play

Romeo & Juliet Period written: 1594-1596 First known performance: 1662 The action starts with a typical street-battle between the two families, started by their servants and put down by the Prince of Verona, Escalus. The Prince declares that the heads of the two families (known simply as "Montague" and "Capulet") will be held personally accountable (with their lives) for any further breach of the peace, and disperses the crowd. Count Paris, a young nobleman, talks to Capulet about marrying his thirteen-year-old daughter, Juliet. Capulet demurs, citing the girl's tender age, and invites him to attract the attention of Juliet during a ball that the family is to hold that night. Meanwhile Juliet's mother tries to persuade her young daughter to accept Paris' wooing during their coming ball. Juliet is not inspired by the idea of marrying Paris — in fact, she admits to not really having considered marriage at all. But, being a dutiful daughter, she accedes to her mother's wishes. This scene also introduces Juliet's nurse, the comic relief of the play, who recounts a bawdy anecdote about Juliet at great length and with much repetition. In the meantime, Montague and his wife fret to their nephew Benvolio about their son Romeo, who has long been moping for reasons unknown to them. Benvolio promises Montague that he will try to determine the cause. Benvolio queries Romeo and finds that his melancholy has its roots in his unrequited love for a girl named Rosaline (an unseen character). Romeo is infatuated but laments that she will not "ope her lap to saint-seducing gold." Perhaps most frustrating to Romeo is the fact that Rosaline "will not be hit with Cupid's arrow/ She hath Diane's wit". In other words, it's not that she finds Romeo himself objectionable, but that she has foresworn to marry at all (she has vowed not to fall in love, and to die a virgin). Benvolio tries to snap Romeo out of his dark mood, to no avail: despite the good-natured taunts of his fellows, including the witty nobleman Mercutio (who gives his well known Queen Mab speech), Romeo resolves to attend the masquerade at the Capulet house, relying on not being spotted in his costume, in the hopes of meeting up with Rosaline. Romeo attends the ball as planned, but falls for Juliet as soon as he sees her and quickly forgets Rosaline. Juliet is instantly taken by Romeo, and the two youth proclaim their love for one another with their "love sonnet" in which Romeo compares himself to a pilgrim and Juliet to the saint which is the object of his pilgrimage.Tybalt, Juliet's hot-blooded cousin, recognizes Romeo under his disguise and calls for his sword. Capulet, however, speaks kindly of Romeo and, having resolved that his family will not be first to violate the Prince's decree, sternly forbids Tybalt from confronting Romeo. Tybalt stalks off in a huff. Before the ball ends, the Nurse identifies Juliet for Romeo, and (separately) identifies Romeo for Juliet. Emboldened, Romeo risks his life by remaining on the Capulet estate after the party breaks up, to catch another glimpse of Juliet at her room, and in the famous balcony scene, the two eloquently declare their love for each other. This scene contains arguably the most famous line of Romeo and Juliet, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" spoken by Juliet to the darkness (wherefore here means why – Juliet is lamenting that Romeo is a Montague, and so her enemy). The young lovers decide to marry without informing their parents, because they would undoubtedly disallow it due to the planned union between Paris and Juliet. Juliet sends the nurse to find Romeo. Accompanied by one Peter, who carries her fan, the nurse exchanges some spicy raillery with the bawdy Mercutio.With the help of Juliet's Nurse and the Franciscan Friar Lawrence (Friar Laurence), the two are wedded the next day. The Friar performs the ceremony, hoping to bring the two families to peace with each other through their mutual union. Events take a darker turn. Tybalt, still smarting from the incident at the Capulets' ball, had previously sent a letter to the Montagues challenging Romeo to a duel. Meeting Romeo by happenstance, he attempts to provoke a fight. Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt because they are now kinsmen – although Tybalt doesn't know it, as he doesn't yet know that Romeo has married Juliet. Mercutio, who is also unaware of the marriage, is angered by Tybalt's insolence – and Romeo's seeming indifference – and takes up the challenge himself. In the ensuing swordplay, Romeo attempts to allay Mercutio's anger, momentarily placing his arm around him. By doing so, however, Romeo inadvertently pulls Mercutio into Tybalt's rapier, fatally wounding him. Mercutio dies, wishing "a plague a'both your houses," before he passes. Romeo, in his anger, pursues and slays Tybalt. Although under the Prince of Verona's proclamation Romeo (and Montague and Capulet, as well) would be subject to the death penalty, the Prince instead fines the head of each house, and reduces Romeo's punishment to exile in recognition that Tybalt had killed Mercutio, who had not only been Romeo's friend but a kinsman of the Prince. Romeo flees to Mantua after attempting to see Juliet one last time. Just after Romeo leaves Juliet's bedroom unseen, Capulet enters to tell the news to his daughter that he has arranged for her to marry Paris in three days' time, to console her perceived mourning for Tybalt, although it is in fact Romeo's exile that she mourns. Juliet is unwilling to enter this arranged marriage, telling her parents that she will not marry, and when she does, "it shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate." Capulet flies into a rage and threatens to disown her if she refuses the marriage. Juliet visits Friar Lawrence and tells him to either find a solution to her problem or she will commit suicide. Friar Lawrence, being a dabbler in herbal medicines and potions, gives Juliet a potion and a plan: the potion will put her into a death-like coma for "two and forty hours" (Act IV. Scene I); she is to take it before her marriage day, and when discovered apparently dead, she will be laid in the family crypt.Meanwhile, the Friar will send a messenger to inform Romeo, so that he can rejoin her when she awakes. The two can then leave for Mantua and live happily ever after. Juliet is at first suspicious of the potion, thinking the Friar may be trying to kill her, but eventually takes it and falls 'asleep'. Friar John, the messenger of Friar Lawrence, is unable to reach Romeo due to a house he had stayed in on his way to Mantua being placed under quarantine, and Romeo learns only of Juliet's supposed "death" from his manservant Balthasar. Grief-stricken, he buys some strong poison, returns to Verona in secret, and proceeds to the Capulets' crypt, determined to join Juliet in death. Upon arrival he encounters Paris, who has also come to mourn privately for his lost love. Paris assumes that Romeo has come to defile the Capulets' crypt and challenges him to a duel. Romeo kills Paris, and afterwards drinks the poison after seeing Juliet one last time, exclaiming: "O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." (Act 5. Scene III) It is at this point that Juliet awakes and, seeing the surrounding death, seeks answers. Friar Lawrence arrives, and tries to convince Juliet to come with him, but she refuses. He is frightened by a noise, and leaves Juliet alone in the crypt. The pain and shock of Romeo's death is too much for Juliet to bear, and she stabs herself fatally with his dagger. The two lovers lie dead side by side, devoted until the last breath of life. Romeo, Juliet, and Paris are found dead shortly thereafter by a squire, who runs off to alert others. As word spreads throughout Verona about the deaths, the two feuding families (except Lady Montague, who had died of grief over her son's banishment) and the Prince converge upon the tomb. They are horrified to find Romeo, Juliet, and Paris all lying dead, and Friar Lawrence (who has hurried to the crypt, too late to prevent the tragedy) reveals to them the love and secret marriage of Romeo and Juliet. The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud, as explained by the prologue. The play ends with the Prince's elegaic lamentation: A glooming peace this morning with it brings; The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things; Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished; For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. http://www.playshakespeare.com/romeo-and-juliet An Excuse For Passion: The Feud Theme and The Passion Myth in Romeo and Juliet In education we frequently interpret the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet through the feud theme. It is the hate and prejudice of the families that ultimately comes between the two lovers. Contemporary adaptations borrowing from this interpretation, such as West Side Story and Endless Love, illustrate this point. Shakespeare himself introduces the play with the suggestion that the feud is the cause of the young lovers' unhappy fate. The chorus says, "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes./ A pair of star-crossed lovers     take their lives." (I.i.5). It may be more educationally sound to approach Romeo and Juliet from a different perspective. A perspective that illustrates the flawed thinking in the young lovers based on their own obsession with "tragic love". Although the feud appears to be the driving force of the play, there is more evidence that the tragedy is caused by the young lovers' own misconceptions about passion than by the outside force of their feuding families. In fact, the family leaders see the feud as old and faded. Montague says to Benvolio, "Who set this ancient quarrel new     abroach?" (I.i.102). Capulet says, "Tis not hard, I think,/ For men so old as we to keep the     peace," (I.ii.1). It is Romeo and Juliet who create and embrace their own tragedy. They are the perpetrators of the crime of their death, not the victims of it. With closer observation, we can see that Shakespeare does not allow the feud to     dominate. Although he cleverly uses it as a vehicle to highlight the irony of the situation, he offers frequent suggestions that the familial conflicts had little influence in the fall of     Romeo and Juliet. Capulet actually speaks highly of his supposed enemy. When Tybalt complains of Romeo being at the party, Capulet says that Romeo is a "portly gentleman" and adds that "Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well governed youth." ( I.v.66). Such praise is hardly characteristic of the intense hatred inherent in a feud. We further see the feud theme undone by the fact that much of the negative consequences are a result of happenstance and fate rather than hate and vengeance. The death of Mercutio is by accident. Mercutio says to Romeo after he is stabbed, "Why the     devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm."(III,i,100). Romeo learns the "lie" of Juliet's death only by accident when Friar Laurance's messenger is waylaid by a     quarantine. Finally, the feud is further undone by the fact that both Romeo and Juliet have already found solutions to the disapproval of their parents. The lovers got married, breaking a bond with their parents and creating one between themselves. This action weakens the strength of any fears we might have assumed would hold back the lovers from pursuing their already fatalistic attitudes about love. It would be more effective for the language arts teacher to approach the analysis of     Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of the young lovers' own fatalistic thinking and the way they embrace tragedy. By further incorporating the Tristan Myth, discussed by Denis De Rougemont in his book, Love in the Western World, the teacher can illustrate that this passion myth has been around for ages. This is not just a "problem of today's youth". De Rougemont says that "Happy love has no history. Romance only comes into     existence where love is fatal, frowned upon and doomed by life itself." ( De Rougement,     p.15). This is precisely the attitude that both Romeo and Juliet take. Prior to Juliet's even knowing that Romeo is her family enemy she says to her nurse, "Go ask his name-- If he     be married,/ My grave is like to be my wedding bed."(I.v.36). Romeo speaks of love as     "too rough, / Too rude, too boist'rous, and it pricks like thorn."(I.iv.27) prior to even meeting Juliet. These romantics have already made their love romantic through its fatality. Such fatalistic thinking about love is a characteristic that De Rougement says is     inherent in the passion myth in western literature. In truth, basically every characteristic of     the Tristan Myth is apparent in Romeo and Juliet. De Rougement describes six characteristics of the Tristan Myth:" 1.Chivalry vs. Marriage, 2. The Love of the     Romance, 3. The Love of the Love, 4. The Love of Death, 5. The Love Potion and 6.      Unhappy Mutual Love" Each characteristic is clearly present in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo's chivalry is     challenged and weakened, not by the death of his good friend Mercutio, but by his love for Juliet. When Mercutio dies, Romeo says, "O sweet Juliet,/ Thy beauty hath made me     effeminate./ And in my temper soft'ned valor's steel.(III.i.110). Romeo is the victim of his      passion, not his hatred.      In her soliloquy to the night, Juliet is clearly more enamored with love and      romance than with a man. She says, "Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night;/ Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,/ Take him and cut him out in little stars, /And he will make the face of heaven so fine/ That all the world will be in love with night/ And pay no worship to the garish sun."(III.ii.20). Surely Romeo is but an     afterthought, a part of the scenery in Juliet's romantic vision of the night.      Equally so, Juliet is in love with death. She says to Friar Laurence, "Be not so long to speak, I long to die/ If thou speak'st speak not of remedy."(IV.i.66). Juliet is not in     love, she is in trouble. For her, it is more romantic to die than to live and love.      Both lovers drink a metaphoric love-potion that will unite them in death. Not only      do they drink it, they drink with the same passion that they embrace their love for each      other. "O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop/ To help me after? I will kiss thy lips./ Haply some poison yet doth hang on them/ To make me die with a restorative."     (V.iii.163). These lovers believe that they will find love in death and are willing to partake      of the poison for that union.      Finally, both lovers embrace unhappy mutual love. After Romeo killed Tybalt, he      was only banished, thus allowing him to live freely in a nearby village. Juliet, who had      already established a clean break from her family, had only to join her husband in Mantua.      Instead the lovers choose not to see this opportunity. They choose death.      It is this passion myth that gives the language arts teacher a fresh angle for      interpretation and study. The family dissension is merely an excuse for the young lovers      to pursue their already fatalistic attitudes about love. Through the feud interpretation,      students are once again victims of the promotion of the same romantic stereotypes, but the passion myth interpretation, with some interpretive intervention, allows them to see the falsehoods about romance that western society recreates daily. It is better to empower students with insight about the shortcomings of their culture, than to support them by     reinforcing the myths they embrace. DeRougemont says, "What stirs lyrical poets to their finest flights is neither the     delight of the senses nor the fruitful contentment of the settled couple; not the satisfaction      of love, but its passion. And passion means suffering." (DeRougemont, p.15). The feud merely sets the stage for passion and suffering. Romeo and Juliet want to suffer because they believe a myth that true love is based in suffering. It is time that the self-destructive myths of passion are dispelled. BIBLIOGRAPHY De Rougemont, Denis. 1940. Love In The Western World. New York: Random House Harbage, Alfred, Ed. 1969. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Viking Press