The Tragedy of

Romeo & Juliet

By william Shakespeare

Who’s Who inVerona

Lord Montague

Head of the family; Romeo’s father

Lady MontagueRomeo’s mother

Romeo Montague

only child of the Montagues

BenvolioRomeo’s friend and cousin

The Montagues• Lord & Lady Montague• Romeo• Benvolio (friend/cousin)• Balthasar (servant)• Abram (servant)

Lord CapuletHead of the family; Juliet’s

father

Lady CapuletJuliet’s mother

Juliet Capulet

daughter of the Capulets

TybaltJuliet’s cousin; hates the Montague family

NurseJuliet’s caretaker since

birth

The Capulets• Lord & Lady Capulet• Juliet• Tybalt (cousin)• Nurse (caretaker)• Peter (servant)• Sampson and Gregory

(servant)

Prince EscalusThe ruler of Verona

MercutioRomeo’s friend; relative of the prince

Friar Laurence

Franciscan monk; mentor to Romeo

Parisa nobleman; in love

with Juliet

Setting•Verona, Italy•5 days (Sunday-Thursday)

• July, 1300s

Verona, Italy

Shakespeare• Birth: Stratford-upon-

Avon, April 23, 1564• Death: April 23, 1616

(on 52nd birthday)• Education: left school

at age 14• Family: married Anne

Hathaway; children were Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Grave

• On his grave is written:

• Good friend for Jesus sake forebeare,To digg the dust encloased heare.Blese [blest] be ye man yt [that] spares thes stones,And curst be he yt [that] moves my bones.

Shakespeare• Jobs: actor, writer, playwright• Famous for three types of plays: histories,

comedies, and tragedies• Partner of the popular acting company

Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

• The Bubonic Plague: struck in 1592; killed 1/3 of London; closed the theater doors as a precaution

Shakespeare Trivia• Nickname: The Bard

(bard means professional poet)

• 38 – number of plays he wrote

• 154 – number of love sonnets he wrote

• 2000 - number of words he invented (like assassination)

• Invented phrases like “laughingstock” and “for goodness sake”

• 135 – number of times the word “love” appears in R&J

• 260 – hours it takes to read the 936,443 words in The Complete Works of Shakespeare

• 4042 – number of lines in Shakespeare’s longest play, Hamlet

The Globe Theater• built by the LCM; trap

doors and winch lines used for gods and demons; a balcony; no curtain

• Circular; three stories; wooden; open-air amphitheater;

• Capacity: 3000

The Globe

The Globe• Costumes: quite elaborate – velvet, silk,

silver, gold, and lace• Little or no scenery; a few props

• Plays performed during the afternoons (stage was open to the sky)

• Acting companies consisted of all males, so boys played women’s roles.

The Globe• Spectators:

– seated according to social rank– very noisy– crowded– smelly and obnoxious– threw rotten vegetables at actors if they did

not like the performance

• Open-yard or Pit: the poor, or “groundlings,” (or ‘stinkards’) paid 1 penny to watch from the base of the stage

• Middle Gallery: 2 penny seats• Balcony: higher-priced seats

The GlobE

• The globe went up in flames in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII after a cannon misfired

• The Globe was rebuilt but later torn down by the Puritans who held a strict code of conduct

The GlobE

• A brewery stands where the original Globe theater stood

• A modern-day replica of the Globe opened in 1997 with daily performances

The Renaissance • Shakespeare lived during the Renaissance (word means “rebirth”)• It was a movement that was marked by a renewed interest in

science, philosophy, and the arts. • Basic Renaissance thinking was a new emphasis on the individual

and on freedom of choice.• The Renaissance reached it’s peak during the reign of Queen

Elizabeth I.

Queen Elizabeth I

• Shakespeare started his literary career during Elizabeth’s reign, a period that lasted from 1558 to 1603 and is often called the Elizabethan Age.

• Elizabeth I was a strong supporter of English culture. As a result, artists of all types – playwrights, poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, and architects – were held in high esteem.

Life in Renaissance England• Cities were crowded

and dirty• No sanitary sewers or

purified water• Dung carts passed

through the cities daily to remove human and animal waste

• No indoor toilets or toilet paper (grass or hay was used)

• People bathed a few times per year

• People were ignorant about germs- they thought bad smells were the culprits of disease, so they would use flowers & herbs to mask odors

• Life expectancy reached about 42 years

Life in Renaissance England

• Arranged marriages were common – some couples did not see each other until their wedding day

• Males and females were allowed to marry at the ages of 14 and 12

• Most grooms were given a dowry

• Women were expected to marry

• Women were regarded as second-class citizens

Conspiracy Theories:

Authorship Since his death, there has been some speculation whether Shakespeare really wrote all of the plays himself or they were written by groups of people. Some have questioned whether he really existed at all.

“The works are too learned to be the product of a man from Stratford who did not go to a university.”