Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet

1. Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet

2. What do you already Know? • What do you know about Shakespeare, the play, the characters, etc.?

3. Understanding Shakespeare’s Audience • What was the last R-rated film you saw? • Why was it rated R? • It was R-rated for: Sex, violence, and profanity

4. How do you react? • When you hear an inappropriate joke, how do you react? • When you hear an inappropriate joke, do you: • A) laugh a lot and share it with your friends • B) think about making a profit from the joke • C) pretend to be shocked, but secretly find it interesting • D) react with disgust and horror, thinking that it is entirely inappropriate and nasty

5. Audiences Today & Shakespeare’s audience • Shakespeare’s audience was comprised of these 4 groups: • A) Groundlings • poor people, usually uneducated and illiterate working class. Enjoyed bawdy (sexual) humor. Stood to watch the show. • B) Merchants • Sold supplies to audience members, sought a profit • C) Nobles • Showed off their wealth, seated very close to the stage. Theater for them was about being seen. They were more proper. • D) Puritans • Boycotted Shakespeare’s show because of the sexual content, they were disgusted by Shakespeare’s humor.

6. Shakespeare used Bawdy Humor to interest the Audience • Bawdy humor: • Dealing with sex in a way that is meant to be funny • Shakespeare uses bawdy humor to attract the groundlings interest • Synonyms: ribald, racy, rude, suggestive, crude, vulgar, offensive • Antonyms: refined, proper, clean, wholesome, G-rated

7. Historical Background Nobility, pay to sit in nicer seats. Usually sit close to stage to be seen • His plays were performed in the Globe Theater Groundlings & merchants, stand for the entire play Puritans protest outside of the theater

8. The Four Humours & temperament) • During the Elizabethan Era, people believed that man is made of the elements—earth, air, fire and water—which translate to the four “humours.” • the excess of a particular humour determined a person’s characteristic traits or actions • The perfect balance of the humors resulted in an ideal temperament (personality) • It is important to understand these humors because we will see Shakespeare describe his characters based on these temperaments

9. The Four Humours

10. The Four Humours

11. Ground rules for Reading Shakespeare • Everyone is a second language learner when they read Shakespeare • You are not the only one that thinks this is challenging • You don’t have to understand every word to understand the significance of the story • There are always multiple meanings and interpretations • Please share your interpretations, they are important!