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''Romeo and Juliet'' is an early Tragedy by William Shakespeare about two teenage " Star-cross'd Lovers " whose "untimely deaths" ultimately unite their Feud ing households. The play has been highly praised by literary critics for its language and dramatic effect. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with '' Hamlet '', is one of his most frequently performed plays. Romeo and Juliet are widely represented as the Archetypal young lovers. ''Romeo and Juliet'' belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to Ancient Greece. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as '' Romeus And Juliet '' by Arthur Brooke in 1562, and retold in prose in '' Palace Of Pleasure '' by William Painter in 1582. Brooke and Painter were Shakespeare's chief sources of inspiration for ''Romeo and Juliet''. He borrowed heavily from both, but developed minor characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris , in order to expand the plot. The play was probably written around 1595-6, and first published as a Quarto in 1597. The text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare's original text. Shakespeare's use of Dramatic Structure , especially his expansion of minor characters, and the use of subplots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet form over time. Characters frequently compare love and death and allude to the role of fate. Since its publication, ''Romeo and Juliet'' has been adapted numerous times in stage, film, musical and operatic forms. During the Restoration , it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant . Garrick 's 18th century version, which continued to be performed into the Victorian Era , also changed several scenes, removing material then considered indecent. Nineteenth century performers, including Charlotte Cushman , restored the original text, and focused on performing the story with greater realism. Gielgud 's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text, and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. More recent versions, including those on film, have adapted the play for a modern audience, often placing the action in a familiar context. SOURCES ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a dramatisation of , ''Endeavors of Art''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1954: 132.Gibbons, Brian. ''Romeo and Juliet''. London: Methuen, 1980. pg. 32-33. ISBN 0-416-17850-2 : Their tragic story seems to have connections with Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet''.]] Bandello's version was an adaptation of by Masuccio Salernitano , in '' Il Novellino '' (Novella XXXIII). ''Romeo and Juliet'' borrows from a tradition of tragic love stories dating back to antiquity. One of these, ''. The '' Ephisiaca '' of Xenophon Of Ephesus , written in the Third Century , also contains several similarities to the play, including the separation of the lovers, and a potion which induces a deathlike sleep. Marlowe 's '' Hero And Leander '' and '' Dido, Queen Of Carthage '', both similar stories written in Shakespeare's day, are thought to be less of a direct influence, although they may have created an atmosphere in which tragic love stories could thrive.Gibbons, pgs. 36-37 DATE AND TEXT It is unknown when exactly Shakespeare wrote ''Romeo and Juliet''. Juliet's nurse refers to an earthquake which she says occurred eleven years ago. An earthquake did occur in England in 1580, possibly dating that particular line to 1591. But the play's stylistic similarities with ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', as well as evidence of performances at the time (the play was becoming popular at around 1595), place the writing between 1595 and 1596. One widely-accepted conjecture has that Shakespeare may have begun a draft in 1591, which he completed in 1595-6.Draper, John W. "The Date of Romeo and Juliet." ''The Review of English Studies'' (Jan 1949) 25.97 pgs. 55-57Gibbons, pgs. 26-31 Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'' was published in two distinct Quarto editions prior to the publication of the First Folio of 1623. These are referred to as Q1 and Q2 . Q1, the first printed edition, appeared in 1597, printed by John Danter. Because its text contains numerous differences from the later editions, it is labelled a ' Bad Quarto '; the twentieth century editor T. J .B. Spencer described it as "a detestable text, probably a reconstruction of the play from the imperfect memories of one or two of the actors.", suggesting that it had been pirated for publication.T. J. B Spencer (ed.) The New Penguin Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet" (Penguin, London, 1967) "An account of the Text" p.284 An alternative explanation for Q1's shortcomings is that the play (like many others of the time) may have been heavily edited before performance by the playing company.Halio, Jay. Romeo and Juliet. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998. pg. 1 ISBN 0-313-30089-5 The superior Q2 called the play ''The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet''. It was printed in 1599 by Thomas Creede and published by Cuthbert Burby. Q2 is about 800 lines longer than Q1. Its title page describes it as "Newly corrected, augmented and amended". Scholars believe that Q2 was based on Shakespeare's pre-performance draft, (called his Foul Papers ), since there are textual oddities such as variable tags for characters and "false starts" for speeches that were presumably struck through by the author but erroneously preserved by the typesetter. It is a much more complete and reliable text, and was reprinted in 1609 (Q3), 1622 (Q4) and 1637 (Q5). In effect, all later Quartos and Folios of ''Romeo and Juliet'' are based on Q2, as are all modern editions since editors believe that any deviations from Q2 in the later editions (whether good or bad) are likely to arise from editors or compositors, not from Shakespeare.Jay, pg. 2 The First Folio text of 1623 was based primarily on Q3, with clarifications and corrections possibly coming from a theatrical promptbook or Q1.Gibbons, pg. 21 Other Folio editions of the play were printed in 1632 (F2), 1664 (F3), and 1685 (F4).Gibbons, ix Modern versions considering several of the Folios and Quartos began printing with Nicholas Rowe's 1709 edition, followed by Alexander Pope's 1723 version. Pope began a tradition of editing the play to add information such as stage directions missing in Q2 by locating them in Q1. This tradition continued late into the Romantic period. Fully annotated editions first appeared in the Victorian period and continue to be produced today, printing the text of the play with footnotes describing the sources and culture behind the play.Jay, pg. 8-9 CHARACTERS (here portrayed by Actor Jacob Blumenfeld)]] ]] Ruling house of Verona
Capulets
Capulet Servants
Montagues
Montague Servants
Others
SYNOPSIS ]] The play begins with a street-battle between two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The Prince of Verona , Escalus , intervenes with his men and declares that the heads of the two families will be held personally accountable for any further Breach Of The Peace . Later, Count Paris , a young nobleman, talks to Lord Capulet about marrying his thirteen-year-old daughter, Juliet . Capulet demurs, citing the girl's tender age, and invites him to attract the attention of Juliet during a Ball that the family is to hold that night. Juliet's mother tries to persuade her daughter to accept Paris' courtship during this ball; and Juliet says that although she will make an effort to love him, she will not express love that is not there. In this scene Juliet's nurse is introduced as a talkative and humorous character who has raised Juliet from infancy. Meantime, Benvolio queries his cousin Romeo , Lord Montague's son, to find out the source of his Melancholy . He discovers that it stems from an Unrequited Love for a girl named Rosaline , Capulet's niece. Upon the insistence of Benvolio and another friend, Mercutio , Romeo decides to attend the masquerade ball at the Capulet house, in hope of meeting Rosaline. Alongside his masked friends, Romeo attends the ball as planned, but falls in love with Juliet, and she with him. Despite the danger brought on by their feuding families, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet courtyard and overhears Juliet on her balcony vowing her love to him. He makes himself known to her, and the two declare their love for each other and agree to be married. With the help of the Franciscan Friar Lawrence , who hopes to reconcile the two families through their children's union, the two are married secretly the next day. All seems well until Tybalt , Juliet's hot-blooded cousin, challenges Romeo to a Duel for appearing at the Capulets' ball in disguise. Though no one is aware of the marriage yet, Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt since they are now kinsmen. Mercutio is incensed by Tybalt's insolence, and accepts the duel on Romeo's behalf. In the ensuing scuffle, Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo tries to separate them. Romeo, angered by his friend's death, pursues and slays Tybalt, then flees. ]] Despite his promise to call for the head of the wrong-doers, the Prince merely Exile s Romeo from Verona, reasoning that Tybalt first killed Mercutio, and that Romeo merely carried out a just punishment of death to Tybalt, although without Legal Authority . Juliet grieves at the news, and Lord Capulet, misinterpreting her grief, agrees to engage her to marry Paris in three days' time, threatening to disown her if she does not. The Nurse, once Juliet's confidante, now tells her she should discard the exiled Romeo and comply. Juliet desperately visits Friar Lawrence for help. He offers her a Drug which will put her into a death-like coma for forty-two hours. She is to take it, and, when discovered apparently dead, she will be laid in the family Crypt . While in her sleep, the Friar will send a messenger to inform Romeo, so that she can rejoin him when she awakes. The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo. Romeo instead learns of Juliet's "death" from his servant Balthasar. Grief-stricken, he buys Poison from an Apothecary , returns to Verona in secret, and visits the Capulet crypt. He encounters Paris, who has come to mourn Juliet privately. Paris confronts Romeo, believing him to be a vandal, and in the ensuing battle Romeo kills Paris. He then says his final words to the comatose Juliet and drinks the poison to commit Suicide . Juliet then awakes. Friar Lawrence arrives and, aware of the cause of the tragedy, begs Juliet to leave, but she refuses. At the side of Romeo's dead body, she stabs herself with her lover's dagger. The feuding families and the Prince meet at the tomb to find the three dead. In explanation, Friar Lawrence recounts the story of the two lovers. Montague reveals that his wife has died of grief after hearing of her son's exile. The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's brief Elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo." ANALYSIS ]] Dramatic structure Shakespeare shows his dramatic skill freely in ''Romeo and Juliet'', providing intense moments of shift between comedy and tragedy. Before Mercutio's death in Act three, the play is largely a comedy.Shapiro, Stephen A. " Romeo and Juliet: Reversals, Contraries, Transformations, and Ambivalence ." ''College English''. 25.7 (April 1964) pp. 498-501 doi:10.2307/373235 After his accidental demise, the play suddenly becomes very serious and takes on more of a tragic tone. Still, the fact that Romeo is banished, rather than executed, offers a hope that things will work out. When Friar Lawrence offers Juliet a plan to reunite her with Romeo the audience still has a reason to believe that all will end well. They are in a "breathless state of suspense" by the opening of the last scene in the tomb: If Romeo is delayed long enough for the Friar to arrive, he and Juliet may yet be saved.Bonnard, Georges A. " Romeo and Juliet: A Possible Significance? ." ''The Review of English Studies: New Series.'' 2.8 (October 1951) pp. 319-327 This only makes it all the more tragic when everything falls apart in the end.Halio, pgs. 20-30 Shakespeare also uses subplots to offer a clearer view of the actions of the main characters, and provide an axis around which the main plot turns. For example, when the play begins, Romeo is in love with Rosaline, who has refused all of his advances. Romeo's infatuation with her stands in obvious contrast to his later love for Juliet. This provides a comparison through which the audience can see the seriousness of Romeo and Juliet's love and marriage. Paris' love for Juliet also sets up a contrast between Juliet's feelings for him and her feelings for Romeo. The formal language she uses around Paris, as well as the way she talks about him to her Nurse, show that her feelings clearly lie with Romeo. Beyond this, the Sub-plot of the Montague-Capulet feud overarches the whole play, providing an atmosphere of hate that is the main contributor to the play's tragic end. in her dialogue.]] Language Shakespeare uses a large variety of poetic forms throughout the play. He begins with a 14-line by Juliet, a Rhapsody in Mercutio's Queen Mab speech, and an Elegy by Paris. Shakespeare saves his prose style most often for the common people in the play, though at times for other characters, such as Mercutio.Halio, pgs. 48-60 Themes and motifs Scholars have found it extremely difficult to assign one specific, over-arching Theme to the play. Proposals for a main theme include a discovery by the characters that human beings are neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but instead are more or less alike,Bowling, Lawrence Edward. " The Thematic Framework of Romeo and Juliet ." ''PMLA.'' 64.1 (Mar 1949) pp. 208-220 doi:10.2307/459678 awaking out of a dream and into reality, the danger of hasty action, or the power of tragic fate. None of these have widespread support. However, even if an overall theme cannot be found it is clear that the play is full of several small, thematic elements which intertwine in complex ways. Several of those which are most often debated by scholars are discussed below.Halio, pg. 65 Love in New York City .]] ''Romeo and Juliet'' is sometimes considered to have no unifying theme, save that of young love. In fact, the characters in it have become emblems of all who die young for their lovers. Since it is such an obvious subject of the play, several scholars have explored the language and historical context behind the romance of the play.Honegger, T. "'Wouldst thou withdraw love's faithful vow?' The negotiation of love in the orchard scene - (Romeo and Juliet Act II)" ''Journal of Historical Pragmatics''. 2006 7.1 pgs. 73-88 On their first meeting, Romeo and Juliet use a form of communication recommended by many etiquette authors in Shakespeare's day: metaphor. By using metaphors of saints and sins, Romeo can test Juliet's feelings for him in a non-threatening way. This method was recommended by Baldassare Castiglione (whose works had been translated into English by this time). He pointed out that if a man used a metaphor as an invitation, the woman could pretend she did not understand the man, and the man could take the hint and back away without losing his honour. Juliet, however, makes it clear that she is interested in Romeo by playing along with his metaphor. Later, in the balcony scene, Shakespeare has Romeo overhear Juliet's declaration of love for him. In Brooke's version of the story, her declaration is done in her bedroom, alone. By bringing Romeo into the scene to eavesdrop, Shakespeare breaks from the normal sequence of courtship. Usually, a woman was required to play hard to get, to be sure that her suitor was sincere. Breaking this rule, however, serves to speed along the plot. The lovers are able to skip a lengthy part of wooing, and move on to plain talk about their relationship—developing into an agreement to be married after knowing each other for only one night. In the final suicide scene, there is a contradiction in the message - in Christianity, suiciders are condemned to hell, whereas people who die to be with their loves under the " Religion Of Love " are joined with their loves in paradise. Romeo and Juliet's love seems to be expressing the "Religion of Love" view rather than the Christian view. Another point is that although their love is passionate, it is only consummated in marriage, which prevents them from losing the audience's sympathy.Siegel, Paul N. "Christianity and the Religion of Love in Romeo and Juliet." ''Shakespeare Quarterly''. 12.4 (Autumn 1961) pp. 371-392 doi:10.2307/2867455 The play arguably equates love and sex with death. Throughout the story, both Romeo and Juliet, along with the other characters, fantasize about It As A Dark Being , often equating him with a lover. Capulet, for example, when he first discovers Juliet's (faked) death, describes it as having Deflowered his daughter.II.v.38-42 Juliet later even compares Romeo to death in an erotic way. One of the strongest examples of this in the play is in Juliet's suicide, when she says, grabbing Romeo's dagger, "O happy dagger! / ...This is thy sheath / there rust, and let me die." The dagger here can be a sort of Phallus of Romeo, with Juliet being its sheath in death, a strong sexual symbol.C. G., MacKenzie. "Love, sex and death in 'Romeo and Juliet'." ''English Studies'' (February 2007) 88.1 pgs. 22-42 Fate and chance Scholars are divided on the role of fate in the play. No consensus exists on whether the characters are truly fated to die together no matter what, or whether the events take place by a series of unlucky chances. Arguments in favour of fate often refer to the description of the lovers as "star-cross'd".''Romeo and Juliet'', Prologue This phrase seems to hint that the stars have predetermined the lovers' future.Evans, Bertrand. "The Brevity of Friar Laurence." ''PMLA'' 65.5 (September 1950): 841-865. Another scholar of the fate persuasion, Draper, points out the parallels between the Elizabethan belief in , identity and commitments. He makes the choice to kill, not because of a Tragic Flaw , but because of circumstance. Light and dark Scholars have long noted Shakespeare's widespread use of light and dark . For example, Romeo and Juliet's love is a light in the midst of the darkness of the hate around them, but all of their activity together is done in night and darkness, while all of the feuding is done in broad daylight. This paradox of imagery adds atmosphere to the Moral Dilemma facing the two lovers: loyalty to family or loyalty to love. At the end of the story, when the morning is gloomy and the sun hiding its face for sorrow, light and dark have returned to their proper places, the outward darkness reflecting the true, inner darkness of the family feud out of sorrow for the lovers. All characters now recognize their folly in light of recent events, and things return to the natural order, thanks to the love of Romeo and Juliet. The "light" theme in the play is also heavily connected to the theme of time, since light was a convenient way for Shakespeare to express the passage of time through descriptions of the sun, moon, and stars. Time Time plays an important role in the language and plot of the play. Both Romeo and Juliet struggle to maintain as imaginary world void of time in the face of the harsh realities that surround them. For instance, when Romeo attempts to swear his love to Juliet by the moon, Juliet tells him not to, as it is known to be inconstant over time, and she does not desire this of him. From the very beginning, the lovers are designated as "star-cross'd"Prologue referring to an Astrologic belief which is heavily connected to time. Stars were thought to control the fates of men, and as time passed, stars would move along their course in the sky, also charting the course of human lives below. Romeo speaks of a foreboding he feels in the stars movements' early in the play, and when he learns of Juliet's death, he defies the stars' course for him.Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare's Tragic Sequence. New York: Routledge, 2005. pgs. 34-41. ISBN 0415353254 A "haste theme" can be considered as fundamental to the play.Tanselle, G. Thomas. " Time in Romeo and Juliet ." ''Shakespeare Quarterly.'' 15.4 (Autumn 1964) pp. 349-361 doi:10.2307/2868092 For example, the action of ''Romeo and Juliet'' spans a period of four to six days, in contrast to Brooke's poem's spanning nine months. Scholars such as Tanselle believe that time was "especially important to Shakespeare" in this play, as he used references to "short-time" for the young lovers as opposed to references to "long-time" for the "older generation" to highlight "a headlong rush towards doom". Romeo and Juliet fight time to make their love to last forever. In the end, the only way they see to defeat time is through a noteworthy death which makes them immortal through art.Lucking, D. "Uncomfortable time in Romeo and Juliet." ''English Studies.'' (April 2001) 82.2 pgs. 115-26. ISSN: 0013-838X Time is heavily connected to the theme of light and dark as well. The play is said in the Prologue to be about two hours long, creating a problem for any playwright wishing to express longer amounts of time. In Shakespeare's day, plays were often performed at noon in broad daylight. This forced the playwright to use words to create the illusion of day and night in his plays. Shakespeare uses references to the night and day, the stars, the moon, and the sun to create this illusion. He also has characters frequently refer to days of the week and specific hours to help the audience understand that time has passed in the story. All in all, no fewer than 103 references to time are found in the play, adding to this illusion of its passage.Halio, pgs. 55-58Driver, Tom F. "The Shakespearian Clock: Time and the Vision of Reality in Romeo and Juliet and the Tempest." ''Shakespeare Quarterly.'' (October 1964) 15.4 pgs. 363-370 Other approaches Psychoanalytic Psychoanalytic Critics focus largely on Romeo's relationships with Rosaline and Juliet, as well as the looming image of inevitable death. ''Romeo and Juliet'' is not considered to be extremely psychologically complex, and sympathetic psychoanalytic readings of the play make the tragic male experience equivalent with sicknesses.Appelbaum, Robert. "'Standing to the Wall': The Pressures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet" ''Shakespeare Quarterly.'' 48.3 (Autumn, 1997) pp. 251-272 The first line of criticism argues that Shakespeare is in love with Rosaline and Juliet because she is the all-present, all-powerful mother which fills a void. According to this theory, this void was caused by the negligence of his mother. Another theory argues that the feud between the families provides a source of phallic expression for the male Capulets and Montagues. This sets up a system where patriarchal order is in power. When the sons are married, rather than focusing on the wife, they are still owed an obligation to their father through the feud. This conflict between obligation to the father (the family name) and the wife (the feminine), determines the course of the play. Some critics argue this hatred is the sole cause of Romeo and Juliet's passion for each other. The fear of death and the knowledge of the danger of their relationship is in this view channelled into a romantic passion.Halio, pgs. 81-87 Feminist from a more Historicist angle. They take into account the fact that the play is written during a time when the patriarchal order was being challenged by several forces, most notably the rise of Puritanism . When Juliet dodges her father's attempt to force her to marry a man she has no feeling for, she is successfully challenging the patriarchal order in a way that would not have been possible at an earlier time.Halio, pg. 87-92 Gender studies Press (1994), 221-227. ISBN 0-8223-1385-5 INFLUENCES ''Romeo and Juliet'' has had a strong influence on subsequent literature. For example, until this play romance had not been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy.Levenson, Jill L (2000) (ed.). Introduction. ''Romeo and Juliet''. William Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 49–50. ISBN 0192814966. The play directly influenced several .Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare's Tragic Sequence. New York: Routledge, 2005. pgs. 352-362. ISBN 052145526X. |
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