Romeo+and+Juliet

**Romeo and Juliet -** **The Most Famous Love Story of all time!** Archetypal lovers [|Romeo and Juliet] portrayed by [|Frank Dicksee]. Quotes for revision



This is a good, easy summary of the play. Print it off if you need it to revise with. []

The Prologue. This tells what is going to happen in the story -

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Have a look at this - the pictures are of the real balcony in Verona, Italy - Briellen has been there - LUCKY GIRL.



The story is so beautiful because the lovers use language to convey their feelings. How about this... [|**Romeo**]: Did my heart love 'til now? Forswear its sight. For I never saw true beauty 'til this night.

[|**Romeo**]: Well, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!

What's in a name? That which we call a rose,By any other word would smell as sweet. To find more useful quotes follow this link http://www.literary-quotations.com/r/romeo_and_juliet.html

**foreshadowing - decide which of these hints at future events**

The Chorus’s first speech declaring that Romeo and Juliet are doomed to die and “star-crossed.” - this is telling us the story before we begin rather than foretelling some doom that will befall them. The lovers’ frequent thoughts of death: “My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (Juliet, I.v.132). The lovers’ thoughts of suicide, as when Romeo threatens to kill himself after killing Tybalt. Friar Lawrence’s warnings to behave moderately if Romeo and Juliet wish to avoid tragedy: “These violent delights have violent ends. . . Therefore love moderately” (II.v. 9–14). The lovers’ mutual impression that the other looks pale and deathlike after their wedding night (III.v). Juliet’s faked death by Friar Lawrence’s potion. Romeo’s dream-vision of Juliet kissing his lips while he is dead (V.i). Romeo’s outbursts against fate: “O, I am fortune’s fool!” (III.i.131) and “Then I defy you, stars” (V.i.24)

 Friar Laurence tells us the story of what happened again at the end in his speech to Lord and Lady Capulet, Lord Montague and The Prince. The summary is here - The Prince demands to know what happened, and Friar Lawrence relates the entire story.


 * I married Romeo and Juliet on the day Tybalt was killed so Romeo was banished from the city. Juliet cried for Romeo, not Tybalt but you made her marry Paris to stop the crying. She came to me with a wild look in her eye and begged me to save her from the second marriage otherwise she would kill herself so I gave her a sleeping potion which made her appear dead. I wrote to Romeo to tell him to come and get her from the tomb when the potion would have worn off. But last night the letter came back to me and Romeo hadn't received it. I came to the tomb by myself when she woke up so I could take her to my cell till Romeo could come there. But when I arrived Paris and Romeo were dead. I told her to come with me but she wouldn't and a noise scared me away. So it seems she 'did violence' on herself.** 
 * NOW TURN THAT INTO A FLOW CHART.**

He asks to receive his rightful blame, but the Prince says that they cannot condemn a holy man. Balthasar and the page give their sides of the story, and the truth is revealed when the Prince reads Romeo’s letter to his father. Capulet and Montague shake hands and end the feud that caused so many innocent people to die.

Extra for Experts - Read the information at this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arnolfini_Portrait which tells of this portrait perhaps painted as a memorial to a wife who died. Then - Compare this wedding photo by Jan van Eyck with what you know of the Romeo and Juliet ideal of Love. Then listen to the following song by Van Morrison and decide whether in your opinion Romeo and Juliet had this sort of love for one and other.

media type="file" key="05 Have I Told You Lately.m4a" width="300" height="50" Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one above you Fill my heart with gladness Take away my sadness Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Oh the morning sun in all its glory Greets the day with hope and comfort too And you fill my life with laughter You can make it better Ease my troubles that's what you do

There's a love that's divine And it's yours and it's mine Like the sun at the end of the day We should give thanks and pray to the one

Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one above you Fill my heart with gladness Take away my sadness Ease my troubles, that's what you do

There's a love that's divine And it's yours and it's mine So What is Love and is it the same as Passion or Lust? And it shines like the sun At the end of the day we will give thanks And pray to the one

Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one above you Fill my heart with gladness Take away my sadness Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Take away my sadness Fill my life with gladness Ease my troubles thats what you do Fill my life with gladness Take away my sadness Ease my troubles that's what you do

//**THEMES -**// Love, in its many forms, is an important theme in the play. The Nurse and Mercutio speak in vulgar terms about love, referring to its physical side. Romeo's love for Rosaline is simply superficial, childish infatuation. Paris represents a contractual love. He does not actually know Juliet, just her family and what she represents. He is marrying a name, not a person. Juliet questions Romeo at first as to his intentions, the type of love he has to offer. The love between Romeo and Juliet is a spiritual, romantic love. Is Romeo and Juliet's love the superior form? They alone die for their love.

Another important theme is the duality Friar Lawrence speaks of. Romeo and Juliet are both lovers and enemies. The Nurse and the Friar both try to help the lovers but ultimately, Romeo and Juliet suffer. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet themselves are a notable example of this duality. Their suffering and deaths are tragic however, without them, their families would not have stopped feuding. Verona was torn by the hatred between the two families. The sacrifice made by the lovers allows everyone to begin healing old wounds.

Fate plays an important role in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo feels that he cannot control the course of his life. He speaks out to whoever directs [his] sail (I.4) Does fate actually control the course of events or does everyone play a part? If Juliet had not made such a show of obedience, Capulet may not have changed the wedding date. If there had been more time, Friar John may have managed to get the message to Romeo in time and he would not have killed himself in Juliet's tomb. If Mercutio hadn't jumped into a fight with Tybalt, he wouldn't have been killed. He may also have survived if Romeo had not stepped between them. In either case, Tybalt and Romeo probably wouldn't have fought, Tybalt wouldn't have been killed, and Romeo wouldn't have been banished. There are several events that could have ended differently if someone had acted in just a slightly different manner or arrived just a moment earlier / later. Can this be blamed on fate?