Romeo and Juliet AQA

Context behind the play

• written by William Shakespeare

• written between 1591 and 1595

• first performed in 1597

• shakespearean tragedy- contains a tragic hero and tragic ending

• famous for its prologue

overview of Romeo and Juliet

• set in renaissance Italy and takes place in a city called Verona, with has two eponymous protagonists- Romeo and Juliet, who are teenagers from opposing families

• play starts with a street fight between servants from these opposing families, the Montagues and Capulets

• Romeo starts off in the play as a young heartbroken boy, weeping over his unrequited love for a girl named Rosaline. His friends tell him to get over her and sneak in with them to the Capulet Ball.

• He meets Juliet, and the two instantly fall in love. However, they discover that they are from different sides, but that doesn’t stop them.

• They get married in private, as family and friends wouldn’t approve. Soon after, Tybalt insists on fighting Romeo as loyalty to his family, however he and mercutio dies, whilst Romeo is exiled

• Juliet finds out about Romeo’s exile and Tybalt’s death however she chooses romeo

  • Juliet’s family is marrying her off to Paris, whom she doesn’t want to be with nor could she due to her relationship with Romeo. She takes matters upon her own hands to ask Friar Laurence to create a sleeping potion for her to pretend to be dead to her family, however Romeo doesn’t get delivered the message in time, and believes shes dead, and kills himself. Juliet awakes and sees a dead Romeo and so kills herself too. The play ends with two families grieving over their dead children.

ACT 1 in depth

A1S1

• a feud breaks out on the streets between Capulets and Montagues

• Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop the fight, However Tybalt Capulet is eager to continue the fight for the honour of Capulets

• Both sides are warned by the Prince who tells them to not disturb the peace again

A1S2

• Paris asks for Juliet’s hand in marriage and Lord Capulet tells him to wait, however try woo her at the party

A1S3

• Juliet is asked about the prospect of marriage- ‘An honour that I dream not of’, and tells her mother she will see her opinion of Paris at the ball

A1S4

• Romeo, feeling defeated by his unrequited love for Rosaline, is isolating himself and pitying himself, until his friends come to see him out of theirs and his parents’ concern, in which they encourage him to cheer up and also come with them to the Capulet Masquerade Ball to find someone new.

A1S5

• Tybalt sees Romeo talking to a servant, and recognises that he is a Montague. To honour the Capulets, he tries to challenge Romeo, in which he is humiliated and humbled by his uncle, Lord Capulet, who shames him for being too vengeful and tells him to leave Romeo alone. Romeo and Juliet then meet for the first time, fall in love instantly, and find out they’re from opposing sides

ACT 2 in depth

A2S1

• Romeo was wandered away in the capulet gardens as he is too drawn to juliet, and his friends/cousins wonder where is has gone. They use the name of Rosaline to lure him back to them, however are unsuccessful and go home.

A2S2

• Balcony scene. Romeo hovers below Juliet’s balcony, mesmerized by her beauty. Whilst he is there, Juliet speaks and wonders why Romeo has to be a Montague and her a Capulet, thinking that a name is just a word, and it would be simple for her to take his last name. Romeo calls out saying that he would ‘forsake’ his last name for her, and after discussion, they swear their love for each other and agree to be married. She tells him that he’d die if he’s caught, but he doesn’t care.

A2S3

• Friar Laurence agrees to officiate for Romeo and Juliet. He is shocked at how fast Romeo got over Rosaline and became in love with Juliet, but agrees, as he believes it can unite the two families.

A2S4

• Tybalt gives a threatening note regarding Romeo to Mercutio and Benvolio, who are still looking for Romeo. Mercutio is worried for Romeo’s lovesick ability to duel Tybalt, a skilled duelist. They find Romeo no longer upset. Romeo and Mercutio are laughing together, until the nurse arrives, pulling Romeo aside. He tells her to tell Juliet to meet him at the Friar’s cell that afternoon. He doesn’t tell any of his friends about his relationship with Juliet.

A2S5

• Juliet is waiting for the nurse to come back from meeting Romo, and moans about how lengthy the process has been, until the nurse returns. The nurse jokes around with Juliet, before telling her to meet Romeo and the Friar L. She also leaves out the ladder, so Romeo can come up and they spend the night together as they will be newlywed.

A2S6

• At the Friar L’s cell- he warms Romeo to love moderately, and not be overcome with passion. Juliet enters and they greet. They follow the Friar, so he can marry them.

ACT 3 in depth

A3S1

• Tybalt is still seeking revenge to Romeo after the Capulet Ball, and runs into Benvolio and Mercutio. He provokes Mercutio into a duel whilst Benvolio tries to mediate. Romeo enters, and Tybalt calls him a villain. Romeo swears he isn’t, but Tybalt doesn’t care and challenges him to a duel. Mercutio draws first to defend Romeo, and is killed by Tybalt and curses both houses. Romeo is in grief and kills Tybalt and flees. Capulets plea for Romeo’s execution, but Montagues defend him and Romeo has to leave Verona forever, as the Prince declares.

A3S2

• Juliet is waiting for Romeo to come, until she is met by the news of Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s exile. She chooses Romeo over Tybalt, which shows her coming into agreement with her fate. She grieves for him and the nurse agrees to find him and send him to Juliet’s chamber for the night as planned

A3S3

• Romeo visits Friar L who tells him about his exile. Romeo is upset and would rather be dead than separated from Juliet. Nurse arrives telling Romeo about how miserable Juliet is and he is too- and threatens committing suicide. They agree to have Romeo spend the night with Juliet and then in the morning face exile. They plan to figure out how he can be pardoned.

A3S4

• Paris is anxious to marry Juliet. He goes to Capulet who promised Juliet will do whatever he commands. He makes plans for them to marry that week. Lady Capulet prepares Juliet for wedding.

A3S5

• Its the morning, and R & J must part ways. The nurse enters, telling Juliet that her mother is coming. Romeo leaves, and they wonder if they’ll see each other again. Lady Capulet believes Juliet is in grief over Tybalt and tells her about hers and Paris’ wedding. Juliet refuses and Capulet tells her to beg, starve, hang and die if she doesn’t. Juliet begs the Nurse for help, who just tells her to marry Paris. Juliet seeks Friar L

ACT 4 in depth

A4S1

• Paris makes plans with Friar L for his and Juliet’s wedding. Paris leaves and Juliet enters desperate for help in stopping hers and Paris’ wedding. If he doesn’t help her, she’ll kill herself. She is going to pretend to play along with the wedding, and then the day of, drink a potion which mimicks death. The Friar will bring Romeo to wait for her to wake up at her tomb, and Juliet consents to the plan.

A4S2

• Juliet tells Capulet that she will marry Paris. Excited, he moves the wedding up- to the next day

A4S3

• The Nurse is sent away by Juliet, and she drinks the potion, knowing who terrifying it would be to wake up in the family tomb. If the plan doesn’t work, she’ll take a dagger. She is worried about it being poison, but trusts Friar L, drinks the potion, and falls on her bed.

A4S4

• Wedding preparations are being rushed through. Paris arrives, and Capulet sends the nurse to wake up Juliet

A4S5

• The Nurse finds Juliet ‘dead’ . Hearing the Nurse, Lord and Lady Capulet enter and sees Juliet. Paris and the Friar enter, and everyone grieves her loss. Wedding arrangements turn to funeral plans, managed by Friar L

ACT 5 in depth

A5S1

• Romeo dreams of dying and being brought back to life by Juliet’s kiss. Balthasar arrives to tell him of Juliet’s death, and Balthasar doesn’t know of Juliet’s plan. Romeo buys poison and plans to commit suicide at Juliet’s tomb. He immediately heads back to Verona

A5S2

• Friar Laurence sent the plan to Romeo, but Friar John doesn’t give it to Romeo in time. Friar Lawrence hurries to the tomb to retrieve Juliet from the tomb and bring her back to his cell to meet Romeo there.

A5S3

• Paris visits Juliet’s tomb, and Romeo arrives seeing him there- they battle and Paris dies. Romeo enters the tomb and sees Juliet’s ‘corpse’. He gives a speech, kisses Juliet, and Drinks the poison. Friar Lawrence walks in, and sees Romeo’s corpse next to Juliet’s not-dead body. Juliet awakes and Friar Lawrence tries to convince her to flee, but Juliet doesn’t listen and kills herself with her dagger. The Prince arrives at the scene with the Montagues and Capulets horrified to see what has happened to Romeo and Juliet. The Prince tells the Montagues and Capulets that their feud has caused too much tragedy, and so both sides drop their feud.

fatal flaw

a character trait that leads to the tragic hero’s downfall

• for ROMEO, it is his fatalistic impulsiveness

tragic hero

sympathetic heroic figure who is destined to die because of his fatal flaw

foil

a character who stands in contrast to the tragic hero, who conforms to the typical societal expectations of the era- Tybalt.

conflicts within the play

• family

Structure

1. Exposition- found in the prologue. An introduction to the atmosphere in which the play is set in. This is done for dramatic irony and tension as the audience watches the events unfold

2. Rising action: where Romeo’s fatal flaw is exposed and inevitable chain of events begins the downfall of the protagonist (Romeo). Romeo’s reckless decision to attend the Capulet ball falls in line with his fate, untimely death

3. Climax- Romeo’s impulsive fight with Tybalt, which ends with the death of Mercutio and Tybalt.

4. Falling action- Romeo realises his flaws and calls himself ‘fortune’s fool’

5. Denouement: R & J die, fufilling the prologue’s fateful message

Romeo

• romantic character

• irrational

• rash and impulsive

• Loyal

• emotional

• protagonist

• tragic hero

• eponymous character (name is included in title of play)

Romeo character quotes

‘It is the east and Juliet is the sun’ A2S2

‘Did my heart love till now’ A1S5

‘I defy you stars’ A5S1

‘Thus with a kiss I die’ A5S3

‘I am fortune’s fool’ A3S1

‘come what sorrow can, it cannot countervail the exchange of joy hat one short minute gives me in her sight.’ A2S6

‘Love-devouring death do what he dare’ A2S6

‘I do protest, I never injured thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise’

Juliet

• determined

• defiant

• loyal

• passionate

• courageous

Juliet’s trajectory

Starts the play off as an innocent, obedient child, who dutifully follows her parent’s wishes

After meeting Romeo, she becomes passionately in love and devoted to him, choosing him over her family.

She becomes impulsive and disobedient as she falls in even deeper love for Romeo- she marries him in private, is disobedient to her parents, and pretends to be dead in order to not follow their wishes before killing herself after finding a dead Romeo.

Juliet quotes

• ‘It is an honour that I dream not of’ A2S1

• ‘ Oh happy dagger’ A5S3

• ‘Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?’ A3S2

• ‘thy purposeful marriage’ A2S2

• ‘bid him to come to take his last farewell’ A3S2

• ‘My true love is grown to such excess, I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth’

The Nurse

• Juliet’s confidante

• servant

• maternal

• supportive

• loyal

• comedic

Nurse’s nature

a comedic relief throughout the play, who uses lots of sexual bawdy humour- ‘Seek happy nights to happy days’

She is Juliet’s maternal figure, whom she goes to in times of need. However, when Juliet gets into an arguement with her parents over not wanting to marry Paris, the Nurse tells her to, and Juliet is finally isolated from all family.

The Nurse quotes

• ‘Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days’ A1S3

• ‘The prettiest babe that e’er I nursed’ A1S3

• ‘Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence’ cell’ A2S5

• ‘I think it best you married with the County’ A3S5

Tybalt

• vengeful

• aggressive

• hot-tempered

• loyal

• prideful/proud

• impulse

• a foil

• ‘saucy boy’

Tybalt’s trajectory

He makes no trajectory. He stays as a prideful, arrogant, and aggressive boy, leading up to his death.

however, he is a loyal character

• loyal to both honouring his family’s name in the feud, and to the Elizabethan honour code

Tybalt quotes

• ‘Peace..I Hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee’ A1S1

• ‘Turn and draw’ A3S5

• ‘Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me’ A3S1

• ‘To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin’ A1S5

Lord Capulet’s Trajectory and nature

He starts off as a protective father, having Juliet’s best interest at heart.

• ‘My child is yet a stranger in the world; she hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Let two more summers wither in their pride, ere we may think her ripe to be a bride’ A1S2

He changes later on in the play, in which he tells Juliet to hang, beg, starve and die in the streets for not marrying Paris.

• ‘disobedient wretch’

• ‘hang thee, young baggage’

• ‘We have a curse in having her’

• ‘you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets’

• ‘you shall not house with me’

The Prince

• peace maker

• ruler and authority

The Prince quotes

• ‘all men depart’ A1S1

• ‘For this time, all the rest depart away’ A1S1

• ‘Immediately we do exile him hence’ A3S1

• ‘Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill’

The Friar

• Father figure to Romeo

Theme of Love

• Shakespeare presents challenges faced by R & J being in love due to societal attitudes and family pressures

  • interwoven into every scene in the play

  • purity of first love with the passionate and uncontrollable force of Love

unrequited love

• Romeo’s infatuation with Rosaline

• A1S1, Romeo uses multiple oxymorons to express his emotions about love and the conflict within it. ‘loving hate’

• Unending list suggests Romeo’s inability to comprehend the reality of his situation and his confusion on love

• it strongly alludes to Romeo’s immature and inexperienced

archetypal petrarchan lover

a literary character who embodies the classic triats of unrequited love, often characterized by a deep, passionate and often one sided affection for a beloved who is either unattainable or indifferent

• in R&J, Romeo is the embodiement of the archetypal petrarchan lover in A1S4

Romeo as the self-conscious sufferer

In A1S4, Romeo is seen as the self-conscious sufferer as he is driven by his unrequited love for Rosaline

• this emotional distress causes him to isolate himself and withdraw from family and friends: a common trope of petrachan poetry

the significance of Romeo’s development

an important cursor for the transition from comedy to tragedy

• his hamartia (fatal flaw) is the inability to think rationally, and choosing to make quick impulsive decisions

Romeo and Juliet character’s in context

character’s were based on the context