...Analysis of the Function of Speed in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is an avalanche. As a loose pebble in the snowcapped mountain wobbles in the wind, Romeo yodels to Juliet in the cliffs just to send it tumbling, lightly, down a vertical abyss. It does not end there, of course, for this pebble held back the rocks and boulders constituting the height of the peak, and the reaction now begins as each individual stone rolls with momentum. They pick up speed and snow, growing in velocity and size until the inevitable occurs and Romeo and Juliet are engulfed in the upheaval and finished forever. William Shakespeare’s version of the play Romeo and Juliet, taken from Arthur Brooke’s play similarly titled Romeus and Juliet, is a fast paced tragedy in which a boy and girl from two feuding families meet, fall in love, bond in matrimony, and commit suicide in a matter of four days. Compared to the nine-month romance that takes place in Brooke’s play, Shakespeare’s version is a consciously hastened piece of work during which the most significant parts of a young couple’s lives begin and end in less than one week. Speed, a well-utilized literary tool in Shakespeare’s play, serves to emphasize emotion, as opposed to reason, in the characters’ decisions. Through this device, Shakespeare demonstrates his skills as a playwright by showing control of time in the play. Perhaps the most well known episode in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the balcony scene is a prime example...
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...Both are going to get a tattoo and believe it is the right choice. Who is the adult and who is the teenager? While William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet suggests that teenagers in the 1600s made impulsive decisions, many teenagers today still struggle with that issue. Shakespeare’s...
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...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO AND JULIET By ARTHEA J.S. REED, PH.D. S E R I E S W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., E D I T O R S : UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is an excellent introduction to Shakespearean drama; teenagers can relate to its plot, characters, and themes. The play’s action is easily understood, the character’s motives are clear, and many of the themes are as current today as they were in Shakespeare’s time. Therefore, it can be read on a variety of levels, allowing all students to enjoy it. Less able readers can experience the swash-buckling action and investigate the themes of parent-child conflict, sexuality, friendship, and suicide. Because of the play’s accessibility to teenagers, able readers can view the play from a more literary perspective, examining the themes of hostility ad its effect on the innocent, the use of deception and its consequences, and the effects of faulty decision making. They can study how the characters function within the drama and how Shakespeare uses language to develop plot, characters, and themes. The most able students can develop skills involved in literary criticism by delving into the play’s comic and tragic elements and its classically...
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...How does Fate play a role in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Change Slide: What is fate? Fate is the idea that the future is already planned even if people do not know what is going to happen to them. I’m going to talk about Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare's, one of the greatest love stories of all time. This story has been known to be timeless even though it was written around 1595. This play is a story of forbidden love that is resolved in two tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, who come from feuding families. Their ignorance of defy and falling in love is not accepted by their families. For the five short days they share love, many events take place. All of the events surround characters from both the Montague and Capulet families. The powers and affects of love and hate are also very evident between the two families throughout the play. In the end, Romeo and Juliet's love finds a tragic way to overcome the hate between their families. The story mainly revolves around Juliet while she grows up and falls in love, only to have fate keep her from complete happiness. Change Slide: Juliet is the beautiful, courageous young daughter of Capulet, a rich man in Verona. Shakespeare made her character a mere thirteen years old, but she acts very mature compared to her age. She appears to be practical, honest, and loyal to herself and her family. The play is about how she discovers and loses love. She appears to have thought very little about love and marriage...
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...Post-modernism in Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet: a comparison of two creative works from two different periods. In 1996, Baz Luhrmann directed “Romeo + Juliet”, a modern twist on the famous tragedy play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare in 1597, in which the main characters Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet where portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. While some praise the strange interpretation of the old tale, there are also those who condemn the rendition as destructive and disrespectful to the great work of Shakespeare. There will always be two sides to every story and this study will take that into consideration as well as comparing the two different yet similar works to see how post modernism has played a role in Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet. Postmodernism has been given many definitions. Some say it’s simply the outlook that the generation of late twenty first century has on life which entails the mistrust and dismissal of theories that existed before such as religion, ethics and law. According to these youths, the difference between right and wrong or what the meaning of life is based solely on that individual’s perspective. In film, the idea of postmodernism is somewhat similar as it’s an artist medium in which to undermine social norms and present one’s individual belief. The difference lies in that postmodernism in film concerns bringing in many aspects of popular culture to produce something...
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...happening in one’s life. The idea of a relationship like this is shown in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Romeo always goes to Friar Lawrence for confession and the Friar will help Romeo with the problems he is facing. Shakespeare shows this kind and helpful relationship through metaphors, foreshadowing, and personification. The friendly nature of Romeo and Friar Lawrence’s relationship was captured by Shakespeare through metaphors. The Friar says, “Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies, not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. (2.2.68-70). The Friar is asking Romeo how he moved on from Rosaline so quickly, saying young men must love with their eyes and not with their hearts. This shows how the Friar is being protective to Romeo because, the Friar wants to be sure that Romeo is not making a rash decision to marry Juliet after only...
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...Maturity comes with age not with love. In William Shakespeare’s classic play Romeo and Juliet two young teenagers fall in love. A series of circumstances quickly lead to rash decisions and the lovers are dealt difficult decisions. The outcome of these decisions show the level of Romeo and Juliet’s maturity. In this story they take maturity to a whole other level. Romeo’s immaturity is shown from the beginning of the play when his love is so strong for Rosaline, yet within four scenes he is in love with someone new. Spotting Juliet, his love is instantly transitioned to her. “Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear/ So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.” (I.5.46-47) While alone they talked...
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...Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare Pre-reading 1. Vocabulary: Match word and definition. Words that may come in handy. Match the words in the left column with the explanations in the right column, and write the word over the definition. imagery | Word: Simile a comparison using “like” or “as” | soliloquy | Word: Run-on lines which the sense runs from one line to the next; lines which are not end-stopped. | blank verse | Word: Assonance the repetition of vowel sounds | tragic flaw | Word: Imagery language that produces pictures in the imaginations of people reading or listening | scene | Word: Blank verse unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter | personification | Word: Dramatic irony difference between the situation as known to the audience and as supposed by some or all the characters of the play | stage | Word: Rhyming couplet two lines of verse of equal length that rhyme one after the other | assonance | Word: Dialogue verbal exchange between two or more characters on the stage | antithesis | Word: Iambic Pentameter a ten syllable line of verse with five stresses: di dum, di dum, di dum, di dum, di dum | metaphor | ...
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...presence of Carnivalesque is an important factor for understanding the production “Romeo + Juliet” by Baz Luhrmann. The Carnivalism concept was devised by Mikhail Bakhtin, who said it embodied life taking form of a typical carnival. It is essentially the way things can be obscured in life, or rather what is normal in life being turned inside out (Welsh, 152), which can easily be applied to Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Without the elements of Carnival, it is likely this love story would have never been possible. Due to the overwhelming amount of Carnivalism in this film, many perceive it as though the true nature of Shakespeare’s tragedy has been lost in its exuberant elements and that “the film’s spectacle constantly overpowers and overwhelms the poetry” (Welsh, 152). Despite this common belief, Luhrmann was brilliant to use Bakhtin’s ideas to enhance the hidden undertones that were present in Shakespeare’s play. Carnivalism makes “the world of this film perverse and confused... The lines are often right, but the context is most peculiar” (Welsh, 153) so that we are no longer able to...
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...In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Romeo ostensibly are to blame for the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. All three come into this context more than other character’s because they started everything from the beginning. Without Romeo and Juliet falling in love so quickly and then wanting to get married so early, none of the conflict would have happened. The Friar, on the other half, was middling with this idea and did not think to put an end to it. Juliet, Friar Lawrence and Romeo all are selfish and caused the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because Juliet had ended up trying everything just because she did not want to leave her lavish lifestyle, Friar Lawrence had only married the two in order to reconcile the...
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...‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic love story written by William Shakespeare about two young star crossed lovers who live in Verona, Italy in the Middle Ages. One of the most important issues that these young loves come across quite often is that of choice. The real question is whether the characters have the ability to choose what they do or is it fate that decides it for them. The chorus introduces in the opening prologue that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed” and “death-marked”, and by stating this, Shakespeare gives us the climax of the play right away. In Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, it is not fate, but desperate and impulsive actions that bring about the downfall and the unfortunate ending of both Romeo and Juliet. In the Victorian Era, fate was known as the continuance of events that are out of human control, and determined by a supernatural power. By no means was the demise of Romeo and Juliet out their control. It happened because of the choices they themselves make....
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...Mindi Warren Mrs Capps Period 6 22, April 2015 The Terrible Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet When people meet tragedy in life, they can react in two ways; either by losing hope and falling into self destructive habits or by using the challenge they face to find their inner strength and willpower. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet , by Shakespeare, the main characters face many trials to test their willpower. During these many trials, they make numerous mistakes due to the lack of guidance, which might also be due to their adolescence. Romeo and Juliet fits the qualifications of a tragedy by the presence of a fatal flaw in the character, fatal predestination, and the responsibility for their own misfortune. Many fatal flaws are present in Shakespeare’s...
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...Through the characters of Romeo and Juliet explain how hasty decisions or actions result in the final tragedy of the p/lay.” In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, multiple characters demonstrate recklessness and make hasty decisions which ultimately caused the death of the protagonist, therefore resulting in the final tragedy of the play. Such actions and decisions were shown on three accounts throughout the play for example at the Capulet’s party, on Juliet’s balcony and Tybalt’s death. To begin, already during Act I, Romeo not only agrees with the decision of breaking into the Capulet’s party, but also falls in love with Juliet in a very short time, and this directly contributes to their downfall. Romeo said “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (I.v.51-52) He knows nothing about this young girl yet he has already fallen in love with her without thinking twice. To make matters worse, Romeo has completely forgot about his previous love, Rosaline, whom he was in love with just days prior to the party. Falling for Juliet so quickly and without thought was an impetuous and rash decision made by Romeo. Furthermore, during the balcony scene, Juliet also becomes responsible for the tragedy which is about to happen; in fact, after declaring her love to Romeo, she made the decision to marry him, and this marriage will become another main cause of their death. Juliet confessed her love by saying “Romeo, doff thy name, and for...
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...Who or what is to blame for the tragic outcome of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet? In the tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, a play written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, many new themes, concepts and ideas are explored, that range from questioning the basis of society right to the concepts of fate, love and death, and addresses everything in between. They play gravitates around a central, tragic plot—starts as simple as boy meets girl, but little do they know the one cajoling a kiss from the other is the youth of their family’s greatest adversary, and this reluctance to let go leads on to a sequential chain of ill-fated events. As much as the tragedy covers many new ideas, it also leaves room for many unanswered questions. One of which...
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...Story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is know all over the world for being one of the most famous love stories. The play teaches us about forbidden love and young death. Romeo and Juliet's unforgettable story of love and loss is the inspiration for many well know songs. The play and these songs relate to each other in many ways. Check Yes Juliet written and performed by We The Kings has almost direct relation to Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". Romeo and Juliet are teenagers who come from two of the richest families in Verona, Italy (Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet) . Their families are enemies and this causes trouble for the two young lovers. In the popular song Check Yes Juliet the singer's lover is off...
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