Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

A tragedy of love, fate and feuding families that continues to captivate audiences with its timeless exploration of passion, conflict and sacrifice.

CHORUS Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-marked love And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage— The which, if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-marked love And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage

The which, if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

How does Shakespeare use symbols in the Prologue to set the tone?

"Star-crossed lovers " : Symbolises doomed fate controlled by celestial force beyond human control. It implies their love is doomed by cosmic forces beyond their control, emphasising the inevitability of tragedy. The stars—traditionally associated with fate in Elizabethan England—work against them, suggesting that no amount of human effort can alter predetermined destiny.

"Ancient grudge": Represents the family feud that creates the hostile backdrop for tragedy.

"Death-marked love": Foreshadows the inevitable tragic ending from the very beginning.

Critical thinking

1. Do you believe in love at first sight? 2. Have you ever felt your heart skip a beat for because of an intense attraction for a person? 3. Do you think that love at first sight is real love or just physical attraction?

Romeo: Oh, essa insegna alle fiaccole a brillare! Sembra che essa penda sulle guance della notte, come un ricco gioiello dall'orecchio di una Etiope; bellezza di un valore troppo grande perché se ne possa usare, troppo preziosa per la terra! Tale appare una nivea colomba in mezzo a un branco di corvi, quale si mostra quella giovinetta in mezzo alle sue compagne. Finito questo ballo, spierò dove si mette, e procurerò alla mia rozza mano la felicità di toccare la sua. Il mio cuore ha egli amato prima d'ora? Smentitelo, occhi miei! poiché io non avevo mai veduta, fino a questa notte, la vera bellezza.

The form of Shakespearean sonnets Shakespeare’s sonnets are composed of 14 lines, and most are divided into three quatrains and a final, concluding couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. This sonnet form and rhyme scheme is known as the ‘English’ sonnet. It first appeared in the poetry of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/17–1547), who translated Italian sonnets into English as well as composing his own. Many later Renaissance English writers used this sonnet form, and Shakespeare did so particularly inventively. His sonnets vary its configurations and effects repeatedly. Shakespearean sonnets use the alternate rhymes of each quatrain to create powerful oppositions between different lines and different sections, or to develop a sense of progression across the poem. The final couplet can either provide a decisive, epigrammatic conclusion to the narrative or argument of the rest of the sonnet, or subvert it. https://www.bl.uk/works/shakespeares-sonnets

Romeo (a Giulietta) : Se io profano con la mia mano indegna questa sacra reliquia (è questo il peccato dei pii), le mie labbra, arrossenti pellegrini, sono pronte a render più molle, con un tenero bacio, il ruvido tocco. Giulietta: Buon pellegrino, voi fate troppo torto alla vostra mano, che ha mostrato in ciò la devozione che si conviene: poiché i santi stessi hanno mani, che le mani dei pellegrini possono toccare, e il giunger palma a palma è il bacio dei pii palmieri. Romeo: I santi non hanno essi labbra, ed i pii palmieri anche? Giulietta: Sì, o pellegrino, labbra che essi debbono usare nella preghiera. Romeo: Oh! allora, cara santa, lascia che le labbra facciano ciò che fanno le mani; esse ti pregano, tu le esaudisci, per timore che la fede non si cambi in disperazione. Giulietta: I santi non si muovono, ancorché esaudiscano le altrui preghiere. Romeo: Allora non muoverti, intanto che io raccolgo il frutto della mia preghiera. Ecco, le tue labbra hanno purgato le mie del loro peccato. (La bacia) Giulietta: Allora è rimasto sulle mie labbra il peccato che esse hanno tolto alle vostre.