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To begin, we will analyze the medium that introduced this infamous story to the world: the play.
*It is important to note that this analysis is from the standpoint of a reader and not of a viewer of the play in action.
Play
'Romeo and Juliet' by: William Shakespeare
Synopsis
The original play of Romeo and Juliet was written in the 16th century. It is a well-known tragedy written by the infamous William Shakespeare. The tale follows two young lovers living in the city of Verona in Italy.
The story revolves around the idea of star-crossed lovers between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Both characters are well aware of the feud between their families; however, are unable to deny the chemistry between the two of them long enough to stay away from one another. Eventually, they secretly wed, which becomes the bane of the story when Romeo murders Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, in a duel. Romeo gets banished from the city as punishment for his actions.
In an attempt to flee her father’s arranged marriage for her, Juliet fakes her death. However, this is miscommunicated to Romeo, causing him to believe that his lover is truly dead. As a result, Romeo takes his own life and when Juliet finds this out, she, too, takes her life.
The original play is meant to be a tragedy due to the loss of the only children of two very well-known families in Verona.
Audience
Primary audience: Higher class
In this case, considering the Elizabethan times, it is possible that Shakespeare’s primary audience was of the upper class as most of the lower class would work too much to find spare time to go to plays. Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed on grand stages with galleries that mostly affluent people during that period would occupy. The profound messages that Shakespeare conveys in this play through his language, literary references, and deep themes would most likely be targeted toward the higher-class individuals who were assumed to be more educated and sophisticated, making it easier for them to understand the concept of the play.
Secondary audience: Lower class
However, many do believe that servants and maids did attend some plays during their occasional breaks. As a result, the secondary audience could be the lower class, as well. Along with the profound themes explored in the play, Shakespeare also incorporates humour and comedy in his plays, specifically through the scenes where Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio banter with Tybalt. The original play does represent both the higher and lower class, so it would make sense if the secondary audience were lower-class citizens in that era as well.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Point of views
Patriarchy
The original play dwells on a patriarchal point of view as the audience is able to establish the idea that the man is the head of the family in the play.
This is demonstrated through Lord Capulet and Lord Montague as their entire families and households are under their control, and everyone must obey their authority.
For example, when Lord Capulet arranges a marriage for Juliet and Paris, Juliet is expected to adjust to her father’s orders, despite where her desires lay. (Figure 1)
Conservative
Conservatism is also a notable point of view in this play as it maintains the idea that failure to comply with social norms and traditions will result in punishment; the severity of which depends on the actions.
For example, Romeo gets banished from Verona after being exposed for killing Tybalt by Prince Escalus. Because Romeo caused harm to the Capulet family, he was subjected to punishment in the form of exile. (Figure 2)
Feudalism
The time period in which the original play takes place is reflected in the perspective of feudalism in the play. During the Renaissance period, power was defined as whoever was the wealthiest. In this case, Italy was dictated by a small ruling class of aristocrats and landowners.
The feud between the Capulet and Montague families in the play represents a feudalist perspective because both families hold a lot of power in the city of Verona and have been captivated by an ongoing feud in order to seek dominance over the other. This social hierarchy establishes the main idea and conflict of the storyline as the deaths of both families' children were due to their persistence to outdo the other.
Example of foreshadowing in the play
Codes & Conventions
Organization: Acts
Shakespeare’s method to organize the play and separate it into acts and scenes is a crucial aspect of the play. Those who have read the play know that the story begins with a prologue and is followed by acts 1-5. This five-act organization was especially used in pieces during the Elizabethan era and Shakespeare, specifically, was very well known for separating his works into five acts.
This convention is critical to the story because it maintains the structure and paces the story in order to sustain the interests of the audience.
Foreshadowing
Shakespeare uses foreshadowing a lot throughout the story of Romeo and Juliet.
For example, in Act 1, Scene 4, the idea of Romeo attending the Capulets' party as a Montague is seen as a leading factor of his death, which foreshadows the ending of the play as Romeo ends up taking his own life.
Foreshadowing plays an important role in the play as it keeps the audience intrigued up until the very end of the play.
Soliloquies
Shakespeare uses soliloquies in his play to emphasize the thoughts of different characters during a certain scene. Soliloquies indicate what the thoughts, feelings, and ideas of the characters are to the audience when the characters speak directly to themselves. Readers of the play are kept informed of the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the play as many of the chapters depict what the characters are thinking and feeling through their talking to themselves.
This is an important code to the play because most of the storyline revolves around the secrets that the characters are hiding and must keep to themselves. As a result, readers are able to better understand the story because the soliloquies provide readers insight into what the characters are thinking and feeling.
Balcony Scene
Throughout the presentation, examples of how the message changes across different mediums will be presented through the mediums' version of the infamous balcony scene.
Click on this link to read how the original play depicts the balcony scene.
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