Tragic Love
An Introduction to
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
Setting
Verona, Italy
• Late 1500s
•
Characters:The Capulets
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Juliet Capulet – a lovely girl of almost fourteen
Lord and Lady Capulet – her noble parents who
are in a bitter feud with the Montagues
Count Paris – The man Juliet’s parents want her
to marry
Tybalt – her hot-tempered cousin
Nurse – the woman who has cared for Juliet
since she was born
Characters: The Montagues
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Romeo Montague – the romantic son of the
Montagues who falls in love with Juliet at first
sight
Lord and Lady Montague – Romeo’s noble
parents who feud with the Capulets
Benvolio Montague – Romeo’s cousin, a
peacemaker
Mercutio – friend of Romeo, humorous, a card
Friar Laurence – An influential Franciscan priest
Shakespeare Wrote Plays That
Were Comedies and Tragedies
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.
Examples of tragedy:
Thinking about Tragedy
What tragedies have taken place in human
history?
What television shows, movies, or books
show tragedy?
How does tragedy affect people’s lives?
Tragic Love

Romeo and Juliet is considered a tragic
love story.
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What is tragic love?

How does tragic love affect teenagers
today?
What is a Tragedy?

A narrative about serious and important
actions that end unhappily. Usually a
tragedy ends with the deaths of the main
characters. In some, the disaster this
totally innocent characters; in others the
main characters are in some ways
responsible for their downfall.
Shakespeare’s Tragic Plays Usually
Follow This Five-Part Pattern
Act I –
Act II –
Act III –
.
Act V –
Act IV –
Shakespeare’s Tragic Plays Usually
Follow This Five-Part Pattern
(Gosh, doesn’t this look like something you’d need to know for a test?!?!)
Act I – Exposition
Act II – Rising Action
Introduces setting,
characters, background, and
conflict.
Complications arise as
characters take action to
resolve problems.
Act V – Climax and
Resolution
The climax is usually the
deaths of the main
characters. The loose parts
of the plot are tied up in the
resolution.
Act III – Crisis/Turning Point
The forces of conflict come
together and the characrers
determine the direction of
the action.
Act IV – Falling Action
Events that result from
actions taken at turning
point. Lock characters
deeper into disaster and into
tragedy.
Romeo and Juliet: Summary
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A family feud
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Falling in love
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A secret marriage
Romeo and Juliet: Summary

A fight

A banishment
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A match-making father
Romeo and Juliet: Summary

A desperate plan

Some deadly gossip
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The death of Romeo and Juliet
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A lesson learned
Romeo and Juliet Today

Why do we read Romeo and Juliet
today?

How does the story connect to the lives
of teenagers today? Think locally, think
globally.
Literary Terms We’ll Study
(in addition to reviewing those we’ve already learned)
Dramatic Irony
Soliloquy
Foil
Iambic pentameter
Allusion
Tragedy
Foreshadowing
Blank verse
Aside
Couplet
Comic relief
Stanzas
Puns
Prologue
Implied Metaphors
Meter
Sonnet
Climax
Rhyme and rhyme scheme Drama
Homework
Your homework tonight is to use the
Handbook of Literary Terms beginning on
page 967 in the back of your textbook to
write the definitions for all 20 of the
literary terms on the previous slide. I
have a handout. Aren’t I nice? It is due
____________. All of these terms will
appear in some form on your final test.