The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

1
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

• And the life and times of William Shakespeare,
  the man behind the tragedy

2
Romeo and Juliet are two crazy kids in love. They
are about 14 years old, and both are from very
wealthy families in the town of Verona, Italy.
Juliets balcony probably not, but Verona says
so!
3
PROLOGUE from ROMEO AND JULIET Chorus Two
households, both alike in dignity, In fair
Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient
grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood
makes civil hands unclean. From forth the
fatal loins of these two foes A pair of
star-cross'd lovers take their life Whose
misadventured piteous overthrows Do with
their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could
remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our
stage The which if you with patient ears
attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall
strive to mend.
4
The prologue was designed to tell people the
basic plot of the story before they ever saw the
play. They did this because many people were
illiterate and not extremely smart, so
Shakespeare told the plot in the prologue, told
the plot though the play, then told it again in
the epilogue. You read the Prologue as a piece
of poetry Two houses both alike in dignity In
fair Verona, where we lay our scene
5
With a partner, read the prologue and try to
translate it into more modern language. What do
you think it means?
6
CHARACTERS IN ROMEO AND JULIET
7
Characters in ROMEO AND JULIET Romeo - of the
house of Montague Juliet - of the house of
Capulet Nurse - the woman who raised Juliet
(mothers werent that involved during
Shakespeares time!) Tybalt - Juliets
bad-tempered cousin Benvolio - Romeos best
friend Mercutio - Romeos witty friend Friar
Laurence - a priest who is good with medicines
8
HISTORY AND ROMEO AND JULIET
9
SHAKESPEARE RANDOM FACTS William Shakespeare was
born on April 23 and died on April 23, evidence
indicates. . In his will, Shakespeare left
his wife his "second-best" bed. .
Shakespeare's name may have meant "Shaker of
Spears," indicating warrior ancestry . Boys
and men played all the parts in Shakespeare's
plays in Elizabethan times. . Shakespeare
was said to have enjoyed playing the part of the
ghost in Hamlet. . Actors performing in
Shakespeare's time usually received only copies
of their parts, not entire plays. .
Shakespeare was 17 or 18 when he married. His
wife, Anne Hathaway, was 26. . The Globe
Theatre burned down in 1613 after a canon was
fired to announce the entrance of King Henry
VIII. The canon fire ignited the thatched roof.
The Globe was rebuilt soon thereafter but torn
down in 1644 in response to Puritan zealotry
against theatre performances. . Shakespeare
and other writers of his time probably did most
of their writing during the day to avoid paying
for the expensive candles required for nighttime
writing. .
10
THE OLD GLOBE THEATRE
11
SHAKESPEARE IN THE THEATRE
12
SHAKESPEARES AUDIENCE