Transcript Valentine Petals - Chico Unified School District

Romeo and Juliet
An introduction…
Factsheet Information…
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Author: William Shakespeare
When Written: early to mid 1590’s
Where Written: England
When Published: 1597
Literary Period: The Renaissance (1500 -1600)
Original Title: The Most Excellent and
Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
• Genre: Tragic Drama
Characters…
• Romeo – the 16 year old son of Montague and
Lady Montague.
• Juliet – the beautiful 13 year old daughter of
Capulet and Lady Capulet, and cousin of Tybalt.
• Nurse – a servant who nursed Juliet as a baby
(the Nurse’s own baby died just before Juliet
was born). The nurse raised Juliet through
childhood, and she is Juliet’s closest friend and
confidant. In many ways, she is more
Juliet’s mother than is Lady Capulet.
• Mercutio – Romeo’s close friend, and a
kinsman of Prince Escalus. He hates romantic
ideals and mocks those who hold them.
• Friar Laurence – a Franciscan monk and a
friend to both Romeo and Juliet. He preaches
moderation.
• Capulet – Juliet’s father. He is the leader of
the Capulet family, and an enemy of Montague.
He tries to appear open-minded, but believes
that he knows what is best for his daughter even
though he never consults her about her
feelings.
• Lady Capulet – Juliet’s mother. She married
Capulet when she was Juliet’s age (13). Loves
Juliet, but is an ineffective mother. Believes in
material happiness that a “good match” can
bring, rather than in love.
• Benvolio – Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s
cousin, and Mercutio’s friend. He is the most
calm and the least quick-witted of the three
boys.
• Tybalt – Capulet’s nephew, Juliet’s cousin. He
hates the Montagues and seems to look for
excuses to fight. He is skilled with a sword.
• Paris – a kinsman of Prince Escalus who wants
to marry Juliet. He is good looking and wealthy,
but is pompous, boring, and lacks Romeo’s
passion. Loves Juliet, but thinks he can make
her decisions for her.
• Prince Escalus – the Prince and leader of
Verona. He is concerned with keeping order in
the city, and will do anything in his power to stop
the feuding between the Capulets and the
Montagues.
• Montague – Romeo’s father. He is quick to
anger at his bitter rival, Capulet.
• Lady Montague – Montague’s wife and
Romeo’s mother.
• Friar John – a Franciscan friar. He is
sent to Mantua to tell Romeo of the Friar’s
plan. He is quarantined and never arrives.
• Balthasar – Romeo’s servant
• Sampson and Gregory – Capultet
servants
• Abraham – Montague’s servant
• Peter – an illiterate Capulet servant
• The Apothecary – a poor drug seller in
Mantua who sells Romeo illegal poison.
• Rosaline – a young woman with whom
Romeo is infatuated at the beginning of
the play.
• The Chorus – an on-stage commentator
on the events of the play (usually a single
person).
Themes and Ideas…
• Romantic love can be beautiful and ennobling.
• Passion can overtake reason and common sense.
• Immaturity and inexperience can lead to tragic
endings.
• Judge people by their character and personal
qualities, not by their name or social status.
• Fate acts through human folly.
Marriage in Elizabethean England...
• With parental permission, boys are legal to marry at 14, girls at 12,
though it is not recommended so early.
• A marriage contract includes provision both for the bride’s dowry
and for a jointure.
~The dowry is an amount of money, goods, and property the bride
brings to the marriage.
~The jointure is an agreement by the groom’s family to guarantee
specific money, property, and goods to the bride if her husband dies
before she does, aside from or in addition to what is in his will.
• It is generally considered foolish to marry for love, although love
may occur in marriage.
• Everyone wants (and expects) to have children.
• Children are the property of their parents, and give them the
respect a servant gives his master.
• Wives are the property of their husbands.
• Some women are more independent than others. However, every
woman expects to be married, and to depend on her male relatives
throughout her life.
• Widows can own property and run their own businesses.
• It is still a good idea to re-marry to protect one’s interests, however.
There are minor problems to do with whether a woman’s word or
signature is legally binding.
• In general, every man wants to marry too, or at least acknowledges
that he must. If he is not noble, he must be married to become the
legal head of a household and eligible to hold public office or other
positions of civic responsibility.
Vocabulary: Academic
• Allusion – a reference in one work of literature
to a person, place, or event in another work of
literature or in history, art, or music.
• Aside – words spoken by a character in a play,
usually in an undertone and not intentional.
• Blank verse – unrhymed iambic pentameter
• Climax – the point of greatest emotional
intensity, interest, or suspense – the high point
• Conflict – a struggle between two opposing
forces
• Couplet – two consecutive lines of poetry that
rhyme
• Diction – a writer’s choice of words for clarity,
effectiveness, and precision
• Dramatic Irony – a contrast between what the
audience perceives and what a character does
not know
• Figurative Language – language that is not
meant to be interpreted in a literal sense
• Foil – a character who sets off another character
by contrast
• Foreshadowing – the use of hints or clues in a
narrative to suggest what action is to come.
• Iambic Meter – unstressed syllable followed by
a stressed syllable
• Motivation – a reason that explains, or partially
explains, why a character thinks, feels, acts, or
behaves in a certain way.
• Pun – the humorous use of a word or phrase to
suggest two or more meanings at the same time.
• Monologue – a long, uninterrupted speech
presented in front of other characters
• Oxymoron – a figure of speech that combines
apparently contradictory terms.
• Situational Irony – a contrast between what is
expected and what really happens
• Soliloquy – a speech in which a character is
alone on stage and expresses his or her
thoughts out loud
• Sonnet – a fourteen-line lyric poem that has one
of several rhyme schemes. A sonnet form used
by William Shakespeare is called the
Shakespearean Sonnet. It has three four-line
units (quatrains) followed by a concluding twoline unit (couplet). The most common rhyme
scheme for a Shakespearean Sonnet is:
abab cdcd efef gg
• Verbal Irony – a contrast between what is said
and what is meant
• Protagonist – the main character in a story or
play; the hero
• Antagonist – the character or force that works
against the protagonist
Act I Vocabulary Terms
1. adversaries
2. esteem
3. languish
4. rapier
5. transgression
6. valiant
7. chaste
8. grievance
9. purge
10.solemnity
Act II Vocabulary Terms
1. conjure
2. livery
3. idolatry
4. consorted
5. invocation
6. perjury
7. procure
8. variable
9. wanton
10.confound
Act III Vocabulary Terms
1. gallant
2. fray
3. banishment
4. calamity
5. commend
6. dexterity
7. prevail
8. reconcile
9. vile
10.abhor
Act IV Vocabulary Terms
1. pensive
2. vial
3. enjoined
4. abate
5. beguile
6. dirge
7. distraught
8. fester
9. prostrate
10.shroud
Act V Vocabulary Terms
1. apothecary
2. remnants
3. haughty
4. amorous
5. conspire
6. inter
7. paramour
8. sepulcher
9. penury
10.scourge