Core content 5+

ROMEO AND JULIET is a play about how strong emotions have tragic consequences.

1. Shakespeare explores how strong, uncontrollable anger and violence can lead to conflict.
2. Shakespeare could be suggesting that, if strong feelings of love are ignored by families who force their children into arranged marriages, there can be tragic consequences.
3. Shakespeare could be suggesting that strong feelings of honour, tied to traditional views around what is manly (masculine) can have tragic consequences.

PLOT

1. The Prince of Verona breaks up a fight between members of the Montague and Capulet family.
2. Romeo confesses that he is lovesick over Rosaline. .
3. Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet ball and they fall in love. Tybalt vows revenge on Romeo.
4. Romeo meets Juliet again by hiding in the Capulet orchard and they agree to marry.
5. Friar Laurence agrees to marry them in secret.
6. Tybalt challenges Romeo to a fight. Romeo refuses but Mercutio accepts and is killed by Tybalt. Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona.
7. Lord Capulet insists that Juliet must marry Paris.
8. Friar Laurence gives Juliet a potion that means she’ll appear dead and sends a letter to Romeo that never arrives.
9. Romeo hears that Juliet is dead, buys poison and takes it at her tomb. Juliet wakes, sees Romeo dead and stabs herself.
10. The Montagues and the Capulets find their children dead and agree to end the feud.

CHARACTERS (Key quotations are in bold)

Romeo (impulsive and passionate)

1. Feels ill and in pain through love for Rosaline. ‘madness’ ‘pricks like thorn’
2. Immediately forgets Rosaline when he first meets Juliet. ‘Did my heart love till now?’
3. He takes huge risks in order to see and marry Juliet. Sees Juliet as the ‘sun’.
4. He tries to avoid conflict with Tybalt but, when Mercutio is killed, he kills Tybalt. ‘Fire-eyed fury’
5. When he learns of Juliet’s apparent death, he instantly makes a plan to kill himself by Juliet’s side.

Juliet (rebellious and brave)

1. She agrees to consider Paris as a husband until she meets Romeo.
2. She is obedient to, and distant from, her mother, calling her ‘madam’.
3. Takes huge risks to see and marry Romeo. ‘I’ll no longer be a Capulet’ / ‘god of my idolatry’
4. She refuses to marry Paris, which destroys her relationship with her parents. ‘Hang, beg, starve’
5. She takes a potion that enables her to pretend to be dead, even though she is frightened. ‘mangled tybalt’
6. When she wakes to find Romeo next to her, she stabs herself.

Mercutio (witty and loyal)

1. He mocks Romeo’s love for Rosaline, turning Romeo’s words into innuendos. ‘Prick love for pricking’
2. When Romeo will not fight Tybalt, Mercutio is disappointed in him and fights instead. ‘Vile submission’
3. He blames Romeo for his death, cursing both families. ‘A plague on both your houses’

Tybalt (aggressive and violent)

1. He threatens to kill Benvolio and calls him a coward. ‘peace! I hate the word’ ‘hate hell’,’Montagues’
2. He believes strongly in fighting to defend his honour (and the Capulet honour). ‘Honour of my kin’
3. He vows to take revenge against Romeo for attending the ball.
4. He is always looking for a fight. He mocks and provokes Romeo, referring to him as ‘boy’ and ‘villain’
5. He kills Mercutio.

Lord Capulet (patriarchal and authoritative)

1. He asks Paris to wait a few years before asking for her hand in marriage. ‘stranger to the world’
2. After Tybalt’s death, he quickens the marriage and threatens Juliet. ‘Hang, beg, starve, die in the streets’
3. When he discovers Juliet is dead, he ends the feud, offering to build a golden statue of Romeo.

Lady Capulet (cold and distant)

1. She wishes to see Juliet get married at age thirteen. She is distant from Juliet. ‘daughter’
2. She demands that Romeo be killed in order to serve justice for Tybalt’s death. ‘shed blood of Montague’
3. She supports Lord Capulet’s wish to quicken the marriage and disowns Juliet. ‘I am done with thee’

Benvolio (loyal and peaceful)

1. Tries to keep the peace at the start of the play. ‘Part, fools!’
2. Advises Romeo to look for other women. ‘examine other beauties’
3. Predicts that a fight will happen and tries to persuade Mercutio to go home. ‘We shall not escape a brawl’

Friar Laurence (well-meaning but interfering)

1. Marries Romeo and Juliet in order to end the feud. ‘Turn your households’ rancour to pure love’
2. Often advises Romeo to think carefully: when he is marrying Juliet and when he is banished from Verona. ‘they stumble that run fast’ / ‘dear mercy’

Nurse (well-meaning and witty)

1. Shows deep affection for Juliet, having raised her since she was born. ‘Lamb’ ‘ladybird’
2. Helps Juliet and Romeo to marry in order to bring happiness to Juliet.
3. Encourages Juliet to marry Paris after Romeo’s banishment. ‘Eagle’ / ‘dishclout’

Prince Escalus (authoritative)

1. He threatens punishment of death if anyone carries on fighting. ’your lives shall pay’
2. He banishes Romeo.
3. He says at the end of the play that ‘all are punished’ and all are responsible for the deaths.

CONTEXT:

• Patriarchy: Verona is presented as a patriarchal society - one in which men have more power.
• Marriage: Arranged marriage was once an accepted part of life, particularly for wealthier families.
• Fate: audiences believed that the position of the planets and stars could affect people’s actions.
• Religion: the Elizabethan audience were mostly very religious.

THEMES:

1. Love: Love is an overpowering force that can override all other values, loyalties, and emotions.
2. Conflict: conflict happens as a result of family honour: if they or their family is insulted, they must fight the man who insults them, or else be considered a coward.
3. Fate: Shakespeare encourages the audience to question: is fate or the characters’ actions responsible?
4. Family: Shakespeare challenges distant and traditional families, who ignore their children’s wishes.

STRUCTURE

1. Prologue: Shakespeare’s deliberate choice to reveal the play’s tragic end in the opening promises the audience that the play will be filled with pain, conflict and overpowering love. It also facilitates several moments of dramatic irony, during which the sense of tragedy is further heightened for the audience.
2. Pace: The action of the play takes place in just 4 days. Time places pressure on the characters, pushing them to make desperate, and often foolish, decisions.

VOCABULARY:

aggressive - behaving in an angry and violent way

authoritative - someone who seems important and expects to be obeyed

courageous - willing to do something difficult or dangerous even if they’re afraid

fate - a power that some people believe controls everything that happens, in a way that cannot be prevented or changed

feud - a argument in which two people or groups remain angry with each other for a long time

honour - good reputation and character as judged by other people

impulsive - doing things suddenly without careful thought

irresponsible - not taking care properly of the person/things you are supposed to

loyal - remaining firm and unchanging in friendship and support

naive - very willing to believe someone or something is good and that people always have good intentions

obedient - willing to do what someone tells you to do

passionate - strong feelings about something or someone

patriarchal - a society, family, or system is one in which the men have all or most of the power and importance

rebellious - refusing to obey rules or authority or to accept normal standards of behavior, dress, etc. r

witty - funny in a clever way

Terminology

dramatic irony - when the audience knows something the characters don’t

imagery - language that causes people to imagine pictures in their mind

stage direction - a note in the play that says what the actor should do

suspense - a growing sense of expectation; a feeling that events are leading to something exciting or tragic

tragedy - a type of literature that is serious and sad and often ends in the death of the main character

tragic flaw - the characteristic in the tragic hero that leads them to making mistakes