Shakespeare & Romeo & Juliet Review

Shakespeare’s birth info

• believed to have been born on April 23, 1564 (he was baptized on April 26th and people were generally baptized three days after they were born back then)

• parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden

Shakespeare’s family

• married Anne Hathaway

• had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith

Robert Greene

• wrote an article about Shakespeare (a mean one) that got his name out there and helped launch his career (first time his name was in print)

Shakespeare’s works

• 37 plays (categories of comedy, History, and tragedy)

• 2 long narrative poems

• 154 sonnets (a poem that is 14 lines long and has 10 syllables per line)

Shakespeare’s death

• died on April 23, 1616

• buried at Holy Trinity Church

• his plays were published posthumously (after his death) in a volume (collection of works) titled “The First Folio” by John Heminges and Henry Condell in 1623

Elizabethan Era

• the period when Shakespeare lived and wrote

• Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne at the time (she loved the theater)

The Theater

• the first theater built in England in 1576 by James Burbage

The Globe

• the main theater where Shakespeare performed

• built in 1599 and burned down in 1613

• all parts were played by men/boys because women were not allowed to perform

Shakespeare’s acting company

• originally called Lord Chamberlain’s Men

• name later changed to The King’s Men once King James I came to power

• the leading actor in his company was Richard Burbage

Rival Acting Company

• The Admiral’s Men

• lead actor was Edward (Ned) Alleyn

tragic hero

• the protagonist or central character who usually fails or dies due to a flaw or cruel twist of fate (Romeo and Juliet)

• main plot is the love story

antagonist

• the adversary or hostile force opposing the protagonist (the Montague and Capulet families)

• subplot is the feud (we never even know the reason for their fight)

foil

• two characters on stage together with opposite personalities or traits that sharply contrast

• ex. Tybalt and Benvolio

soliloquy

• a speech given by a character alone on stage to expose inner thoughts and feelings

aside

• a character’s remarks that others on stage do not hear, in order to reveal the character’s private thoughts

dramatic irony

• when the audience knows more than the characters

comic relief

• adding humor after a serious scene; meant to relieve tension

iambic pentameter

• 5 beats of unstressed followed by stressed syllables (10 syllables total)

blank verse

• unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

• what Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in

sonnet

• 14 line poem written in rhyming lines of iambic pentameter (the prologue is written as a sonnet)

puns

• play on words that makes use of a word’s multiple meanings

• puns always lighten the tone and add humor

oxymoron

• expressions containing an apparent contradiction (opposites placed next to each other for effect)

• ex. jumbo shrimp or loving hate

• an author’s purpose for using puns would be to show conflicting feelings

• ex. Romeo speaks in oxymorons to show his conflicted feelings because Rosaline doesn’t love him back

foreshadowing

• when characters hint at or refer to something that will happen in the future

prologue

• an introduction (provides background information)

monologue

• long speech by one actor who is NOT alone on stage

• ex. Mercutio’s “Queen Mab” speech

Setting of Romeo & Juliet

• Verona, Italy in the 1400s

Important House of MOntague Characters

• RomeO

• BenvoliO (cousin)

• MercutiO (friend)

• MOntague (dad)

• Lady MOntague (mom)

• Abram (servant)

Important House of CapuleT Characters

• JulieT

• CapuleT (dad)

• Lady CapuleT (mom)

• TybalT (cousin)

• Nurse (caregiver, friend, mother figure)

• Sampson (servant)

• Gregory (servant)

Other Important Characters

• Escalus (Prince)

• Paris (wants to marry Juliet)

• an Apothecary (sells medicines)

• Friar Lawrence (friend to Romeo/a member of the church)

• Friar John