romeo and juliet elizabethan audience
People do not marry as young as people did in the Elizabethan Era. film genres with which a modern cinema-going audience is familiar. This may be the case if the play was shown to a modern audience. The Elizabethan Era marriage laws were much different then the marriage laws today. An audience in the sixteenth century would have enjoyed Romeo and Juliet because it was humorous and the world play used by Shakespeare would have appealed to a wide audience including both men and women, groundlings and wealthy merchants. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Shakespeare cleverly didn't While Shakespeare's plays appealed to all levels of society and included familiar story lines and themes, they also expanded his audiences' vocabularies. Romeo and Juliet on the Elizabethan Stage by Leslie Thomson T NHE stage for which Shakespeare wrote, with its medieval heri- tage and physical equivalents of heaven, earth and hell, invited the integration of the visual and verbal for thematic purposes. Romeo and Juliet has been performed countless times by world-renowned theater companies and remains an audience favorite. As he is smitten by Juliet he becomes more active and assumes his role as a true tragic figure. This essay will discuss the impacts of film adaptation on Shakespeare in the literary canon, in particular the adaptations of Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968 and Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann in 1996. Choose from 500 different sets of romeo juliet drama elizabethan flashcards on Quizlet. Friar Lawrence could be an example of ambitious person. Juliet and Romeo are often seen in white. Romeo and Juliet's Wedding Invitation; Movie Poster; Marriage Laws in the Elizabethan Era. The idea of fate is paired up with the idea of freewill to form another oxymoronic theme. Romeo and Juliet was a very successful Elizabethan play performed at the Globe. TASK #2 – What are the audience’s first impressions of Romeo? The very fact of his location – Romeo has brazenly crept behind enemy lines – and his bragging that he has no fear if the Capulets ‘find him’ in their midst clearly demonstrate to the audience how Romeo’s ego is dangerously inflated by the power of love (2.2.75–78). This could also make him an antagonist and troublemaker, especially when the Capulet's are involved. There are three moments in Act 1 Scene 5 where Juliet has socked the Elizabethan audience with her advice to Romeo about how to get control over his life. At first Romeo is characterized by his self-indulgent melancholy, characteristics which would have signaled a romantic quality as well as a tragic flaw for Elizabethan audiences. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The first audiences for Romeo and Juliet would have been stunned to see three major female roles in one play (Juliet, the Nurse, Lady Capulet). Romeo & Juliet: Gifted Unit Plan Author: Christine Pekatos Type: Unit Plan Subject: Honors Literature and Composition Grade Range: 9th grade gifted students Description: Students explore drama conventions while reading William Shakespeare’s classic The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. How do you know this? ROMEO + JULIET Dir: Baz Luhrmann Certificate 12 Running time 120 mins. An Elizabethan audience would have found this funny because cupid was and still is very well known as being the god of love. Through Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare deals with the idea of love - its meaning, its causes and its impact - both positively and negatively, and its goal. Romeo does not want to fight and Shakespeare uses dramatic irony here, the audience knows, he has just married Tybalt’s cousin, Juliet, creating a sense of tension. Students will also learn the historical context of Elizabethan England and Shakespeare’s life. It is true that Romeo and Juliet offers a civic resolution to the feud, but this conclusion still leaves most audiences rather depressed by the failure of the lovers to achieve any positive awareness or personal resolution. Juliet speaks, sighing “Ay me!” and Romeo, hearing her, remains hidden, but quietly says he wishes she would speak again.Juliet sighs again, wondering aloud why Romeo has to be who he is. Romeo and Juliet is about a couple who fall in love and get married, despite their families feud which has been going on for generations. (Currie 56). But Baz Luhrmann’s first two films, Strictly Ballroom and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, blasted a path from the remote outpost of Sydney, Australia, all the way to the heart of Hollywood. By Erik Bauer. The white colour represents their beautiful, youthful and pure nature and creates a strong contrast with the people around them. In which John Green examines Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare. Audiences included servants, labourers, the wealthy and they could become quite rowdy during performances. The audience members were able to escape their daily lives and be entertained by a play which contained intriguing special effects. Growing up on […] -Elizabethan Era- -Shakespeare- - Romeo and Juliet- Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Ambition was crucial in leading to the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet. He is well known for recent box office success with The Great Gatsby, and before that, Moulin Rouge. The most recent filmed version of Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann attempts to link the language of the original play with modern-day themes such as violence in society, love in dangerous situations and the cult of personality. The actions and responses of others emphasize the division that is supposed to be between Romeo and Juliet and what makes it so moving is that we, the audience, knows what this division will bring about at the end of the play. Simple tones would emphasize that they are, in a way, like specters, the ones whose hold on life is the most tenuous. In Shakespeare's own word, the end is "glooming." They would have been shocked, and probably outraged, at the bedroom scene in III.5 (early Elizabethan plays didn't have sex at all - a girl who has clearly enjoyed herself was way off the radar). It's also one of the most adapted plays of all time—Franco Zeffirelli made it into an Oscar winning film in 1968 and the play was also adapted into a Tony Award winning musical, West Side Story (1957). But they wouldn’t expect him to go as throwing her out on the street like he does. Romeo’ which was believed to be written around 1530. Romeo and Juliet, like other Shakespeare plays, explicitly mentions rapiers as the weapons of choice.Romeo's fight with Tybalt after the death of Mercutio is a street duel at rapier point. Garrick removed many of Shakespeare's bawdy jokes and sexual references, reducing Mercutio's role and simplifying that of Juliet. Both a modern and an Elizabethan audience would, despite the knowledge of the plays outcome, be interested in the whole play and keep watching, Shakespeare uses the audiences knowledge as a dramatic device. By using the purifying symbol of water, Luhrmann elevates the lofty idealism of Romeo and Juliet’s love in a manner which would have been much appreciated by both modern and Elizabethan audiences. He lives life on the edge and is always looking for something new and exiting to do. The poorer people in the audience stood on front of the stage and the more wealthy people sat in the covered galleries above. One of these was that Juliet decides to be clever and uses Romeo’s words against him to argue and fight for the first kiss. Like most stories passed on over time, Brooke’s version of Bandello’s tale had some notable changes, such as the nurses character being developed much further and … And they would have been confused that what started … Romeo and Juliet 'Romeo and Juliet' is a play written by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan time, and illustrates the tragic destiny of two star-cross lovers, who have fallen in love with each other but sacrificed themselves due to family feud. Juliet (Romeo and Juliet) ... Publishing in Elizabethan England Shakespeare's Audience Religion in Shakespeare's England Entertainment in Elizabethan England London's First Public Playhouse Shakespeare Hits the Big Time Shakespeare's Pathos "The fact is, that Shakespeare never, whether in comedy or tragedy, ends in the pathetic key, a point to which I shall return later. The play was popular because Shakespeare wrote it; nevertheless, theatergoers returned to watch it over because of the fascinating special effects. In Elizabethan times women belonged to their fathers (or their brothers if their father died), and then to their husbands. His … David Garrick's Romeo and Juliet, staged at Drury Lane in 1748, was a much greater success. Underline words used by Romeo and Benvolio that may influence an audience’s impression. Audience's Reaction to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare is a famous writer who wrote many famous plays, probably his most famous being Romeo and Juliet. An Audience of Elizabethan times would find this strange though (the father/ master of the household letting his child make her own decision about who she is going to be wed to), and they would probably expect him to get angry like he does in act scene 5 because Juliet is defying him. Romeo And Juliet Literary Analysis 993 Words | 4 Pages. In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. Women could not own property of their own. Romeo appears in mostly blue tones or pale silvers while Juliet’s signature is pure white. Responding to his audience's taste, he kept the tear-jerking sentimentality of the lovers' final embraces. An Elizabethan audience would have seen this repetition of events as ‘fate’, because people believed very strongly in things like fate at that time. Many of the themes in ‘Romeo & Juliet’ are paired up as oxymorns. A poet named Arthur Brooks first brought the story of Romeus and Juliet to an English-speaking audience in a long and plodding poem that was itself not original, but rather an adaptation of adaptations that stretched across nearly a hundred years and two languages. She says he wishes he would “refuse [his] name.” If he won’t change his name, though, she says she would change hers if it meant they could be together. People married as young as the age of 13. Learn romeo juliet drama elizabethan with free interactive flashcards. The theatre was a popular source of entertainment in Elizabethan England. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. As Romeo and Juliet are introduced in Act 1, they appear to be young, foolish and naïve; this could create sympathy in the audience as people may believe that they are not as experienced and wise as older people and could easily be foolish when as they are in love. –What is the relationship between Romeo and Benvolio like? At the same time, the staging conditions imposed particular demands on the playwright, requirements which are accommodated, even capi- … The Elizabethan society believed that a man too much in love lost his manliness. Mercutio is comedian, always making jokes at every chance he gets. Audiences would have been familiar with his numerous references to classical mythology and literature, since these stories were staples of the Elizabethan knowledge base.