3C Group 1 Romeo and Juliet

Once upon a time

romeo and juliet

Index:

CHARAcTERS

plot

themes

quotes

setting

sources

The prologue "A pair of star-crossed lovers"

Romeo and Juliet is the tragedy of William Shakespeare, one of the most popular love stories in the world, the archetype of society’s perfect but opposed love.

Shakespeare transforms the plot in a more intense way with the vivid characterizations of the minor characters and the reduction of the time of action to four days and four nights instead of several months, making the feelings of the play more intense.

He prefers the structure of the sonnet and the use of contrast between light and shadow, perceived as a contrast between life and death, love and war.

FIRST ACT

"I have a soul of lead, so stakes me to the ground I cannot move"

Consisting of five scenes, it begins with a street fight between Montagues and Capulets interrupted by the prince of Verona.Count Paris asks the Lord Capulet to give him his daughter Juliet as his wife and the Lord allows him to court her during the masked ball. The following day, Romeo goes with his friend to this ball:he hopes to meet his love Rosaline but he meets Juliet. The two fall in love with each other but they soon discover their belonging to two struggling families. The act is characterized by melancholy, holy devotion and desire.

SECOND ACT

"Th'exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine"

INTRO

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Consisting of six scenes,it concentrates on the development of the relationship. At the end of the ball, Romeo reachs the Juliet's balcony and the two declare love and decide to get married as soon as possible. Romeo askes Friar Laurenceto celebrate the marriage and he accepts hoping for peace between the two families. The act ends with the marriage and here love is described in a way that departs from courtly conventions.

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+ INFO

third act

Consisting of five scenes. After the secret wedding between Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, looks for Romeo to challenge him to a duel but Romeo refuses to fight; A fight breaks out anyway and during it his friend Mercutio is killed by Tybalt. So in revenge Romeo kills Tybalt; at that point the Prince banishes Romeo from Verona. The nurse tells Juliet what happened and Juliet gives her a ring to give to Romeo as a token of her love. Meanwhile friar Lawrence makes a plan: Romeo will visit Juliet that night and then will reside in Mantua, until they're safe. In the meantime, the Capulet organize Juliet's wedding with Count Paris without anyone knowing.

"Give me my Romeo, and when I shall die Take him and cut him out in little stars"

FOURTH ACT

"Ready to go, but never to return"

Consisting of five scenes.Friar Lawrence has a plan: Juliet must consent to marry Paris; then, on the night before the wedding, she must drink a sleeping potion that will make her seem dead. Juliet will be laid to rest in the Capulet tomb, and the friar will send word to Romeo in Mantua to help him retrieve her when she wakes up. She will return to Mantua with Romeo, and be free to live with him away from their parent's hatred. That night Juliet, alone and full of fear, drinks the and everyone believes that she is dead, or at least it seems that way, and they despair already organizing the funeral.

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FIFTH ACT

"Thus with a kiss I die."

Friar Lawrence figures out that Romeo never received the letter because of the plague, so he doesn't know about the false death. When he learns that Juliet is dead, he prepares to die, thanks to a poison. He returns to Verona and goes to the tomb where he surprises and kills the mourning Paris. Romeo takes the poison and dies, while Juliet awakens from her drugged coma. She realizes what has happened and stabs herself with Romeo's dagger.The deaths of the two lovers lead the families to make peace, and they promise to erect a monument in Romeo and Juliet's memory.

Romeo

Juliet

Juliet Capulet was 14 yo when she fall in love with Romeo, the son of her family's enemy. She was:

• spontaneous and sincere when she spoke about her feelings
• innocent and simple

There's not any descriptions about her aspect.

Romeo, the son of Montague family, was a young man of 16. He might be described as:

• impulsive
• handsome
• intelligent
• sensitive
• courageous 'cause he wasn't afraid of the danger of being in the Capulets' garden
• passionate when he declared his love

Also she was undefended and was protected only by her parents, who considered her like a little girl but she only wanted to live her own experiences.

Friar Laurence

The Nurse

Friar Laurence was a Franciscan friar and a mentor to Romeo and Juliet.

The widowed Nurse was the loyal companion of Juliet since she was a baby. She's vulgar, long-winded and sentimental. Often her stories, raunchy comments, and distaste for men generally serve as comic relief throughout the play.

He married the lovers hoping to broker peace between the two families. He prepares a potion for Juliet in order to fake her death, avoid marriage to Paris, and reunite with Romeo, but his warning message to Romeo never reaches him...

She belived in love a but the idea that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is incomprehensible to her.

Tybalt

Mercutio

Mercutio is a kinsman of the Prince of Verona and a close friend of Romeo. He is one of the most extraordinary characters for his volatile nature, quick wit and saucy wordplay.

Tybalt was the Juliet's cousin and The Nurse considered him as a best friend. Tybalt is always a troublemaker. Mercutio mockingly calls him 'the prince of cats'!

Mercutio loves wordplay, especially sexual double entendres. He can be quite hotheaded, and hates people who are affected, pretentious, or obsessed with the latest fashions.

He is described as hot-headed and proud, vain and fashionable but he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured.

Themes

Romantic,intense and passionate love with many obstacles

Respectable and sensual love

Lack of knowledge and bad commnunication between parents and children

Innocence language always linked to the theme of love

Setting

The story of Romeo and Juliet took place in 1303, When Verona was geverned by the lordship of Scaglieri, the hatred of the conflict between the veronese families divided them into two adverse parts: Guelfi and Ghibellini.

In those years the rivality between the Montecchi’s family and that of the Capuleti was vary heated.

Romeo and Juliet also emphasizes the division between two symbolic worlds that Romeo and Juliet inhabit within Verona. The first of these worlds is the dangerous, masculine world of the streets.

The second of these worlds is the secluded, feminine world of the Capulet house, where Juliet remains confined.

In fact, the division remains so strict that the only reason the lovers even meet is that Romeo forces entry into the Capulet house on two occasions—first, to crash the ball, and later, to have a private meeting with Juliet.

Exists a third, neutral space—that is, the church where Friar Laurence presides over Romeo and Juliet’s secret wedding.

So frequent and thorough is Shakespeare ’s engagement with Italy in his plays that it has been suggested that he travelled to Italy some time between the mid-1580s and the early 1590s – ‘lost years’-

Could have been no other place more perfect than Verona to have set the story.

William Shakespeare also featured most of his plays in Italy; he believed that this would make the plays more exotic and helped the audience.

Ramains a mystery if Shakespeare visited Italy because many argue that he knew it thank to the writings of Luigi da Porto.

Sources

Quotes

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet". Juliet, act 2, scene 1

"That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name; And for thy name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself." Juliet, act 2, scene 1

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." Romeo, act 1, scene 5

"Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear that tips with silver all these fruit tree tops". "Oh, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable". Romeo and Juliet, act 2, scene 1:

“Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your last embrace! And, lips, oh you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death!” Romeo, act 5, scene 2

“Give me my Romeo, and when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.” Juliet, act 3, scene 2

"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow" Juliet, act 2 scene 2

"What man art thou that, thus bescreened in night, So stumblest on my counsel?" Juliet, act 2 scene 2

Thank you!

Work done by:carriero simona D'Andria elena Fragnelli federica loparco azzurra lucchesi maria carla turnone marica