as he is in love with Rosaline. However, this love is unrequited. Perhaps there is a case here to suggest that love is unfulfilled in Romeo and Juliet?

  15. Today’s Lesson Objectives: • To understand how the courtly love tradition affects the action within the play. • To be able to relate to the social historical factors of the play.

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