Category: Romeo And Juliet

Introduction: Baz Luhrmann’s Take on “Romeo and Juliet”

“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”Romeo and Juliet as stated by the Prince in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. While this final line is said by the Prince in Shakespeare’s play, the line is given to the anchorwoman in Baz Luhrmann’s film rendition of the said play (Romeo + Juliet), in which she acts as the “Chorus” of Shakespeare’s play. Although the film and play have overlapping similarities, Luhrmann takes Shakespeare’s play and changes it to better suit the modern adaptation of the film.

Similarities between Luhrmann’s Film and Shakespeare’s Original Play

Comparing Luhrmann’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet to Shakespeare’s play was a difficult task, as I found a lot more differences than similarities. Given that Luhrmann intended to make a fresh and modern take on Romeo and Juliet, unlike its predecessors, this was forgiven. Before going deep into the contrasting factors of the play and film, I would like to address the similarities. Looking back on the runtime of Luhrmann’s film, the film runtime is slightly over two hours, which is likely a subtle reference to the line from the Prologue in which the play “is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage”. However, this depends on whether the credits and the long clip for 20th Century Fox count as apart of the runtime, for the play only accounts for the time in which the Prologue starts, to the end of the Prince’s dialogue regarding the deaths of the two main characters.

This is a topic best left open for personal interpretation. As for addressing the elephant in the room, one of the most obvious similarities is that the film retains the same dialogue from the play, mostly word for word, with the exception of a few lines added for effect. Iambic Pentameter also included. It did feel a bit odd, as the film was set in the most stereotypical gang war setting possible, while the dialogue was strictly Shakespearean. What I noticed was that one of the most important parts of the play that could not be changed for the film was Friar Laurence’s disastrous plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet together.

This likely was because the result of his plan was what caused the depressing ending. Balthasar telling Romeo about Juliet’s death and Romeo’s reaction were two of the few consistent scenes carried over to the film, mainly because they contained the same dialogue for clarity. The only thing that did change was that the play never addressed how Balthasar found out about her death. However, the film shows that Balthasar briefly attended Juliet’s funeral, which is how he found out about her death.

Modern Elements in Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet”

Looking at the overview of the film, it’s clear that Luhrmann’s modernized adaptation of Shakespeare’s play was forced to change elements of the play in order to suit the tone of the film. One of the biggest changes was the modern setting of the film compared to the play. In order to fulfill this, certain scenes and bits of dialogue were completely cut from the film. Among the scenes cut from the film was the discovery. Luhrmann’s film takes place in Verona Beach, while the play is set in Verona, Italy. This was likely changed because Luhrmann wanted to dissociate the film from the play as much as possible while still retaining the same plot. Another one of the most notable changes is the use of guns.

Conclusion: Adapting Shakespeare for Modern Audiences

The usage of guns made this version of Romeo and Juliet one of the first contemporary adaptations of the play. Ironically enough, the names of the guns used in the film are kinds of swords, purposely named to avoid changing the dialogue as much as possible. Regarding the party at the Capulet mansion, props to Luhrmann for making this one of the cheesiest (and personally terrifying) scenes from the film.

In my opinion, it scarred me for life because of the sudden flashes of light worthy enough to give one a photosensitive epileptic seizure and the odd growling noises coming from Fulgencio Capulet and Tybalt during Romeo’s dizzy spell. Luhrmann completely lifted the intended formality written into the play and turned it into a Las Vegas-esque party. The way Romeo meets Juliet at the party is also changed. Rather than meeting during the dance first, Romeo sees Juliet on the other side of the aquarium tank in the restroom.

Works Cited

1. Luhrmann, Baz, director. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Twentieth Century Fox, 1 Nov. 1996.
2. Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet.

The Gender Divide in “Romeo and Juliet”

“The Feminist Approach in Romeo and Juliet” states, “Men control everything in a woman’s life, and women have little or no say in big decisions in their lives. Women who think for themselves are often punished by fate, usually with death.” In Shakespearean times, this was accurate. Juliet, however, was a character that defied these stereotypical gender roles and rebelled against the patriarchy. Whether Shakespeare deliberately used symbolism to display Juliet’s feminism or not is still up for debate, but subtle indications can be found all throughout the play proving Juliet to be androgynous.

In this time period, the idea of a woman having any sort of power was unacceptable, so it is arguable that Shakespeare felt the need to portray his opinions on feminism throughout his plays. While there is a large divide between feminine and masculine assets in the play, Juliet’s character actively switches gender roles, acting as Shakespeare’s platform. In reference to the quote above, Juliet’s rebellion against the patriarchy could have been a factor in her death. Shakespeare uses symbolism to demonstrate Juliet’s feminist rebellion because it was not a socially acceptable topic in his time, creating a subtle tone that can potentially influence today’s feminists.

Symbolism of Masculinity and Femininity

In Shakespearean times, certain objects or phrases were associated with femininity and masculinity but are occasionally still used to this day. For example, the medlar fruit is a term that is used in comparison to a woman, determined purely by the way it looks. On page 77, Mercutio states, “Now he’ll sit under a medlar tree and wish his mistress were one of those fruits that look like female genitalia” (Shakespeare). In addition to the medlar fruit, some other terms that collaborate with femininity include poison (considered to be a woman’s way of killing), and flowers, such as roses.

On page 109, the text states, “‘ Pink flower’ suggests the female genitalia” (Shakespeare). As for masculinity, the term “Popperin pear” was commonly used by men, referring to having sex with a woman. Again, on page 77, Mercutio remarks, “Oh Romeo, I wish she were an open-arse, and you a Popperin pear to ‘pop her in,’” showing how Mercutio wants to take Rosaline’s virginity, once again referring to the female genitalia (Shakespeare). Another object that is portrayed through a masculine lens is a knife/sword.

Only men owned one, and it was also seen as a “man’s way of killing.” On page 7, Sampson compares his sword to his penis, saying, “I have my naked sword out” (Shakespeare). Taking this into consideration, it could be said that a man’s sword, symbolizing his penis, takes the life of a woman when he takes her virginity. These terms/objects project a big divide between femininity and masculinity, making an impact on the gender roles in the play.

Greek Mythology and Gender Roles

Furthermore, Greek mythology was a large part of the culture in the time period of Romeo and Juliet, and it also influenced the gender roles of the characters. In addition to feminine/masculine qualities being added to objects, they can also be applied to Greek mythology. The God (masculine) of the Sun is Helios, and the Goddess feminine of the Moon is Selene. On page 79, Romeo declares, “Rise up, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon.” This statement shows an indistinct feminist tone because Romeo is telling Juliet to take on a masculine role the sun and kill her feminine role the moon. It is also implied that Juliet is jealous of the role men play in society, exhibited through the phrase “jealous moon.”

Viewing Greek mythology from another standpoint, Shakespeare also conveyed his views on feminism through Diana, the Goddess of chastity and childbirth. “Artemis, in Greek religion, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation, and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans as Diana.” (Augustyn). It is believed that Shakespeare alluded to Diana to project his views on the social construct of virginity. On page 25, Romeo states, “She’s as clever as Diana, and shielded by the armor of chastity.” (Shakespeare) Shakespeare is attempting to project his opinions on virginity through Romeo’s character. The reference to Diana was used to elusively show that society should not determine when a woman has sex. Greek mythology functions as symbolism for Shakespeare’s revolt against gender roles.

Night, Day, and Gender Dynamics

Henceforth, when closely analyzing the play Romeo and Juliet, the time at which significant events happened leaves an impression on the gender roles in society. When crucial elements to the plot take place, they always take place at night. At night, there is a complete loss of inhibitions, which leads to a disregard for societal expectations. The gender roles are completely switched during the night, but in the day, they revert to a patriarchal system. On page 89, Juliet replies, “If your intentions as a lover are truly honorable and you want to marry me, send me word tomorrow.

I’ll send a messenger to you, and you can pass on a message telling me where and when we’ll be married.” (Shakespeare). Juliet’s proposal takes place at night and adheres to the gender switch. While a proposal of marriage is typically seen as something a man should do (especially at this time), Juliet takes on the masculine role and does it herself. Shakespeare is actively trying to show Juliet as a character that defies the patriarchy, and a proposal is a significant way to do it. Another instance in which the gender roles are being switched at night occurs on page 269.

Romeo exclaims, “Oh, that pharmacist was honest! His drugs work quickly. So, I die with a kiss.” Romeo, as well as Juliet, commits suicide at night. Romeo killed himself using a feminine strategy, and Juliet killed herself using a masculine strategy (knife). Juliet says, “My body will be your sheath. Rust inside my body and let me die.” Throughout the play, Juliet is compared to light. Since light is typically associated with masculine assets and following societal expectations, Shakespeare wants to show his audience the pressures he was facing to conform to gender roles.

The light that Juliet is being compared to is the same light that Shakespeare is pressured to follow. On page 267, Romeo announces, “Juliet lies here, and her beauty fills this tomb with light.”  Also, as mentioned previously, when Juliet is told, “Rise up, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon”, It further proves the theory that gender roles are switched at night. The controversy between night and day in Romeo and Juliet confirms the desire to resist the patriarchy, as well as gender roles.

Next, the social construct of virginity is used to keep men in positions of power, but Juliet completely riots against this. The suggestion that Romeo and Juliet had sex strengthens Shakespeare’s feminist character. By not letting the concept of virginity internally impact her, she is going against these men in power. Quora explains, “Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as very passionate, and they spend a night together.

There is a strong implication that they had sex”. It can be concluded that Juliet is disregarding the expectations of sex and virginity for women ages 14-15, further implying her role as a feminist. In the time frame of Romeo and Juliet, sex was something that would potentially end a woman’s life. After a woman had sex, she would go on to have children and become a housewife. “The primary roles of women in the time of William Shakespeare were to marry and have children”.

From that point on, the woman was not to be put in a position of power but to simply serve her husband and take care of the children. Juliet completely contradicts her assigned gender role by having sex at the time she chooses, not because society is pressuring her to do so. This rebellion can be seen on page 7. “Cut off their heads, take their maidenheads-whatever. Take my remark in whichever sense you like”. This statement displays the definition of virginity in the society Romeo and Juliet lived in.

A woman’s maidenhead is more commonly known as her virginity. When Sampson implies that taking a woman’s virginity and cutting off her head is the same thing, he proves Juliet’s rebellion against the patriarchy to be true. Virginity, a social concept created by men to keep themselves in power, proves Juliet to be a feminist because she is exhibiting the fact that having sex does not change a woman, internally or externally.

Lastly, while Juliet is shown as a strong feminist, she also exerts some weaknesses that could potentially cause readers to think she agrees with the patriarchal system she is living within. At this time, it was very easy to fall into the pressures of society, and there is evidence that Juliet collapsed into the way society believes she should live her life. “William Shakespeare was obviously not a feminist, based on the actions and dialogue of his different characters” . There are moments in which Juliet bluntly removes herself from the world of feminism she has created for herself.

On page 211, Juliet remarks, “That may be the case because my face doesn’t belong to me”. This statement proves that Juliet believes she is a man’s property, and the only reason she thinks this is because of the environment in which she was raised. Furthermore, on page 213, Juliet says, “And before I-who was married to Romeo by you-am married to another man, I’ll kill myself”. Juliet is saying that she would rather die than be married to anyone but Romeo. This statement shows how dependent she is on another man, weakening her role as a feminist. While these claims are completely valid, Juliet is a feminist because of the large gender switch in the play and her rebellion against the patriarchy.

Conclusively, Shakespeare uses symbolism to demonstrate Juliet’s feminist rebellion because it was not a socially acceptable topic at the time, creating a subtle tone that can influence today’s feminists. The switch between gender roles can further prove Juliet to be androgynous, meaning she is excluded from either gender role. There are many platforms in which William Shakespeare portrayed his feminist views, including feminine/masculine objects, Greek mythology, dark vs. night, and the social construct of virginity. The large split between feminine and masculine assets is quite evident in the play, and Juliet accentuates it with pride.

References:

1. Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Public Domain.
2. Augustyn, A. (n.d.). Artemis. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Artemis-Greek-goddess
3. Hodgson, N. (n.d.). What Were the Gender Roles in Romeo and Juliet? Quora. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-gender-roles-in-Romeo-and-Juliet
4. Roles of Women in the Time of William Shakespeare. Reference. Retrieved from https://www.reference.com/history/roles-women-time-william-shakespeare-569fc13350233ef6
5. Rumstadt, K. (n.d.). Was Shakespeare a Feminist? Pen and The Pad. Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/was-shakespeare-a-feminist-12078927.html

Theater in the Elizabethan Era

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I was extended between 1558 and 1603, and under her rule, England brought out a collection of valuable literary works. When the Elizabethan word is used, it extends beyond its death by about ten or fifteen years. This age is distinguished by the superiority of three literary forms: drama, songs, and sonnets. Sonnet is a short story consisting of 14 lines. In this section, we will shed light on the drama of the Elizabethan time and the most important writer which is William Shakespeare. Finally, we will discuss one of his most famous works, Romeo and Juliet.

Shakespeare: The Gem of the Elizabethan Period

Shakespeare is the most eminent poet of the Elizabethan period, and before the recognition of his most important work, it must be noted that Shakespeare had appeared in an age when the literary movement was burning, especially as we mentioned earlier that the printing press took its way to the world.

William Shakespeare’s father, John, was a person with no formal education aside from some years in an exceedingly public college. He created one thing of himself within the world, though, running his own business as a glove maker Associate in Nursing, changing into a representative within the city council of town in Warwickshire. He married Madonna Arden, United Nations agency that had no formal education in the least.

Young William was their third kid, and they were to travel on to own five additional ones. The family lived in a very row house right in the middle of Stratford. John used one amongst the downstairs rooms as a workshop and displayed his gloves on the sills of the windows that looked out onto the street. Like his father, William created one thing of himself within the world in spite of the dearth of formal education that amounted, as was the case together with his father, to a number of years in a very public faculty. That wasn’t the top of his education, however, and we understand from his plays that, though self-instructed, he was terribly intimate in history, geography, philosophy, and a few areas of science. He scans wide, with AN interest in translations of the newest books from Europe.

Romeo and Juliet: A Timeless Tale

The material of this play is taken from the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, played in the form of a poem by Arthur Brock in 1562. The story is also known in other literary forms that appeared in Italy. Romeo and Juliet, one of the good works of land author William Shakespeare is one of the classics of the planet that depicted loads within the plays and flicks recent and trendy and appeared in several languages of the planet, thus becoming an obsessive or caring named as Romeo further as for Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet are about in Verona, Italy, wherever there’s an associate degree in progress feud between the Montague and Capulet families. The play opens with servants from each home engaged during a street brawl that eventually attracts the family patriarchs and, therefore, the town officers, together with patrician Escalus. The patrician ends the conflict by issuing a decree that prohibits it from now on fighting at the chance of nice penalization.

Meanwhile, Romeo, a young man from the Montague house, laments his nonreciprocal love for a girl named Rosaline. United Nations agency has vowed to stay chaste for the remainder of her life. Romeo and his friend Benvolio happen to stumble across a Capulet servant, Peter. United Nations agency is trying to browse a listing of invitees to a disguised party at the Capulet house that evening. Romeo helps Peter browse the list and decides to attend the party because Rosaline is there. He plans to wear a mask in order that he can no one can acknowledge him as a Montague.

Romeo arrives at the Capulets’ party in costume. He falls soft on young Juliet Capulet from the instant he sees her. However, Juliet’s relative Tybalt acknowledges their lover and desires to kill him on the spot. Lord Capulet intervenes, insisting that Tybalt not disturb the party because it’ll anger the blue blood. Undeterred, the lover quietly approaches Juliet and confesses his love for her. When exchanging fond words, they kiss.

The Tragedy Unfolds

Afterward, Juliet’s Nurse tells her lover that Juliet could be a Capulet, which upsets the smitten fry. Meanwhile, Juliet is equally agitated once she finds out that her lover could be a Montague. Later that night, the lover climbs the garden wall into Juliet’s garden. Juliet emerges on her balcony and speaks her non-public thoughts aloud. She desires her lover may shed his name and marry her. Upon hearing her confession, the lover seems and tells Juliet that he loves her.

She warns him to be true to his love, and he swears by himself that he is going to be. Before the half, they agree that Juliet can send her Nurse to satisfy her lover at 9 o’clock the ensuing day; for that purpose, he can set an area for them to be married. The Nurse carries out her duty and tells Juliet to satisfy her lover at the chapel where spiritual Laurence lives and works. Juliet meets her lover there, and conjointly the spiritual marries them in secret.

Benvolio and Mercutio (another one of Romeo’s friends) are waiting on the road later that day once Tybalt arrives. Tybalt demands to grasp wherever their lover is, so he will challenge him to a duel, to penalize him for being unfavored in the party. Mercutio is eloquently imprecise; however, the lover happens to arrive in the middle of the verbal sparring. Tybalt challenges him. However, the lover passively resists fighting; for that purpose, Mercutio jumps in and attracts his weapon to Tybalt.

A lover tries to dam the two men. However, Tybalt cuts Mercutio and runs away, solely to come back when he hears that Mercutio has died. Angry over his friend’s death, his lover fights with Tybalt and kills him. Then, he decides to escape. Once aristocrat Escalus arrives at the murder scene. He banishes his lover from the metropolis forever. The Nurse tells Juliet the unhappy news regarding what went on to Tybalt and their lover. Juliet is heartbroken; however, she realizes that her lover would are killed if he had not fought Tybalt. She sends her Nurse to seek out her lover and provides him with her ring.

That night, the lover sneaks into Juliet’s space, and they consummate their wedding. Future morning, he’s forced to depart once Juliet’s mother arrives. Lover travels to Gown, wherever he waits for somebody to send news concerning Juliet or his banishment. During Lover and Juliet’s sole night alone, however, Lord Capulet decides that Juliet ought to marry a young man named Paris; the United Nations agency has been inquiring for her hand. Lord and Girl Capulet tell Juliet of their arrangement. However, she refuses, exasperating her father. Once each woman Capulet and, therefore, the Nurse, refuses to liaise for the lady, she insists that they leave her facet.

Juliet then visits religious Laurence, and they concoct a thought to reunite her with her lover. The religion offers Juliet a beverage that will create her appear dead for a minimum of 2 days, throughout which era the lover can return to satisfy her within the Capulet vault. The religion guarantees to advise the conceive to lover. Juliet drinks the Friar’s beverage that night. The future morning, the day of Juliet and Paris’ wedding, her Nurse finds her ‘dead’ in bed. The entire house decries her suicide, and religious Laurence insists they quickly place her into the family vault.

Unfortunately, religious John has been unable to deliver the letter to their lover informing him of the arrangement; thus, once Romeo’s servant brings him the news in a gown that Juliet has died, the lover is heartbroken. He hurries back to the city, but first, he buys poison from AN caregiver and writes a suicide note, particularization the tragic course of events, as before long as religious Laurence realizes.
That his letter ne’er created it to Romeo’s hands, he rushes to the Capulet’s grave, hoping to arrive before Romeo will.

Romeo arrives at the Capulet vault and finds it guarded by Paris; World Health Organization is there to mourn the loss of his betrothed. Paris challenges Romeo to a duel, and Romeo kills him quickly. Romeo then carries Paris’ body into the grave and sets it down. Upon seeing Juliet’s ‘dead’ body lying in the grave, Romeo drinks the poison, provides her with a final kiss, and dies.

References:

1. No Fear Shakespeare. (n.d.). Romeo and Juliet. SparkNotes. Retrieved from https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/romeojuliet/
2. Parsty, L. (n.d.). The Effects of Uninvolved Parenting. Verywell Family. Retrieved from https://www.verywellfamily.com/the-effects-of-uninvolved-parenting-4140170
3. Navsnu. (n.d.). Nature vs. Nurture in Psychology. Psychestudy. Retrieved from https://www.psychestudy.com/general/intelligence-abilities/nature-vs-nurture
4. Tebr, S. (n.d.). Impulsivity in Adolescents. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/impulsivity-in-adolescents-2610297

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play written by William Shakespeare during the 16th century. The concept of conflict is expressed in several aspects of the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, often by physical violence, mirrored in the Renaissance period, where international instability existed and many European nations were at war. Conflict is the core focus of the whole play in this case and Shakespeare portrays it in several different forms. Conflict, for example, is seen not only in action but also in language. This essay will be based on how Shakespeare portrays the theme on conflict in the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’

The theme of conflict is immediately introduced in the play’s Prologue and at the beginning of the play. We are told that the families are both of equal status and have an ‘ancient grudge’ which indicates the rivalry that has been going on for several years between the capulets and the montagues. We are told the fight is going to ‘break to new mutiny’ and are being informed of their deaths through ‘parents rage.’ Romeo and Juliet are represented as ‘a pair of star- lovers’ telling the viewer that nothing will alter their fate which is also another element of conflict. From the opening of the play when ‘[Sampson and Gregory [enter] with weapons and bucklers … [in] a public place]’ the tension between violence and harmony is evident. This shows us why the Capulet family is more abusive than the Montague family; that can also be seen from the Capulet family’s use of words: ‘A dog of the house of Montague moves me’. In Act 1, Scene 1 Benvolio attempts to preserve harmony while Tybalt ‘hates the word,’ Tybalt does not hate the term ‘peace’ literally, but hates the connotations of the word put into action. When the Prince joins to avoid the fight between Tybalt and Benvolio, there is a need for violence in order to keep the peace and this reveals a sort of irony. To explain the pointless battle between Tybalt and Benvolio, the Prince uses animalistic terminology: ‘You beasts.’ Shakespeare decided to start the play with a violent scene in order to highlight the ‘ancient grudge’ between the households.

The use of language and inner conflict is used in several forms to portray conflict. Romeo’s announcement of his affection for Rosaline includes combat terms such as ‘siege’ and ‘well armed.’ He often uses oxymorons like ‘loving hate’ to describe the conflict between the two families and his unrequited love from Rosaline. Juliet is having inner conflict in Act 3, scene 5, when Romeo prepares to depart for Manutua; she is anxious for Romeo to stay: ‘Wilt thou be gone gone … It was the nightingale, not the lark,’ and the reader understands that it was the lark, and so they are compelled to share in their inner struggle.

In both the literary works, the first thing to notice is their title one of which, that is ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ (John Green, 2012), is derived from a piece of literature that was written by the writer of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (William Shakespeare, 1597). The title of John Green’s novel was developed from a dialogue in Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare, 1599), as mentioned in the introduction. This is the first and indirect relationship between the two works. Green uses Shakespeare’s work as a source for the title of his novel.

Genre and Point of view

The genre of the two pieces of literature is not similar. Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare, 1597) is a drama and The Fault in Our Stars (John Green, 2012) is a fiction. The point of view used to convey the context and content to the audience, in the two pieces of literature, is also different. One of them, Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare, 1597) is a play and the other, The Fault in Our Stars (John Green, 2012), is a novel that uses the first-person perspective. In a play, a reader (if a play is in writing) can comprehend all the characters and perceive their perspectives because of the dialogues they deliver. All characters, in a play, have a role to play and a few dialogues to deliver which convey about themselves to the reader. Whereas, in a novel, the intentions and perspectives of other characters cannot be well comprehended by a reader, because the story is dominated by the first-person narrative. In the novel, the story is narrated from Hazel Grace Lancaster’s perspective, who is the female protagonist. The first-person approach minimizes the view of a reader as it heavily depends on what the female protagonist conveys and how she perceives things. For instance, it is hard to comprehend how each time the male protagonist, Augustus Waters, must have felt when he and Hazel Grace had physical contact. Hazel always felt a rise in tension in her body, as narrated in Chapter 7, pg. 90, L 4-6 in The Fault in Our Stars, but the narration leaves us uninformed regarding how Augustus must have felt or what he thought. Genre and point of view of these works are important to consider because they convey the context and content differently. John Green uses a different genre and point of view in comparison to William Shakespeare and there is no similarity for genre and point of view.

Setting

The setting of the two works differs from one another. The play was written in the 16th century which is also known as the Elizabethan period (1558 – 1603) . There has been no clear evidence as to which year the play was written in, but it was written between 1594 and 1596 . It appeared in an unauthorized quarto, in the year 1597 (David Bevington, 2019). Later, an authorized quarto was released in the year 1599 (David Bevington, 2019). The years inform us that the setting in the play was considered as an adaptation to the era it was written in. Italy was the chosen geographical location in the play, but precisely in Verona and Mantua. The protagonists were set to have wealthy social statuses following the Elizabethan era. Another example is a role for a Prince and the writing style that shows adaptation to the time for setting. The novel was published in 2012, in the 21st century. The geographical location of the story was in the United States of America, but precisely in Indiana. The social status of the protagonists was portrayed as if in a middle-class modern family and creates a sense of the modern world in the story following the 21st century. The writing style also differs from the play. In both the works the use of language, environment and social status, of their era, helps them portray a real-life story to their own set of audience. Thus, adaptation to time is intelligible. According to my analysis, the setting seems well-coordinated to their respective eras. There is similarity in the general idea of adapting to the time for the setting. Green adapted to the present for the setting just as William Shakespeare had developed the setting according to his era.

Structure and Theme

The play has a dramatic structure because many events take place within the 5 Acts. The play increases the reader’s suspense steadily until the 1st climax and keeps decreasing until the end of the resolution. The novel, which has 13 chapters, follows a narrative-chronological structure because the events are conveyed by storytelling by the protagonist. The use of the first-person perspective is an example. The main themes that have been observed in both the works are love, family, and death. The protagonists fall in love, but they depart due to their death. The family was also a theme in both these works, because most of the side characters, in both the works, were family members. The two literary works are romantic tragedies. This is a similarity. Although, they have different structure they share similar themes.

Characterization

The teenagers in the play and the novel are the obvious protagonists. Juliet was under 14 years of age and perhaps she was 13 according to, her father, Lord Capulets dialogue, “My child is yet a stranger in the world, she hath not seen the change of fourteen years” (Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene II, Lines 8-9). Although Romeo’s age is not mentioned in the play, presumably he too is a teenager. Romeo and Juliet decide to get secretly married. This hasty decision gives the reader an impression of a juvenile nature. Hence, it can be said that both were teenagers. In the novel, Hazel narrates “Late in the winter of my seventeenth year,” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 1, pg. 3, Line 1) which indicates that she is 16. Augustus mentions that he is “seventeen” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 1, pg. 11, Line 11). The writers use the age description to convey that the characters are teenagers, which is a similarity.

There are a few side characters who play vital roles in the Shakespeare play such as Friar Laurence, Nurse, Paris (who is due to marry Juliet) and the others. Whereas, in Green’s novel, the side characters weren’t as significant. Peter Van Houten, the author of “An Imperial Affliction” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 2, pg. 33, Lines 18-19) is the only notable side character in the novel. He was important because “An Imperial Affliction” is Hazel’s favorite book that ends in abruptly without any sequel. Hazel then has several questions regarding the characters in that book. She and Augustus plan to meet Peter Van Houten who lives in Amsterdam to ask him about the abrupt end and questions regarding his book. The use of side characters is heavy in one work in comparison to the other work leaving no similarities.

There are similarities in the characterization of the male protagonists such as being the only son to their parents. They are impulsive and juvenile because they are juvenile. They mention about their past that describes them as charmers. Romeo was attracted to Rosaline in his past. Benvolio says, “sups the fair Rosaline, whom thou so lov’st;” (Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene II, Line 91) to Romeo. Whereas, Augustus mentions about his ex-girlfriend. He says, “I had a few good kisses with my ex-girlfriend, Caroline Mothers.” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 5, pg. 72, Lines 1-2) to Hazel. However, the difference in the characterization of the male protagonists is their health status. Romeo was physically healthy, but Augustus was an amputee and suffered from “osteosarcoma” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 1, pg. 11, Line 11), a rare form of bone cancer. This, overall, explains that although Green made use of the play for Augustus’s background and personality, he developed a difference in Augustus’s health. Another similarity is that both the males were attracted to another female character before the female protagonists.

In both literary works, although nothing about the past of the female protagonists is mentioned, there are several similarities in their characterization. Romeo was Juliet’s and Augustus was Hazel’s, first attraction. The female protagonists were the only child to their parents. Hazel Grace Lancaster was a cancer patient. There is similarity in the way the female protagonists were brought up. They were under their parents’ supervision and always obeyed them. Hazel attends a Support Group on her mother’s saying, although she is never interested to go. Juliet is due to marry Paris on her father’s saying. This creates an image of a calm and poised trait for both the female protagonist’s character. When the female protagonists meet the male protagonists, the female protagonists are reserved because they don’t initiate the conversation. Both the female protagonists were risk-takers. In the novel, Hazel takes the risk to climb stairs and walk a lot carrying her oxygen tank which exhausts her and pushes her limit. In the play, Juliet risks to fake her death to not marry Paris. Both the female protagonists experience their first love with first males in their lives. The female protagonists share the same personalities. Writers of the two literary works don’t provide much information on any past occurrence in the lives of the female protagonists’ which is a similarity as well.

Plot

In both the literary works, the plot consists of important events and I will be comparing these important events to see how similar or different they are. In both literary works, the story revolves around two teenagers who fall in love but die soon after confessing their love due to their circumstances.

In the exposition of both the literary works, which is Act 1 of the play and Chapter 1 of the novel, the male protagonists meet the female protagonists and initiate a conversation. In the play, Romeo meets Juliet in a ball that was arranged in Capulet’s house. The ball was arranged by Juliet’s parents for her and Paris. Romeo says, “If I profane with my unworthy hand……with a tender kiss.” (Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene IV, pg. 24, Lines 33-37) and kisses her hand. In the novel, Hazel is escorted every, “Wednesday” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 1, pg. 4, Line 4) to a Support Group by her parents. During one such session, the protagonists meet, and Augustus speaks to Hazel first. He asks, “What’s your name?” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 1, pg. 14, Lines 25-26). There is a similarity that the female protagonists were in that place because of their parents and because the female protagonists obeyed them. Another similarity is that the male protagonists initiate the conversation.

The proposal scenes in both the works were different due to development, in the story of the novel. Romeo had visited Juliet, and in her balcony, they confessed their feelings. The scene took place on the same evening of the ball. Whereas, Augustus and Hazel started developing feelings for each other as they spent time, but only confessed after spending a night together in Amsterdam. Romeo and Juliet spend a night together after their marriage. During the time, Italian families encouraged marriages at a very young age. Therefore, they decided to marry with the help of Friar Laurence and the Nurse. There is no similarity in the way in which this event takes place in both the works.

The climax, in the play, is Tybalt’s assassination followed by Romeo’s banishment which is caused when Tybalt instigates Romeo to fight, but Mercutio gets enraged on Romeo’s refusal and fights with Tybalt instead. This eventually leads to Mercutio’s death. Then, Tybalt is pursued by Romeo and is killed. In the novel, Augustus revealing to Hazel that his health will worsen during their Amsterdam trip in The Fault in Our Stars (John Green, 2012) is the climax. The similarity is the male protagonists getting affected before the female protagonists and causing the climax scene to take place.

The resolution in both the plots refers to the death and the separation sequence of the two couples. The point of separation between the pairs in both works comes with the death of the male protagonist. Both couples are separated by death. The noticeable similarity is that the male protagonists die first. Romeo says “Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene III, Line 133) and dies. Whereas, Augustus’s death is confirmed by Hazel when she says, “Augustus Waters died eight days after his prefuneral,” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 21, pg. 261, Line 1). Thus, the male characters die before the female protagonists, but they eventually die as well. Friar Laurence does send a note to Romeo informing about Juliet’s fake death, but Romeo receives the news of Juliet’s death before the note. The note fails to reach him on time. Romeo dies after he consumes “poison” (Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene III, Line 90) on seeing his wife lay like a dead person. Juliet wakes up to see Romeo die beside her, after the kiss, and she stabs herself from Romeo’s dagger. She says, “let me die.” (Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene III, Line 200). Hazel’s death isn’t mentioned in the book, but her disease makes her mortal.

A difference in the resolution can be referred to the circumstances under which the protagonists are separated. Although it is death that separates the protagonists, the reason for their death is different. In the play, the protagonists choose to die due to an age-old vendetta between their families and the unstable relationship between them. Whereas, in the novel, the protagonists are mortal due to their health issues. Augustus and Hazel couldn’t help changing their destiny. They were to be separated at a point. The fault was in their stars. These circumstances, according to my analysis, seem well-coordinated and adapted to the eras they were written in. Nowadays, it is more likely for people to have an incomplete love life due to the disease they suffer from rather than a family grudge.

However, there is another similarity in the resolution of the plot. In the play, both the families reconcile, and in the novel, the female protagonist receives long-awaited answers to the questions that she had regarding a book. The name of the book is mentioned as “An Imperial Affliction” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 2, pg. 33, Lines 18-19). The similarity is in the realization of families in the play and of the author, of “An Imperial Affliction”, in the novel. Another similarity is that, that these events should’ve taken place when the protagonists were together, but they take place when it is too late in the plot which is after the separation of the couples.

Juliet drinks “distilled liquor” (Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene I, pg. 70 Line 32) given by Friar Laurence to fake her death and to not marry Paris. The drug will make her sleep for “two and forty hours” (Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene I, pg. 71 Line 1). After researching, with the help of a second source, I can say that the drug used in the play is very unlikely to exist in those days . Hazel takes “Phalanxifor” (The Fault in Our Stars, Chapter 2, pg. 25, Line 20) that would reduce the growing speed of cancer cells in her body. She takes the treatment to survive longer. These drugs are scripted and not real. “there is no such thing as Phalanxifor. I made it up because I would like for it to exist.’ says John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, pg. 315 Line 2-3). Both the writers made up the existence of the drugs, for the female protagonists, which is a similarity.

Conclusion

There are similarities and dissimilarities in the two works. Most of the differences were due to the development in some areas of the novel. These developments were taken to adapt to the time, and audience, the work was written in and for. These changes make the two works seem like a realistic occurrence. Thus, dissimilarities in setting such as the language, environment and social status are penetrable. However, there are strong links, such as the title of the novel, that shows the make use. Both the works have different genre and point of view which is also correlated to the structure of the work. However, the two pieces of literature share the same themes and much of the character traits are also borrowed by Green from the play. Although characterization in the two works seems natural and unexaggerated the characterization of protagonists is very similar. The plot, of both the works, shows a lot of similarities. The exposition and the effects of the climax scene in the plot are similar. The resolution is also a huge similarity because although they have romance, they are a tragedy and do not have a happy ending. A story is presumed to have a happy ending, by the audience, if it has romance, but it is not applied to the chosen works. In the resolution, the leading couples die or eventually die (Hazel) which is the cause for their separation but the cause for their death is not similar. This too is an adaptation to time. In the very end, the realization in both plots brings a sense of satisfaction. It is because no bad blood is left, and no questions are left unanswered. With all these similarities, the dissimilarities seem to play a minor role in my opinion.

Romeo and Juliet are one of the most well-known tragedies ever written. William Shakespeare wrote the play in 1594 and it has been studied for centuries. The plot follows two ‘star crossed lovers’ set in Verona as their romance blossomed and eventually lead to both of their deaths. Throughout the play, there are many different reasons for their deaths, and therefore there can be many people blamed for their deaths, such as the ongoing feud between the Capulets and the Montagues and Juliet.

The Capulets and the Montagues were two competing houses in Verona that had a violent history. Being friends or even friendly exchanges with a member from the other house almost never happened, but had the parents decided to end the feud there would have been no problem with Romeo and Juliet getting married, and they, therefore, would not need to keep it secret, and also would not have been forced into the marriage of Paris. The passionate dislike for each house is demonstrated by the way that Capulet and Montague were ready to immediately jump into a fight “what noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!” (Capulet, act 1, scene 1, line 73). It can also be demonstrated by Tybalt’s reaction to Romeo attending the Capulet party; he was enraged so much that he hunted Romeo and ended up killing Mercutio, had there been no prejudice Tybalt would have had no problem with Romeo. While all of this is a possible explanation, people have to be responsible for their own actions, and Juliet made decisions that lead to their deaths.

While the feud certainly played a big role in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Juliet was a 13-year-old girl from the Capulet house. Just before the party that her father was throwing her mother told her that she was going to marry Paris. Juliet didn’t want to marry anyone, not specifically Paris as she hadn’t even met him yet. So when Romeo (who was around her age) showed up at the party and took an interest in her she may have found a way to escape the arranged marriage that she didn’t want to be a part of. This also may have been why she pushed Romeo into asking her to marry him “Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say ‘ay’; And I will take thy word. Yet, if thou swears, thou mayst prove false …If that thy bent of love be honorable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow.” (Juliet, scene 2, act 2, lines 90-92 & 143-144). Juliet is the one who really asked Romeo to marry her, and she was the one who pushed the relationship forward. A little bit after her father came to her and said that she had to marry Paris, and if she didn’t she would be kicked out of the house. Capulet said that If Juliet didn’t go through with the wedding she would be kicked out of the house. If she really wanted to be with Romeo she could have just left then and lived with him in Mantua. She even could have gone to Friar Lawrence and gotten a ride with a messenger. She either didn’t think very well about how to get out of the situation or she didn’t want to leave her family (though Capulet should not have forced her into the marriage in the first place). After all, this happens, one is reminded that each and every person has a choice in what they choose to do. Juliet chose to drink the potion that the Friar gave her, even though she was having second thoughts. She worried that it was poison or that she would wake up too early and see all her dead relatives and that she would go crazy and kill herself but she chose to drink it anyway, which lead Romeo to believe she was dead and kill himself. Then, when she woke up, she stabbed herself, which is directly the cause of her death. There are so many ways she could have dealt with this better. She could have run away from Verona or she could have explained to her parents what happened. Therefore she is responsible for at least the death of herself.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet essay follows the title characters as they fall in love and eventually kill themselves. Their deaths can be blamed on underlying prejudice and hate between the Montagues and the Capulets because had they not have been fighting they would have been able to fall in love peacefully. Their deaths can also be blamed on Juliet for making some unwise decisions in the days before her death.

William Shakespeare, a monumental playwriter in society has explored many contrasting themes throughout his works. His writings embrace themes such as love, tragedies and comedies. Shakespeare’s most famous writing, “Romeo and Juliet”, describes the love tragedy between two naïve young lovers in Verona, Italy. The tale “Romeo and Juliet”, was written during the Elizabethan era and is set in the 14th century. This time distinction displays how Shakespeare explores universal themes that were not only relevant during the time of his creations but, can relate and be explored through popular culture today, including the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart”. Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet” and the modern film “Five Feet Apart”, both investigate confronting topics, specifically the extremities and aspects of love. Through Shakespeare’s exploration of the human condition, themes such as the forcefulness of love, love as a cause of violence and the naivety of youth are viewed in depth which can be relatable today.

Shakespeare’s play production of “Romeo and Juliet” explores the deep “forcefulness of love” (SparkNotes, 2019). Shakespeare presents the strong love, lust and compassion between Romeo and Juliet which pushes them to defy their social groups. Juliet reaching so far as to threaten to leave the Capulets by saying, “Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and ill no longer be a Capulet”. This presents the full force of their love and the heights that the couple would go to in order to be together. Shakespeare portrays love as an emotion which captures the characters beings and forces them against the world and each other. This strength is also presented in the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart”. The main characters Stella and Will are forced apart, not by conflict, but by their illnesses. This major road block is seen as impossible for most, yet the full power of their love connection encourages them to go against all odds. Both the popular culture film “Five Feet Apart”, and the play “Romeo and Juliet” display the chaos and passion of being in love, and the tidal wave of emotions and repercussions that may occur.

Shakespeare’s passionate play, “Romeo and Juliet”, not only presents love as a heart-warming emotion but expresses it as a cause of violence. The inevitability of danger throughout Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is fuel to the bright flame explosion which is their love. Their passion and yearning for one another blinds the two lovers from the world and danger around them, making them appear careless and irrational. Act 3: Scene 6, “If all else fail, myself have the power to die”. The young paramours throughout the play threaten the most potent expression of love by being willing to end their lives in defence and expression of their adoration. Although this theme may not be presented at such an extreme example as in the play write, it is a common universal theme throughout the world today. As displayed in the film “Five Feet Apart” the characters Will and Stella also behold similar themes and characteristics. The two lovers so consumed with the idea of experiencing the world together, risk their lives and push the boundaries of their illnesses. Love as a cause of violence is viewed within both couples and characters as individuals. The characteristics of self-sabotage, precarious actions, selflessness and passion can be viewed throughout relationships in the 21st century.

Throughout the play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare captures the true essence of the naivety of youth within the characters. At the beginning of the play Shakespeare shows Juliet describing herself as, “an impatient child’’ and “yet a stranger in the world”, her views rapidly change when she is blinded by the love and lust, she feels towards Romeo. The young age of the lovers makes them exposed to emotional manipulation and vulnerability. Both Romeo and Juliet ignore any advice and guidance that the Friar Lawrence and other characters offer, which displays a level of immaturity to the audience. Similar naivety is viewed in the film “Five Feet Apart”. The characters, Will and Stella, contain a desperation to experience the world and love with one another that they do not consider the consequences of their actions. The fantasy of being a “normal teenage couple” seems to enhance their naivety, and results in the couple putting themselves in serious danger and adding emotional strain on the friends and family around them. Such innocence and inexperience are viewed throughout couples today and is a universal theme that will continue for centuries to come. Both the film “Five Feet Apart” and “Romeo and Juliet” present stories which show the extreme result of naivety.

Through Shakespeare’s exploration of the human condition throughout his works it is apparent that he is highly relevant and respected throughout today’s society. The monumental playwriter explores themes which are applicable for people throughout the 21st century. More specifically Shakespeare’s 14th century passionate play “Romeo and Juliet” explores the idea of the forcefulness of love, love as a cause of violence, and the naivety of youth. Similarly, these universal topics are also viewed in the 2019 romantic film “Five Feet Apart”. The journeys of both characters from the play, and film express distinctive differences, nonetheless they both explore and display corresponding themes and ideas. Shakespeare’s investigation of the human condition and universal themes throughout his works present a relevance and significance in today’s modern society.

What if we change the ending of Romeo and Juliet into a happy ending, that Romeo and Juliet successfully end up with each other? It is ideal that we can change the ending of the tragedy into comedy and that we believe that every story in the world ends happily, every effort we paid will result in our success. But in reality, both Romeo and Juliet died for their love, and nothing can change their fate. One of the features in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is that it expresses such kind of contrast by the character of Romeo. Romeo is a pure man, with passion and love in his mind, while the world in mundane, filled with code for honor and bloody rite of duel. As the story proceeds Romeo gradually degraded from his ideal, pure man into a firm, emotionless avenger, filled with hate. The sacrifice of Romeo is an excellent example to show that although fancy and sweet the ideal is, the reality is cruel and unavoidable.

Drenched in sweetness of love, Romeo, at the beginning of the play, is a man of such passionate soul, never tainted by hatred, that when he first appeared in ACT1 before the duel scene, he is still thinking about Rosaline, saying: ‘Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, Should without eyes see pathways to his will.'(ACT1.1.164-165)

The ‘ll’ rhymes used here augmented the degree to which Romeo is intoxicated with love that when he saw the fighting scene. His first action is to interpret it in terms of love: ‘O me! What fray was here?… Here is much to do with hate, but more with love. Why then, o brawling love, O loving hate….'(ACT1.1.166-170).

His reaction is not anger or hatred, but rather lament why the result of love is such a tragedy and hate. He virtually allayed the crime of the enemy of his opponent. There is no such hate and the sense of enemy in his head and he pursues Juliet as if she doesn’t belong to Capulet. Right now he is pure, passionate, without any trace of mundane hatred. He is an ideal who is innocent, a perfect man.

However, just like the ideal thing is so weak against reality, such a pure figure like Romeo is completely transformed in Act 3. When Romeo saw Tybalt and Mercutio is about to duel, he wants to stop the meaningless fight by using love as a weapon, hoping it would eliminate hate. ‘Tybalt, the reason why I have to love thee Doth much excuse the appertaining rage To such a greeting…'(ACT3.1.57-60).

Instead of taking Romeo’s words as a peace treaty, Tybalt considers this as an insult. Despite Romeo’s re-clarification, saying: ‘I do protest I never injured thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise till thou shalt know the reason of my love'(ACT3.1.63-65). It doesn’t stop them from fighting. Romeo then tries to stop them by using his own body, risking himself, but the result of his bravery did the opposite, that Tybalt seeks this as an opportunity and fatally wounded Mercutio.

He wants to stop the fight, with such a good purpose, but the reality is that he gives the opponent the chance to kill his friend. It is now that he first realized that ideal is just ideal, not the reality, and if he doesn’t act according to the game rule of reality, he will end up miserably even his intention is good. What is the game rule of reality? Revenge. Romeo learned it so well that he tore himself apart, saying:

‘This gentleman, the Prince’s near ally, my very friend, hath got this mortal hurt on my behalf…O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate…'(ACT3.1.104-110). Experiencing the grief, he referred to Juliet as the reason for his cowardliness. The old Romeo, that Romeo who is filled with love and passion dies, and new Romeo, who is desperate but firm, comes to living. ‘Away to heaven, respective lenity, and fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again…Either thou, or I, or both must go with him'(ACT3.1.118-124).

His vocabulary transformed, ‘lenity’ and ‘fury’ substitutes Romeo’s original creed ‘love’, creating a contrast between love and hate, old Romeo and new Romeo. Dealt with sympathy and equipped with a cold rationale of reality, He succeeded in his revenge. His last dialogue with Juliet before escaping Verona in ACT3.5 is filmed by depression and sadness: Romeo says: ‘Look, love what envious streaks do lace the serving clouds in yonder east…and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops…’. (ACT3.5.8-10)

His vocabulary and mood are completely changed, referring to the sun as envious, while in ACT2.2 he says ‘it is the east and Juliet is the sun’. and the day as ‘misty’, adding a sense of uncertainty. And then he says, ‘Let me be ta’en, let me be put to death. I am content, so thou wilt have it so…Come, death, and welcome; Juliet wills it so…'(ACT3.5.17-18)(ACT3.5.24)

This is the first time that Romeo is so calm when referring to death so many times, and it reflects the hate, that the cruel society treats him so badly even though he is innocent. He wants to die and leave the mundane world as long as Juliet wishes. There is still one thing that pushes Romeo to live, and that is his love, Juliet. His least reason to live dies in ACT5.1. The beginning of the act is when Romeo waked up after his dream.

‘If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, my dream presage some joyful news at hand…I dreamt my lady came and found me dead–Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think!'(ACT5.1.1-11).

His dream is a mixture of happiness and grievance: feeling like that he was filled with such joy of love that he felt meeting with Juliet in the dream, very sweet and delightful. And then happiness disappeared in a flash: her lover found him dead, the whole dream is turned into a much gloomy tone, creating a huge difference between the happiness of love and the horror of death. The usage of here foreshadowing serves as a good way to imply the final fate of Romeo and Juliet since by using a dream as a convoy, a sense of suspension and uncertainty is created, which can lead the audience to wonder what will happen next. Also, the author contrasts ideal and reality inside a dream: happiness and sweetness of love at first while desperation and lament the at the end, representing both ideal endings, that Romeo and Juliet end up with each other, and the reality, that Romeo and Juliet die. So that the weakness of the ideal when facing reality is emphasized. Plus, the plot of the dream is what happened. Just like the Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, when lovers finally got rid of themselves from the juice of intoxication, they felt that the dream is so real. Such a method of using a dream helps to model the seemly lofty and unrealistic dream of Romeo into a sideline of the whole story, adding the sense of the depth of the whole play.

In spite of the usage of dream, the language used is precise and accurate, like: ‘my bosom’s lord sits lightly in his throne'(Act5.1.3) ‘throne’, ‘spirit’, ‘lift me above’ conveys an aloft, happiness and self-fulfilling experience, while in ‘I dreamt my lady came and found me dead'(Act5.1.6), ‘dead man’ conveys a much heavy theme that sweet love will face. These two sentences creating conflict and complexity, by contrast, helping to illustrate the lofty ideal and august reality. Besides, ‘breathed such life’, ‘kisses in my lips’ vividly depicted the closeness of the dream and the virtual world, adding accountability of the experience in the dream.

When he is completely sober. Romeo was so willing to hear new from Verona that after his servant came in, he asked five questions consecutively. The response of the servant starts with ‘Then she is well, and nothing can be ill. Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument, And her immortal part with angel lives…'(ACT5.1.17-19) the oxymoron of soothing the situation deliberately by saying that Juliet is ‘fine’ while she is dead emphasized grief and sadness while expressing sadness by simply crying aloud won’t have much effect.

After hearing this, Romeo decided to go to Verona with haste, despite his servants telling him not to do so, ‘pale’ and ‘wild’ expresses the mood of Romeo right now accurately. ‘Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight'(ACT5.1.34) serves as another implication of Romeo’s fate, pushing Romeo to the edge of death further, the description of the ugly apothecary helps to make the final death of Romeo reasonable: ‘I do remember an apothecary…which I late I noted, in tattered weeds, with overwhelming brows, Culling of simples. Meagre were his looks.’ (ACT5.1.37-40) , and ‘And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, an alligator stuffed, and other skins of ill-shaped fishes…green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds…'(ACT5.1.42-46).

In these two sentences, ‘tattered weeds’, ‘overwhelming brows’, ‘culling of simples’, ‘Meagre’, giving us an image just like a poor survivor of the famine, ‘alligator’, ‘dead tortoise’, ‘bladders’ helps depicted the shaggy but daunting dwelling. the reason why Romeo would spend so many words on these seemly irrelevant content is that it implies how strong the drug will be, and Romeo will not live if he drinks it. The drug also symbolized death as the final ending of Romeo. All of these words will eventually make the final death more reasonable and real.

The rhyme and iambs used in the same sentence strengthened the mood of Romeo in the play. ‘skins’, ‘fishes’, ‘shelves’, ‘boxes’, ‘pots’ … ‘cakes of roses’. The beginning of the word is all ‘s’ family or ‘b/p’ family consonant. At the end of each double rhymes of ‘es’ are also used. In addition, these sentences also utilizes iambic pentameter, the meter in the first sentence are ‘alli’ ‘gator’, ‘stuffed’, ‘other’,’skins’ and ‘beggar’, ‘account’, ’empty’,’boxes’ in the second. These rhyme creating devices here pushes the sentence forward, making it faster and much stronger when reads it, reflecting the stressed and desperate mood of Romeo and implies that he is preparing to die for his love, with no regret. Meanwhile leaving the audience the image of Romeo as firm and decisive.

”An if a man did….. Whose sale is present in Mantua, Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it to him”(ACT5.1.50) These sentences also utilize the word ‘needy’, just like ‘penury’ ‘noting this penury, to my self I said’,(ACT5.1.49) that Romeo here is also repeatedly using these words to show that Romeo believes that the apothecary will sell the drug to him since he is so poor. Introducing the conflict afterward.

The conversation between Romeo and apothecary starts like this: ‘Hold, there is forty ducats. Let me have a dram of poison–such soon-speeding gear'(ACT5.1.59-60) Romeo lures him by using the weakness of ideal because ideally speaking he will not sell the drug, in reality, he has to sell to earn a living. The word ‘such soon-speeding gear’ also uses alliteration here to emphasis how poisonous the drug is.

The highlight of the following sentences is the consecutive iambic pentameter: ‘Let me have a dram of poison– such soon-speeding gear…..fatal canon’s womb’ ‘dram’, ‘poison’, ‘soon’, ‘speeding’, ‘gear’, up until the last sentence, is a sequence of iamb rhymed sentence non-stop, it demonstrates to us that how desperate Romeo is towards the death of his love that he declaimed to the drug dealer about the forbidden drugs outright, fear not the government. Plus, ‘As violently as hasty powder fired'(ACT5.1.64), the metaphor ‘hasty powder fired’ depicts vividly that what drug Romeo wants to buy is an extremely fast poison that is so quick just like the gun powder in canon.

The apothecary is hesitant. To force him to do so, Romeo’s response towards him was adamant and cruel: ‘art thou so bare and full of wretchedness, And fear’st to die'(ACT5.1.68-69) irritating the apothecary. ‘bare’, ‘wretchedness’, ‘fear’st to die’, mocking him about his condition and no guts. ‘Famine is in thy cheeks, Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes, Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back’.(ACT5.1.69-71)

Besides the iambic pentameter usage, instead of saying ‘you are hungry because your skin is thin’, ‘famine is in thy chicks’ is much better since the word usage ‘famine’ makes me reminds of the actual famine happened and it makes the audience remind about their direct or indirect experience, while the sentence ‘you are hungry…’ is merely a depiction, not to mention it can create sympathy. Therefore the image of apothecary as a poor man is much more fulfilled and enriched.

The reality of the apothecary is no stricter than Romeo’s: Selling drugs to him may perhaps give you enough money to fill the stomach, even if he can be prosecuted by the state, it is better than just died in streets. ‘The world is not thy friend, nor the world’s law. The world affords no law to make thee rich, then be not poor, but break it, and take this'(ACT5.1.72-75)

So why biding law? since the law itself is not ideal anymore, it doesn’t serve as the protector of the citizens but the oppressor of reality, hurting Romeo hard even though Romeo is innocent and he wants peace between Capulet and Montague. He hates the world extremely, for it is the code of duel that let Mercutio died, and let him kill Tyablt as a revenge. It is the law that decreases Romeo to such low status, and it is the hatred between Capulet and Montague that resulted in the tragedy of Both Juliet and Romeo. The hatred of Romeo towards the world, the code of duel and honor as a product of patriarchy, is unraveled completely.

The apothecary has no choice: ‘My poverty but not my will consents. I pay thy poverty and not thy will.'(ACT5.1.75-76) It creates another contrast between reality and ideal. ‘poverty’ and ‘will’, the former represents reality, which he must deal with to survive, and the latter one represents ideal, something he wants to do. Romeo ideally can live a happy life with Juliet. Ideally, there will not be a conflict between Capulet and Montague. Ideally, the bloody tradition of duel should not exist since it consumed so many lives. However, Romeo must face reality. The conflict between reality and ideal is the reason why both of them downgraded into such a lamentable position and also the reason why these two people interact despite the huge social level between them. and so did Romeo utilized such pressure of reality, the need to survive, to force apothecary to do what Romeo wants.

There is an interesting oxymoron in the last sentence: ‘There is thy gold–worse poison to men’s souls, Doing more murder in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds that thou mayest not sell. I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none'(ACT5.1.79-83).

Why Romeo believes that gold is much more poisonous than the actual poison, plus why Romeo starts to say about the poison of money, which is a quite irrelevant theme since the main plot of the play is love. Because there is another theme: This is another incarnation of Romeo’s hate towards reality. Why Romeo refers to money as poison while the actual poison as none, because the greed of money is the cause of hatred, and hatred is the source of this tragedy, causing the everlasting conflict and death. However, instead of extinguishing hate, society criminalizes the poison while cherish the real poison. All these above illustrates of the society, as the last condemnation of Romeo towards the injustice and cruelty of the reality.

After declaring his final word to the world, he is prepared to die: ‘Come, cordial and not poison, go with me To Juliet’s grave, for there must I use thee.'(ACT5.1.85-86) So warm that Romeo depicts the quick and poisonous drug. it makes me tremble, that if a person no longer fears death. He is invincible and his desperation and sadness are at peak. The final intention of Romeo to die beside Juliet’s grave is determined and there are no more foreshadowing, implication, and circumlocutions. The final sentence tells the audience that the most lamentable tragedy is about to come and that the story is about to end.

Although innocent and pure Romeo is at the beginning of the play, he doesn’t succeed in facing the harsh reality of society. He wants to stop the violence and end this bloody code of duel, but he instead let his friend died. He has to betray his innocence by spilling his hand with Tybalt’s blood, He is so eager to know how Juliet is and find out his ideal lover has gone west, his only reason for staying in such a cruel world is gone and he is determined to become the martyr of love. The reason behind this is that although sweet the ideal is, the reality turns out to be much crueler and unavoidable. However, does it mean that we don’t need to fight for our ideal and accept what the reality is? It is not since it is such an effort to reach the ideal although harsh and cruel the reality is, that let this play stand of from its colleagues, and made the love between Juliet and Romeo beautiful and meaningful. Just as the saying goes: ‘Man proposes, God disposes’. Cruel the reality is, but as long as there is hope towards ideal, the whole process is always more valuable than the result.he Unreachable IdealAn Analysis of Shakespeare’sRomeo and Juliet

Introduction

In the tragedy play of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet undergo horrible situations for the love of one another . Even though it may look like that they died because of their own poor choices. A few characters have affected the death of our couples like Friar Lawrence, the nurse and especially the big ongoing feud of both families.. Despite the similarity of both families, Montague and Capulets, they are the one who made the outcome of the story become so dramatically. For example, since both families hate each other, Romeo and Juliet married secretly hoping that they could keep their true love. Another example is when Tybalt died, it caused more tension to build up between the families and Romeo and Juliet. The Nurse and Friar Lawrence’s, personality’s are the same ,such as both of them support Romeo and Juliet throughout the play to the benefit of themselves and the opposing families.

The Role of Family Feud

For instance, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse helped them to get married because they believed that this would end the feud between the opposing families the Montegues and the Capulets.Many blame Romeo for the suicides of both himself and Juliet, who couldn’t live without the other. Many readers believed that the two could have been together if Romeo had not reacted to Juliet’s “death” so dramatically. However there’s someone else who could be blamed for the destiny of the young couple, which is Friar Lawrence. The man who seems as if he tried “his best” to make the two a happy couple. Friar was the one who got the two married in secret, and gave Juliet an incredibly powerful potion that allowed her to fake her own death. Also failed to deliver and important letter to Romeo, and abandoned Juliet when she needed Friar the most. When Romeo sees Juliet at her family’s masquerade party, he immediately falls in love with her, and unlike his first love, Rosaline, Juliet feels the same. Soon, they are both head over heels for each other. This is where readers believe that Friar Lawrence made his first mistake.

Friar Lawrence’s Involvement

When Romeo comes to Friar for advice, he has fallen in love with Juliet. The Friar advises Romeo to not rush into things and think through his decision. He is shocked Romeo got over Rosaline so quickly, but later rethinks his thought and decides the two should marry.’ Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear, So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. Jesus Maria, what a deal of brine Hath washed thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline! How much salt water is thrown away in waste to season love that it doth not taste! The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears, Thy old groans ring yet in my ancient ears.'(2:3:65-72)Friar can even tell Romeo is too young to understand true love. He can see that their love is really just intense passion that is likely to end.”These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and powder’ (2.9:10). Yet, he still agrees to get the two of them married in secret by the next day. In Catholicity, it is required for a couple to be engaged for at least six months, but Friar completely ignores that rule even though he is a very wise man. He gets the two married so quickly, their own families don’t know.

Although Friar’s intentions were harmless, he hopes the marriage would end the fued between the families, but their families not knowing only made things worse. Capulet decides to get Juliet married to Paris, and tells her the day after her marriage to Romeo. Maybe if the families knew of the marriage, or even just that the two were in love and planned on getting married, the families could’ve worked their differences out and came through for the sake of their children. Also, if Tybalt might not have reacted so violently about Romeo’s unwanted appearance at the Capulet family’s party. He might have understand why Romeo said that he loved him, because he loves his cousin and wants to bring peace among the two families. Disgracefully Romeo refrained from telling Tybalt and showed the wrong attitude. We must remember that Romeo and Juliet are both very young and naive. Although the roles of these ages were much different than today’s typical teens, they are still very young and have not quite matured yet, so they might have not understood how getting married so quickly could cause a phenomenon. Friar was the matured adult in this situation and instead of telling the two to wait and opening up the idea of marriage to the two families, he agrees to get the two married, in secret. Since the two were married and no one knew, it lead to greater problems in the future.

Why Is Friar Laurence To Blame For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

Friar was the one who gave Juliet a powerful potion that would make her appear as if she were dead, which only lead to her actual death. Of course, Juliet was threatening to kill herself, as she’d rather be dead than be married to Paris and be a disloyal wife to her husband, Romeo.’Be not so long to speak. I long to die If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy.'(4:1:68-69). Juliet was putting Friar under the pressure of giving her a solution for her terrible situation. Friar must have felt that he had to think effectively to help Juliet, but the solution he gave her was very extreme and did not promise to work perfectly, and surely enough it didn’t.

The Friar made a very uneducated decision when he decided to give an unstable girl a potion so powerful it will put her in such a deep sleep that it will fool everyone around her that she is dead. Even Juliet has multiple fears before she drinks the potion. She fears she will wake up too soon before Romeo can get to her, and that she will wake up and suffocate in the tomb. She also fears having to see her dead ancestors, including Tybalt’s corpse, and that she will go crazy from the memory of waking up in a tomb. All of these doubts Juliet has are not impossible to happen, possibly even likely. Yet, Friar Lawrence takes that grand risk and gives her the potion anyway.

Friar gives a young girl such a powerful potion and makes very careless actions to ensure Romeo gets the letter explaining the strategic plan he has come up with. Friar Lawrence gives the letter to Friar John to carry to Mantua without even explaining to him how greatly important it is that Romeo receives this letter. So when Friar John faces obstacles along his journey and has to return to Verona without having delivered the letter. He doesn’t try to make sure the letter gets sent to Romeo because he doesn’t think it is so urgent and vital. Friar Lawrence would have taken the letter to Romeo himself, so he could make sure that Romeo is aware of the plan. Friar also could have told Balthasar, Romeo’s loyal and trustworthy servant, the plan and have asked him to deliver it to Romeo. Since Balthasar, the only other person Romeo truly trusts in Verona, witnesses the funeral of Juliet, he runs off to inform Romeo. Due to the undelivered letter, Romeo believes Balthasar and immediately thinks Juliet is dead. In multiple ways, Friar Lawrence could have prevented this from happening.

The Tragic Consequences

Lastly, Friar Lawrence shows an act of visible selfishness when Juliet wakes up out of her sleep and both find Romeo dead, as he has killed himself. When Juliet awakens, she asks Friar where Romeo is. When they discover Romeo is dead, he tells Juliet to leave. “Come, come away. Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead, And Paris too. Come, I’ll dispose of thee Among a sisterhood of holy nuns.Stay not to question, for the watch is coming. Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.”(5:3:166-171). Of course, Juliet is not willing to abandon her lovely Romeo. In a cowardly and selfish move, Friar Lawrence flees from the tomb yelling “I dare no longer stay,” knowing that what he has done is illegal. By abandoning Juliet, he gives her the chance to make her dramatic move of using Romeo’s dagger to kill herself. If Friar had stayed with her, he could have prevented this from happening. If Friar had showed up to Juliet’s tomb before Romeo did, knowing that Romeo had no idea of the plan, he could have prevented both deaths from happening.

Conclusion

Many readers are often left stunned by the dramatic ending of Romeo and Juliet when hearing about the story for their first time. People choose to blame multiple people and many of the idiotic decisions and actions that took place. Friar Lawrence always seems to be loved by many, as Shakespeare presents him as a caring, loving and wise character who did whatever he could to save Romeo and Juliet. However, if you take a deeper look into the story, you realize many of the major mistakes are to be blamed by Friar Lawrence. He rushed the young couple’s marriage, gave Juliet a powerful potion to drink, failed to communicate to Romeo his plan and abandoned Juliet when she needed him most. Was Friar really as caring as Romeo and Juliet trusted him to be? Well there isn’t anything anyone can do now, “for never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”The story of Romeo and Juliet is one with actions that took place, that lead to many tragic deaths, including the lives of the two young protagonists of the story.

The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and after his death and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays of all time. The death scene in Romeo and Juliet, act 5 Scene 3 is both a powerful and dramatic event. Baz Luhrmann’s modern movie adaptation uses a close adaptation to the text and also is dramatically affected by the action scenes that take place within. Baz Luhrmann made a modern adaptation of the play by Shakespeare and in turn made a hit movie even with the younger audience. This essay will discuss both the original text and Baz Luhrmann’s modern movie adaptation, while elaborating on the process of film to cinema adaptation.

To begin, Romeo and Juliet the play is part of a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however, and later editions corrected the text to conform more closely with Shakespeare’s original. Shakespeare’s use of his poetic dramatic structure has been praised as an early sign of his skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. With all of this in mind, there are many changes from play to movie that change including but not limited to; The scene in detail up to the death of Juliet, Key moments in the scene, their impact on the audience and the significance of each, Shakespeare’s use of language for emotive/dramatic effect, How dramatic tension is conveyed by Luhrmann, and the social/historical context of the play and audience reaction then and now. The play and movie use the same lines that were originally written, they just keep the audience entertained in different ways. The play uses tension by making it clear that certain things are going to happen before they do, and this is initiated by the respective cast members. Throughout the death scene, the audience has a chance to become very anxious and will anticipate what will happen next. In Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation in the form of a movie, the fast-paced scenes create that tension the play has. The use of music in the movie also helped the modern adaptation as it plays on the emotions of the audience and creates an encompassing mood. In an interview by Gary Crowdus about authors adapting Shakespeare for cinema Trevor Nunn states that;

I entirely agree that a cinematic rendering of Shakespeare requires, first of all, a great deal of highly developed visual imagination and inventiveness, often beyond anything that Shakespeare delineated in the text, such as changing location, breaking scenes into smaller units, or setting them in unusual places that allow some sort of heightened perception. Unquestionably, this is the business of cinema. And you’re right to stress the issue of interpretation. There’s little point in making a film of Shakespeare if what one says, going into it, is ‘I just want to give an honest account of this text for people who maybe have not read it before,’ when clearly cinema works, at its best, because of a strong directorial concept-however headstrong, however personal. That is, it works through personal vision. (Crowdus 1999)

When adapting a play to a movie one must take into account that there is going to be some dramatization, whether that be the clothing, music, setting dress etc. A director is a type of artist so they may choose to interpret things differently depending on their vision. Also, Shakespeare would adapt with the times as well, incorporating popular music and clothing of the time so the movie as accurate in some cases. Some argued that Luhrmann did not do Shakespeare text justice through is adaptation, but according to Crystal Downing “Luhrmann’s changed ending… appears anachronistic, for he displaces the linear advancement of early modern diegesis with the postmodern deconstruction of progress…Luhrmann works in the spirit of Shakespeare. For the Bard himself was a master of anachronism, appropriating most of his stories then changing them according to the values of his time.” (Downing 2000)

The death scene in Luhrmann’s cinematic adaptation opens with Paris and his Page entering the churchyard where the Capulets family tomb is, and where Juliet lies. Paris arriving has already created dramatic tension, as we know Romeo is on his way from Mantua. Because of this we can tell there is going to be conflict between Romeo and Paris right from the start of the scene. Paris’ intentions for being at the family vault are very simple; he wants to see Juliet on his own so he can grieve in peace. This shows Paris has genuine feelings for Juliet as if he just wanted to see Juliet so that people would think he has feelings for her he would have come when everyone else did, but he comes by himself at night when no one is around. Paris sends his Page off to hide in the churchyard and to give him warning if anyone is coming. Almost immediately after he has hidden, he whistles to Paris warning him someone is approaching. Paris says “What cursed foot wanders this way tonight.” (Luhrmann 1996) This is very ironic as it is Romeo coming and he is cursed, he’s a “star crossed lover destined to die.” Along with the irony the tension is greatly increased here as we know what Romeo is planning to do and we can see why Paris would take it the wrong way. As Romeo smashes at the tombs gate with his crowbar, Paris apprehends him. Paris misunderstands Romeos intentions and believes he is there to cause more trouble after killing Tybalt, which he thinks lead to Juliet’s suicide. Paris says, “Can vengeance be pursued further than death?” (Luhrmann 1996) confirming Paris blames Romeo for Juliet’s suicide. Paris, on many occasions, refers to Romeo as a “villain” this just reinstates that he doesn’t understand Romeo’s intentions and can not imagine he is there to grieve for Juliet… yet he is taking the ultimate sacrifice for her, ending his life to be with her. At one-point Paris says “Obey, and go with me, for thou must die” because Romeo is there to do just that, kill himself for Juliet, this is verbal dramatic irony. Romeo retaliates to Paris’ verbal onslaught by calling him boy, he says “Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy!” This shows Romeo’s disrespect for Paris, and that he thinks he is inferior. Romeo pleads with Paris to leave but he does not listen. Romeo also says “tempt not a desperate man” meaning, what Romeo is there to do is important, and if Paris gets in his way, Romeo is prepared to kill him by any means.

To continue, eventually the evident outcome begins, and Paris draws his sword. They fight and Paris is slain. Paris’ Page runs off to get the civil watch. As he dies, Paris asks Romeo to lay him beside Juliet and Romeo complies with his last wish, and descends into the Capulet tomb, carrying Paris’ body. The fact that Romeo does lay Paris beside Juliet shows he has great respect for Paris, which contradicts with him calling him boy previously. It also shows Romeo to have compassion towards Paris, and that he never really wanted to kill him, and this is Romeo’s way of making amends with him. Romeo mentions Tybalt, this shows he is also trying to make amends with him and never wanted to kill him either. At this point in the novel we feel incredibly sympathetic towards Romeo as we can see he feels bad about killing Tybalt and Paris, also after everything he has done for Juliet he now thinks she is dead, what’s more is we know he is about to kill himself for Juliet however we know that Juliet is still alive and so we feel immense sympathy for Romeo. Throughout the movie and play Romeo referred to Juliet in terms of light and when he sees her, he says, “A grave? O no, a lantern, slaughtered youth; for here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light.” (Luhrmann 1996) (Shakespeare 1599) Even in a dark tomb, with dead bodies all around her, he sees her just as beautiful as he always has. Romeo takes notice to all of the signs of life but doesn’t put it all together and it never occurs to him that she is still alive. Romeo says, “Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks and deaths pale flag is not advanced there.” (Luhrmann 1996) There is a great deal of irony here that Romeo is just about to kill himself for Juliet, just as she is recovering from the drugs. Romeo takes the drugs and says “Thy drugs are quick. Thus, with a kiss I die.” Romeo dies… and just as he does Friar Lawrence enters the family tomb.

Consequently, Baz Luhrmann’s modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet did surprisingly well in the cinema, even introducing the younger generation to Shakespeare who previously wouldn’t have been interested in it. Although, in the adaptation there are a lot of bits left out none of the tension is lost, it could even be argued that the death scene in the adaptation is more emotional than the one in the play. The first noticeable change in the adaptation is that Paris is written out and so the fight between Paris and Romeo doesn’t take place. There is a fast, action-packed police chase in the place of the fight. The chase has just as much tension as the fight. Then instead of laying Paris beside Juliet, a way of Romeo showing respect and compassion to Paris, he has a hostage, which he lets go, showing compassion towards the hostage instead of Paris. Just before he lets the hostage go, he shouts “tempt not a desperate man” to the police, which he said to Paris in the play before the fight broke out. Tybalt is also written out; this is to focus the most moving scene on the two lovers. Then as Romeo enters the chapel the atmosphere changes dramatically, from the chaos outside to the tranquility inside. This may be trying to show how much better things are when Romeo is with Juliet. Romeo then goes on and shuts the chapel door a ray of light leads him to Juliet, this is a visual representation of the line “For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light.” (Luhrmann 1996) She is laid out on the alter like a fairytale princess, surrounded by candles, which twinkle like stars, this reminds us they are “star crossed lovers fated to die.” Then as Romeo approaches Juliet there is haunting church music in the background, which gets louder and louder as he gets closer to her body. This has a very strong effect on the audience as they can feel Romeo’s despair and it is a very moving moment when he sees’ her dead body. The music also increases the tension as we know Romeo is going to drink the poison and we also know Juliet is going to wake up any minute. As Romeo is standing over Juliet’s lifeless body there is an extreme close up of Romeo. He then comments on the fact that she still shows signs of life “…thou are not conquered…” This is dramatic irony as he is saying she doesn’t look dead but still thinks she is, and we know she isn’t. This has a powerful effect audience. Romeo then says his last words and lifts the poison to his lips. Just as he drinks it Juliet touches his face. This is probably the saddest bit of the movie as this is where they both realize exactly what has happened. As Romeo lies dying, Juliet kisses his lips to try and get some poison off his lips. He then says, “thus with a kiss” a tear rolls down his face… “I die.” (Luhrmann 1996) Juliet then lets out a cry which echoes around the whole church, this emphasizes the isolation that Juliet feels now that she is alone how alone. There is then an overhead shot of the gun, this makes the audience very tense as we know she is going to use it.

To continue, Juliet then picks up the gun, cocks it and the shot is heard off screen. There is then a shot up the transect of the church and we can see an inverted cross, this may be a reminder that suicide is against Christian doctrine. At this point we feel tremendous pity towards them as we knew they never had a chance as they were “star crossed lovers fated to die.” Then the camera pulls away and this suggests their souls are ascending to heaven together. Luhrmann then puts together a montage of clips from the movie, this includes when they first meet at the Capulet party and see each other through the fish tank, the morning after the wedding, it then returns to the church. Then it goes back to a previous bit in the movie again, the kiss in the swimming pool. The water may be a symbol of rebirth. Then it whites out, this may be a symbol of them going to heaven as heaven is seen as all white to many. The music of the woodwinds at the end of this sequence, after everything the two loves have gone through, gives a sense of peace at last. It is an unconventional adaptation of “…the classic love story moved…” to the futuristic backdrop of Verona beach. It has been classed as “spellbinding” and “wildly inventive.” Baz Luhrmann “…has delivered the end he promised: to make a movie ‘the way Shakespeare might have if he had been a film maker.” (Lehmann 2001)

In conclusion, although the play and movie use the same lines originally written, they keep the audience entertained in different ways throughout Act 3 Scene 5.The play uses tension by making it clear that certain things are going to happen before they do, and this is initiated by the respective cast members. As the play continues, leading up to these specific points the audience becomes very anxious and are anticipating what will happen next. In Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation in the form of a movie, there are fast paced scenes to create that tension the play has. The use of music in the movie also helped the modern adaptation as it plays on the emotions of the audience and creates an encompassing mood. Overall, the adaptation of play to movie was successful.

Works Cited

1. Crowdus, Gary, and Trevor Nunn. “Adapting Shakespeare for the Cinema: An Interview with Trevor Nunn.” Shakespeare Bulletin, vol. 17, no. 3, 1999, pp. 37–40. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26355711.
2. Downing, Crystal. “Misshapen Chaos of Well-Seeming Form: Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Romeo Juliet.’” Literature/Film Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 2, 2000, pp. 125–131. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43796975.
3. Lehmann, Courtney. “Strictly Shakespeare? Dead Letters, Ghostly Fathers, and the Cultural Pathology of Authorship in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘William Shakespeare’s Romeo Juliet.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 2, 2001, pp. 189–221. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3648667.
4. Luhrmann, Baz, director. Romeo Juliet (Motion Picture: 1996)–Electronic Press Kit. 1996.
5. Shakespeare, William. “The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” The Oxford Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, Jan. 1599, pp. 136–138., doi:10.1093/oseo/instance.00007327.