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Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare, British, 1564-1616
Romeo and Juliet, 1957
Central Character: Romeo Montague, the only son of a family who has an ancient feud with the Capulet family. He is strong-willed and persistent. Juliet Capulet is the only daughter of the Capulets. She is very childish and very inexperienced.
Other Characters: Montagues, Capulets, Nurse, Tybalt, Mercutio, Friar Lawrence, Benvolio, Paris, and apothecary.
Scene: The city of Verona during late 1500's, two families are in a feud.
Major Dramatic Question: Will Romeo and Juliet let the feud between their families get in the way of their true love for each other?
Events in Summary: 1) The fight between the Montagues and Capulets is explained. 2) Romeo is upset because Rosaline doesn't love him. 3) The Capulets are having a party. 4) Romeo goes to the party disguised. 5) Romeo sees Juliet; they kiss and decide they love each other. 6) Romeo continues to see Juliet in secret. 7) Romeo and Juliet get married secretly. 8) Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt get into a fight. 9) Tybalt kills Mercutio, and Romeo kills Tybalt (Juliet's cousin). 10) Romeo is banished from Verona. 11) Juliet's father says Juliet will marry Paris. 12) Friar Lawrence has a plan to give Juliet a sleeping potion to make her look dead so she can run away with Romeo. 13) A letter is written to Romeo explaining the plan, but it never gets to him. 14) Romeo sees Juliet "dead" and poisons himself. 15) Juliet wakes up and sees Romeo dead; she kills herself with his dagger. 16) The two families end their feud.
Language: Romeo and Juliet is written in Shakespeare's characteristic Elizabethan English. Thee and thou are used in place of our modern you and your; art is used for are, etc… "Wilt thou not, Jule?" the nurse says. "Wherefore art thou?" is another line Juliet says. The language is almost poetic. There are many lines with a rhythmic pattern (iambic pentameter) and there are also rhyme schemes. "For never was a story of more woe, Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
Theme: There are many themes in Romeo and Juliet. The most prominent one is "love conquers all" as demonstrated by Romeo and Juliet's determination to be with each other even though their families despised one another. They even went as far as suicide. There is also a theme of revenge and dedication as demonstrated through the brawl between Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo. Tybalt was getting revenge on Mercutio for whatever reason the Montagues and Capulets hated each other, and Romeo killed Tybalt out of dedication for his family and revenge for Mercutio's death.
Evaluation: One good thing was that Shakespeare developed dynamic characters extremely well. Juliet started off as a childish girl and went through a complete evolution to become a knowledgeable woman. Romeo also went from an extremely depressed state to one of complete satisfaction with Juliet. Another good thing was that the ending of the play was very dramatic and effective. The suicides of Romeo and Juliet made it very intense and can really impact the audience and reinforce a theme of love and determination.