The Italian Setting of Romeo and Juliet

1
The Italian Setting of Romeo and Juliet

• Italian sources
• Italian location
• Italian practices
• Feuding
• Duelling
• Petrarchism

2
Sources

• Luigi da Porto, Historia novellamente ritrovata
  di due nobili amanti (1530)
• Arthur Brooke
• William Painter

3
Conventional Views of Italy

•     A violent Italy
• Fierce family feuds
• Hatred leading to death and destruction
•         A display of ingenious devices in order
  for lovers to secure their love
•         Stereotyped Italian characters
• o      Romeo, the hot Italian lover, passing from
  one affair to the other
• o      Tybalt, the trouble-maker
• o      The meddling friar
• o      The authoritarian but wise Prince
•         Unconventional female behaviour
•   Idealized love in the Petrarchan tradition