An Introduction to William Shakespeare and the Tragedy

of Romeo & Juliet

English 9

April 23, 1564: William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon to John and Mary Shakespeare. He was the 3rd of 8 children.

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

Butcher Apprentice

Lawyer

Schoolmaster Lawyer

1582: Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.

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

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

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

HamnetJudith

Susanna

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

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

1593 - 1613 he wrote and acted in 37 plays

Tragedies

ComediesHistories

Tragedicomedies

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

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

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

1616: William Shakespeare dies on his birthday.

 Good friend,

for Jesus sake forbear/

To dig the dust enclosed here/

Blessed be the man that spares these

stones And cursed be

he that moves my bones.

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

We are all unwitting Shakespeare citers – "without rhyme or reason". If you are " in a pickle" because you have been "eaten out of house and home”." No wonder you “haven't "slept a wink" and have probably "vanished into thin Air. If you "point your finger" at me, "bid me good riddance" when you "send me packing" and call me a "laughing-stock," "the devil incarnate," a "sorry sight," "eyesore," and a "stone-hearted," "bloody-minded" "blinking idiot" and wish I were "dead as a door-nail", then I would say that you definitely do not possess a "heart of gold“, especially considering that we are "flesh and blood." Now that we have gone "full circle" and you are still waiting with a "bated breath" since I have not been able to make you "budge an inch," it is "fair play" for me to quit this sermon since Shakespeare himself taught me that "brevity is the soul of wit."

Poetic TerminologyMeter: the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse

Blank Verse: Unrhymed meter; usually iambic pentameter

Iambic Pentameter: 5 sets of unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (10 syllables)

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

Heroic Couplet: Two consecutive lines that rhyme in iambic pentametere (aa bb cc).

.

Poetic TerminologyEnjambment: Poetry has NO punctuation at the end of the line and meaning is continued to following lines

There is a place where the sidewalk ends/ and before the street begins

Internal Rhyme: Words rhyming inside one line.Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary

End Line Rhyme: Words rhyming at the end of consecutive lines.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow/ We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow

Perfect vs. Slant Rhyme: ball & hall are a perfect rhyme (end sounds the same). Ball & bell are slant rhymes (beginning and end sounds the same; middle sound is different).

Dramatic TerminologyThe play is broken up into acts and the acts are broken up into scenes.

Monologue: A long uninterrupted speech given by one character onstage to everyone (audience and actors)

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

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

Dramatic Terminology

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

Pun: A humorous play on words

Irony: *dramatic, situational, verbal

Conceit: An extended, exaggerated metaphor between two unlike things

Malapropism: an unintentional inappropriateness of speech resulting from the use of one word for another which resembles it. EX: Everybody in the company has their own cuticle.

Petrarchan Lover: IN LOVE WITH LOVE

Shakespeare’s 5 Part Storytelling Pattern:

Act I: Exposition

Establishes setting, characters, conflict, and

background

Act II: Rising Action

A series of complications

Act III: Crisis/Turning Point

A series of complications

Act IV: Falling Action

Results of the turning point; characters locked

into deeper disaster

Act V: Climax/Resolution/Denouement

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

Tips for Understanding R & JRomeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s long narrative poem the Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562).

The play has a highly moral tone: immaturity, ignorance, disobedience, and fate ALL lead to multiple deaths

Marriage in Renassiance England:crucial to the network of alliances that underlay a family’s prosperity and prospects and that supported civic institutions

Women as young as fourteen were often married to men in their thirties, partly to ensure the bride’s virginity.

The women’s say so in whom they wanted to marry was only a mention.

MONTAGUE vs. CAPULET

Romeo

Lord Montague (his dad)

Lady Montague (his mom)

Mercutio (friend)

Benvolio (cousin)

Juliet

Lord Capulet (her father)

Lady Capulet (her mother)

Tybalt (cousin)

Nurse

A Pair of Star Crossed Lovers…“My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen

unknown, and known too late!” ~ Juliet; Act I, Scene V