Romeo and Juliet

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Shakespearean Drama Background

• Romeo and Juliet
• English I Honors

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All the Worlds a Stage

• Shakespeares Philosophy
• All the world's a stage,
• And all the men and women merely players
• They have their exits and their entrances
• And one man in his time plays many parts,
• His acts being seven ages
• -- From As You Like It

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Theatre During Shakespeares Time

• Plays were performed in public theaters.
• Wealthy playgoers sat on the benches
• Less wealthy playgoers stood in the pit
• Hazelnuts were their theater food of choice.
• The GLOBE
• Where many of Shakespeares plays were performed.
• Located in London built in 1599.
• Was reconstructed in 1997
• Held 3,000 people

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Theater Contd

• Setting and stage directions were imbedded in the
  script
• Soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
• If I profane with my unworthiest hand/this holy
  shrine, the gentle sin is this
• What, drawn, and talk of peace?
• Women did NOT perform in the theater
• Plays lasted roughly 2 hours

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About Romeo Juliet

• Wrote histories, tragedies and comedies
• It is one of Shakespeares tragedies
• A tragedy is a drama in which the central
  character meets disaster or great misfortune.
• The plot was borrowed!!!!
• Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur
  Brooke in 1562

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Theatrical Terms

• Monologue a long speech made by one actor
  usually expressing thoughts.
• Soliloquy a long speech made by an actor to the
  audience (the content is private).
• Aside the character speaks to the audience its
  unheard by the other characters

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A Distinction of Importance

• Shakespeare used two types of writing
• Blank Verse unrhymed poetry with a distinct
  meter
• Prose no rhyme or meter normal speech
• Typically
• The wealthy, important characters speak in blank
  verse
• The poor, unimportant characters speak in prose

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Academic Vocabulary

• Shakespeare is known for his wordplay.
• Oxymoron a figure of speech that combines
  contradictory terms
• the deafening silence
• the living dead
• Pun a play on words that suggests two or more
  meanings
• I work as a baker because I knead dough.
• Never invest in funerals it is a dying
  industry.

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Activity

• Part I Research puns tonight on the internet.
  Find three examples, write them down, and explain
  why each is a pun.
• Part II Shakespeare re-orders many of his words.
• John caught the ball ? in ShakespeareanThe
  ball John caught OR John the ball caught
• YOUR ASSIGNMENT Come up with three normal
  sentences and then re-word them into
  Shakespearean lingo (DUE tomorrow!)