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Brief Biography
Social and Historical Context
The Globe theatre
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
in Romeo and Juliet
Dramatic Terms
Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Born in April 1564 at
Stratford-on-Avon
⦿ John Shakespeare
(father)
⦿
●
tanner, glover, dealer in
grain
● town official (alderman,
and later mayor)
⦿
Mary (mother)
●
daughter of Robert Arden,
a prosperous gentlemanfarmer.
Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
⦿ Married
Anne Hathaway in 1582
⦿ Three children born: Susanna, Judith,
and Hamnet
Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
⦿
⦿
⦿
By 1590, he was an actor and playwright
Leader of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and
the King’s Men
died April 23, 1616
Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
⦿
He was buried in Stratford; the
inscription on his tombstone reads. . .
Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
“Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake, forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here;
Blest be the man that spares these stones
And curst be he that moves my bones.”
Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
⦿
⦿
⦿
⦿
Author of 37 plays and 154
sonnets
Robert Greene, a critic,
attacked Shakespeare, a mere
actor, for writing plays.
He acted before Queen
Elizabeth in 1594.
The exact year in which
William Shakespeare wrote
Romeo and Juliet is unknown,
but it is definitely one of his
earlier works, and one of only
two tragedies written in the
period from 1590 to 1595.
Historical Context
⦿ Written
during the Elizabethan era, also
known as “The Renaissance.”
⦿ This was a time of significant change in:
● Religion
● Politics
● Science
● Language
● Arts
Historical Context
⦿ Set
during a very religious period
⦿ “Catholic” society with a strong belief in
damnation for mortal sin
⦿ Shakespeare wrote this play following
The Reformation; when England
became a protestant nation, breaking
away from papal control by Henry VIII
⦿ Society become more open and less
oppressed
When in a play
⦿
⦿
⦿
Only men were
permitted to perform
Boys or effeminate
men were used to
play women
Costumes were
often the company’s
most valuable asset
The Globe Theatre
He wrote his plays to
be performed in the
Globe theatre.
⦿ The only account we
have of the Globe is
from a diary of a
Swiss doctor who
visited London and
crossed the Thames
River to see a play in
a theatre with a
thatched roof.
⦿
The Globe Theatre
⦿ It
was built in
1599 and
burned down
14 years later
in 1613.
⦿ It was an 8
sided building
with a central
yard.
Dramatis Personae
ESCALUS prince of Verona.
(PRINCE)
PARIS a young nobleman, kinsman
to the prince.
MONTAGUE ,CAPULET , heads of
two houses at variance with
each other.
An old man, cousin to Capulet.
(Second Capulet)
ROMEO son to Montague.
MERCUTIO kinsman to the prince,
and friend to Romeo.
BENVOLIO nephew to Montague,
and friend to Romeo.
TYBALT nephew to Lady Capulet.
FRIAR LAURENCE ,FRIAR JOHN ,
Franciscans.
BALTHASAR servant to Romeo.
SAMPSON ,GREGORY , servants to
Capulet.
PETER servant to Juliet's nurse.
ABRAHAM servant to Montague.
An Apothecary. (Apothecary)
Three Musicians. (First Musician)
(Second Musician) (Third
Musician)
Page to Paris; (PAGE) another
Page; an officer.
LADY MONTAGUE wife to
Montague.
LADY CAPULET wife to Capulet.
JULIET daughter to Capulet.
Nurse to Juliet. (Nurse)
Citizens of Verona; several Men
and Women, relations to both
houses; Maskers, Guards,
Watchmen, and Attendants.
(First Citizen) (Servant) (First
Servant) (Second Servant)
(First Watchman) (Second
Watchman) (Third Watchman)
Chorus.
SCENE Verona Mantua.
The Globe Theatre
⦿
Spectators’ price of
admissions was
●
one shilling - to stand
in yard around stage
(these were called the
groundlings)
● two shillings - to sit in
2nd and 3rd floor
galleries
● three shillings - to sit in
the first floor galleries
• 1 shilling was 10% of
their weekly income
• Broadway Shows
today:
• $85 Orchestra
• $60 Balcolny
• 10% of a teachers’
weekly salary??
The Globe’s Spectators
⦿ Wealthy
sat in benches
⦿ “Groundlings” (poorer people) stood and
watched from the courtyard (pit)
⦿ Much more interaction
⦿ (with audience, each other)
than today
⦿ All but the wealthy
were uneducated
and/or illiterate
Romeo and Juliet
⦿
Romeo and Juliet is as
much about hate as
love
● Although Romeo and
Juliet is considered one
of the worlds greatest
love stories, it can be
argued that the love story
is only a vehicle for the
resolution of the story
about hate, that is, the
feud between the two
families.
Romeo and Juliet
⦿
Oldest known connection is to Pyramus and Thisbe
⦿
However, the plot for R&J was based on a fourteenthcentury Italian short story, or novella, written by Matteo
Bandello, that included elements of history, tradition,
romance, and fable.
● A boy and a girl, from families who hate each other bitterly, fall in
love, but everything goes wrong for them.
⦿
Most of the play takes place in 'fair Verona' an attractive
little city in the north of Italy. The action moves quickly from
the city streets to the hall of old Capulet's house, then to the
orchard below Juliet's balcony, to Friar Lawrences' lonely
cell and finally to the vault.
⦿
The play starts on a Sunday morning in the middle of July;
less than five days later - just before dawn on the following
Thursday - it is all over.
The Globe’s Stage
●
●
●
●
●
●
1/3 of yard was filled with
6ft high platform
no curtain
no artificial lighting
back wall had at least two
doors
balcony was used for
hilltops, walls of cities, or
second story scenes
(famous balcony scene in
R&J)
trapdoors were used to
raise or lower actors and
props (ghosts)
• Performed in outdoor
theatres
• During the day –
illumination by natural
light
• No “sets” – all props
and dialogue
Themes in Romeo and
Juliet
Themes are the fundamental and often
universal ideas explored in a literary
work.
Themes in Romeo and
Juliet
1. The Forcefulness of Love
⦿ The most famous love story
in the English literary
tradition
⦿ Focus on romantic love
⦿ Love as overpowering force
● Family
● Friends
Themes in Romeo and
Juliet
2. What is love?
● Religious
● Magical
● Madness
● Chemicals in the Brain
Themes in Romeo and
Juliet
3. Love as a Cause of Violence
⦿ Hate, Violence, Death, Love?
⦿ Love is blinding. . .
Themes in Romeo and
Juliet
4. The Individual Versus Society
⦿ Romeo and Juliet against. . .
● Family
● Law
● Religion
● Honor
Themes in Romeo and
Juliet
Other Themes:
5. The Inevitability of
Fate
⦿ Straight path or
series of
crossroads?
⦿ “Star-crossed
Lovers”
⦿ Feud
⦿ Series of
Unfortunate Events
⦿ Bad Timing
Family Conflict
Civil Disorder and
Violence
Parenthood and the
Generation Gap
Youth and Old Age
Religion
Political Authority
Death and Time
Gender Roles
Appearance vs. Reality
Motifs in Romeo and Juliet
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts,
or literary devices that can help to
develop and inform the text’s major
themes.
Motifs in Romeo and Juliet
Light/Dark Imagery
⦿ Night/Day
● Night = Good/Evil?
● Day =Evil/Good?
⦿ Provides
contrast, hints at
alternatives
Motifs in Romeo and Juliet
Opposite Points of
View
⦿ Mercutio’s POV
⦿ Servants’ POV
● Nurse
● Peter
● Musicians
Other Motifs:
Death and Life Imagery
Love and Hate Imagery
Bird Imagery
Sun / Moon / Stars Imag
Hot (fire) and Cold
Illness and Health
Heaviness and Lightness
Sight and Blindness
Hearing and Deafness
Severity and Vanity
Weddingbed and
Deathbed
Symbols in Romeo and
Juliet
Symbols are objects, characters, figures,
or colors used to represent abstract
ideas or concepts.
Symbols in Romeo and
Juliet
Poison
⦿ “Virtue itself turns vice, being
misapplied, And vice, sometimes by
action dignified.”
⦿ Tendency to “poison” things
Symbols in Romeo and
Juliet
Thumb-biting
⦿ An insulting gesture
⦿ A juvenile, vulgar display
⦿ Meaningless
● Foolishness of entire
Montague/Capulet feud
● Stupidity of violence
in general
Symbols in Romeo and
Juliet
Queen Mab
⦿ Brings dreams
● Confirms vices: greed, lust,
violence.
⦿
Is total nonsense
● Fairy pulled by “grey-coated gnat”
⦿
Tiny, Insubstantial
● Just like the
dreams/desires/fantasies of people
Shakespearian Drama
Tragedy: A drama that ends in catastrophe—
most often death—for the main character and
often for several other important characters as
well
Tragic Hero: The main character, someone who
is nobly born and has great influence in his or
her society. This character has weakness or
errors in judgment (Tragic Flaws) that lead to
his or her downfall. Fate may play a role in the
course that events take.
Shakespearian Drama
Comic Relief: A humorous scene,
incident, or speech that relieves the
overall emotional intensity in the play.
Comic relief helps the audience absorb
the tragic events in the plot of a play.
Shakespearian Drama
Allusion: A brief reference, within a work,
to something outside the work that the
reader or audience is expected to know.
Many of Shakespeare’s allusions are to
mythology or the Bible.
Shakespearian Drama
Foil: A character whose personality or
attitudes are in sharp contrast to those
of another character in the same work.
This highlights the other character’s
traits
Shakespearian Drama
Soliloquy and Aside:
A Soliloquy is a speech made
by an actor alone on stage to
let the audience know what is
on that character’s mind.
An Aside is a character’s
remark to the audience or to
another character that others
on stage aren’t supposed to
hear. The purpose of an aside
is to reveal that character’s
thoughts.
Shakespearian Drama
Blank Verse: Unrhymed lines of iambic
pentameter. Shakespeare wrote all of
his plays in blank verse.
Shakespearian Drama
Example of Blank Verse
~ /
~
/
~
/ ~
/ ~
/
But soft.|What light| through yon|der win|dow breaks?
~ / ~ /
~ / ~~ / ~ /
It is| the east|, and Jul|iet is |the sun!
Opening Discussion…
1. Do you believe in love at first sight?
2. What is true love?
3. What role should parents play in the relationships
of their children?
4. What qualities do you look for in the opposite sex?
5. Are females more romantic than males, or is that a
stereotype?
6. What are some advantages and disadvantages of
being young?
7. What role does marriage play in society today?
8. Who or what controls what happens to people in
life – destiny? fate? our own characters?