ROMEO AND JULIET

1. ROMEO AND JULIET

2. The most famous love story of all times

3. Several film versions

4. PROLOGUE • From the beginning their love is destined to end in death. • The stars (= destiny) are against Romeo and Juliet • FATE is always present

5. Two households…

6. Both alike in dignity…

7. In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…

8. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny…

9. Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

10. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,

11. A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.

12. FATE • Shakespeare explores the theme of fate by allowing the audience to be part of his characters’ destiny. • In the opening lines of the play the audience is told what is going to happen to the lovers: “a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life.” • The audience is put in an omnipotent, god-like position from the start encouraging them to think about : fate and destiny ability to make free choices

13. He also creates a sort of tension • we know Romeo and Juliet’s fate from the prologue and we are constantly hoping that they will take a different course • Will Romeo arrive in time ? • Will he arrive just after Juliet has woken?

14. Montagues

15. Capulets

16. Others

17. The two lovers ROMEO  the typical courteous lover intense adoration of a chaste woman JULIET though within the courtly love convention, she is unconventional because she: - returns Romeo’s love - stands for innocence - belongs to no characterisation - is a real woman

18. PLOT • Romeo is son and heir of Montagues. He’s a handsome man of about sixteen who falls easily in and out of love demonstrating his immaturity. • At the beginning of the play he is hopelessly in love with Rosaline but immediately falls in love with Juliet at first sight • Could this be fate?

19. Romeo meets Juliet at a feast , given by lord Capulet, disguised in a mask

20. Juliet’s father wants her to marry Count Paris

21. The same night Romeo segretely enters the Capulet’s garden and sees Juliet leaning out of her balcony and talking to herself and the moon, he overhears her declaring her love . He bursts out and declares his love too

22. Romeo marries Juliet with the help of his friend and confident Friar Lawrence.

23. Romeo is not interested in the on-going feud between his family and the Capulets, he is not a violent man. • Tybalt tries to provoke Romeo into fighting him but, true to character, Romeo is not drawn in. • However, when his close friend is killed by Tybalt, for revenge Romeo kills him in a fit of rage and grief.

24. Romeo is forced to escape to Mantua • Juliet , not to marry Count Paris, takes a drug given to her by Friar Lawrence • This drug has to put her in a deathlike trance

25. Friar Laurence would have told Romeo everything but …..FATE • He is mistakenly told that Juliet is dead • He rushes back to Verona, outside Juliet’s tomb he meets Paris and in a duel he kills him. • He sees Juliet apparently dead and he takes a poison..FATE AGAIN • ..just few seconds after Juliets awakes

26. The real tragedy had started in the third act with Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s deaths and Romeo banished from Verona In the fifth act tragic conclusion of the play with the deaths of the two lovers When Juliet sees Romeo dead , she takes his dagger and kills herself

27. Looking at the two bodies, The two families become reconciled , united in their grief . • Romeo and Juliet were fated to loveand die for the greater good of Verona. • the tragedy of Youth , the parents are cruel and don’t listen to their children

28. Look at the video and listen to the song : “ What is a youth”

29. Look at the modern version and listen to the song: “I am kissing you”

30. Another modern version.Listen to the song: “ Romeo and Juliet” Twilight

31. The first act • It is composed of a series of dialogues about the courtly concept of love, linked to melancholy, holy devotion and idealization of the object of desire • It ends with the scene of the masque Look at the video

32. The monoloque The function of it is to reveal the audience the character’s real feelings and intentions We can clearly see it in the Balcony scene

33. The balcony Scene • Shakespeare passes from the language of love poetry ( Juliet sings her love ) to the language of Drama ( two people exchanging words and feelings ) • Love departs from courtly conventions Look at the video

34. What are the most important themes in this scene? • substance of things is much more important than words: Romeo is not just a name but a fesh-and-blood person • Juliet shows to be more mature than Romeo to have a deeper understanding of things, she is consciuos of the dangers Romeo is running • Romeo replies in a rhetorical way • This contrast between the rhetoric of love and the tragedy of real life underlines the dramatic theme

35. It is a comedy It is a tragedy A comedy or a tragedy? the instant attraction of the young lovers the masked balls the comic servants the surface life of street fights. the tragic role of chance leading up to the deaths of the two lovers

36. A “ Lyrical Tragedy “ Love is put at the centre of a tragedy to make it the real cause of the tragic events • Lyrical because it is built on the language and images typical of Renaissance love poetry • Tragedy because of Romeo and Juliet ‘s death due to the feud between their families

37. The feud between the two families Old hate vs young love Fate The lack of knowledge coming from bad communication Time Themes

38. Continuous references • When Mercutio shouts “a plague on both your houses” in Act 3, Scene 1, we are reminded of the protagonists’ fate. This bloody scene in which characters are killed gives us a glimpse of what fate has in store, marking the beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic downfall. • Fate permeates the events and speeches in the play. Is it fate that Friar Lawrence’s plan to inform Romeo of Juliet’s faked death is not realized due to unforeseen circumstances? Is it fate that Romeo kills himself when he does?

39. What was the C word? Romeo and Juliet is a play about contrasts: • Light and dark • Night and day • Young and old • Love and hate • Rhetoric and reality • Substance of things and power of words

40. In the Language…Antithesis The contrast of direct opposites. “Why then, Obrawling love,Oloving hate, O any thing, of nothingfirst created: O heavylightness, seriousvanity”  (1884).

41. Light and dark • Imagery of light linked to life and the courteous love convention • Imagery of darkness linked to death

42. Fickle Love • Some characters fall in and out of love very quickly in Romeo and Juliet. For example, Romeo is in love with Rosaline at the start of the play. Today, we might use the term “puppy love” to describe this. Romeo’s love for Rosaline is shallow and nobody really believes that it will last, including Friar Laurence • Romeo: Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline. Friar Laurence: For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.

43. Paris’ love for Juliet ? • it is not passion. He has identified her as a good candidate for a wife and approaches her father to arrange the marriage. • This was the tradition at the time.

44. Romantic Love • Our classic idea of romantic love is embodied in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare presents this as a force of nature, so strong that it transcends social conventions. • Romeo and Juliet’s love is given cosmic significance and can therefore overturn the social boundaries of “fair Verona.”

45. Other Types of Love • Friendship. • Juliet and her Nurse • Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio • They care deeply for another and protect each others honour . This costs Mercutio his life. • This platonic love is offset by the sexual allusions made by some characters : particularly Juliet’s Nurse and Mercutio. Their view of love is earthy and purely sexual, creating an effective contrast with Romeo and Juliet’s romanticism.

46. Listen to other songs: “Come what may” “Keep holding on” “ A time for us “