Background notes for Romeo & Juliet

English 9, Unit 7

This presentation will…

inform you about the life and work of the mysterious William Shakespeare.

provide you details about Elizabethan society and theater.

Introduce you to the characters in Romeo and Juliet

define basic terminology related to Shakespearean drama.

April 23, 1564: William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon to John and Mary Shakespeare. There is a baptismal registration for Shakespeare, but few other written records exist. He was the 3rd of 8 children.

Much of Shakespeare’s younger years remain a mystery, but there are rumors about what jobs he may have worked.

Butcher ApprenticeSchoolmaster Lawyer

1582: According to church records, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.

At the time of their marriage, William was eighteen and Anne was twenty-six.

William and Anne have three children together (Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith).

August 1596: young Hamnet died at the age of eleven. The cause of his death is unknown.

HamnetJudith

Susanna

Shakespeare left his family in 1591 to pursue writing in London.

In 1592, Shakespeare began developing a reputation as an actor and playwright.

As theatres were beginning to grow in popularity, it is probable that Shakespeare began earning a living writing plays (adapting old ones and working with others on new ones).

1594: William became involved with a company of actors named “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.” This group later (1603) changed their name to “The King’s Men”.

In 1598, Shakespeare, in collaboration with other actors, designed and built The Globe.

This circular theatre was the first of its kind, breaking away from the traditional rectangular theatres.

1612: Shakespeare moved back to Stratford where he retired both rich and famous.

1616: William Shakespeare dies on his birthday.

At the time of his death, Shakespeare is said to have written around 37 plays and 154 sonnets. He is also known to have contributed over three thousand words to the English language.

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Shakespeare is also known to have written around 884 words throughout all of his works.

Which do you prefer?

Or…..

Shakespearean Theater “The Globe”

Romeo, Romeo…Where for art thou Romeo?

Elizabethan Theatre Fun FactsThe First Elizabethan Theater: “The Wooden O”

Built in 1576, first permanent stage in London

Built by James Burbage

Shaped in form of a tavern

1599 theatre torn down, but Shakespeare’s company used it to build The Globe Theatre

Elizabethan Theatre Fun FactsThe Globe

Round/polygonal building with a roofless courtyard

No artificial light

Three stories high – upper levels were for the wealthy

The “groundlings” paid a penny a piece to stand on the floor in front of the stage (800 people)

Large platform stage

Back of platform was curtained off inner stage

Two door entrances/exits on either side of curtain

Small balcony/upper stage

Elaborate costumes but no props

Young boys played the parts of women; women weren’t allowed to be actors

Fire and Rediscovery Shakespeare’s Globe

burned down, but its foundation was discovered in 1990. It gave us many clues to the Elizabethan experience such as hazelnut shells! A replica has since been rebuilt. You can visit it and see a play today.

Actors and Actresses In Shakespeare’s time, it was considered immoral for a woman to appear onstage. So the female roles in Shakespeare’s plays were performed by young men. Queen

Elizabeth I

MarriageIn Shakespeare’s day, marriages were generally contracts set up by the parents. When Juliet’s parents arrange a marriage for her, it seems strange to us; Shakespeare’s audience would have thought it was completely normal.

Shakespeare’s 5 Part Storytelling Pattern:

Act I: Exposition

Establishes setting, characters, conflict, and

background

Act II: Rising Action

A series of complications

Act III: Crisis/Turning Point

A series of complications

Act IV: Falling Action

Results of the turning point; characters locked

into deeper disaster

Act V: Climax/Resolution/Denouement

Death of the main characters and then the loose parts of the plot are tied up

So Who’s Who Here?

Shakespeare’s plays can have LOTS of characters. Let’s try to get them straight in our minds…

First of all, all of the characters in

Romeo and Juliet are arranged around a

central conflict between two rival families: the Montagues and the

Capulets.

MONTAGUE vs. CAPULET

Romeo

Lord Montague (his dad)

Lady Montague (his mom)

Mercutio (friend)

Benvolio (cousin)

Juliet

Lord Capulet (her father)

Lady Capulet (her mother)

Tybalt (cousin)

Nurse

The Montagues

Romeo

MontagueRomeo’s Dad

Lady MontagueRomeo’s mother

MercutioRomeo’s

best friend

BenvolioRomeo’s cousin

The Capulets

juliet

CapuletJuliet’s father

TybaltJuliet’s cousin

NurseJuliet’snanny

LadyCapulet

Juliet’sMother

The Peacemakers:

The Prince of Verona:• This ruler tries to

mediate between the feuding families.

• He is pretty tired of all the bloodshed caused by their “ancient grudge.”

Friar Lawrence:• This religious leader is

respected as a holy man by both sides, and would like to see them reconciled.

• As a friar, he’s interested not only in religion, but also in medicinal herbs—which becomes important later.

And finally…

One other “character”:

The ChorusThe Chorus is not a part of the action, but a speaker who comes onstage to make comments on the action. The Chorus is kind of like a TV announcer in contemporary life—as far as the characters know, the chorus doesn’t exist, but he helps explain things to us.

Timeline

Sunday – Act One

Monday – Act Two

Tuesday – Act Three

Wednesday – Act Four

Thursday – Act Five

Activity:

Create a family tree for the Montagues and the Capulets!Make sure you write the character’s name and their relation

to Romeo or Juliet.

You can find the characters on pg. 807

Dramatic TerminologyTragedy: A narrative about serious and important actions that end unhappily, usually with the death of the main characters.

The play is broken up into acts and the acts are broken up into scenes.

Monologue: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character onstage to everyone.

Soliloquy: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character alone on stage, inaudible to other characters

Aside: A short speech given by one character, traditionally the other characters cannot hear.

Dramatic Terminology

Pun: A humorous play on words

After that poisonous snake struck at me in the Arizona

Desert I was really rattled. A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.

A carpenter must have been here. I saw dust. Energizer Bunny arrested - charged with battery.

Corduroy pillows are making headlines.

The executioner decided to drop out of Executioner School. It was just too cut throat for him.

He who farts in church sits in his own pew.

Dramatic TerminologyDramatic Foil: A pair of characters who are opposite in many ways and highlight or exaggerate each other’s differences.