ROMEO AND JULIET PLAY ANALYSIS
OVERVIEW
Play Title: Romeo and Juliet
Written Years: 1591–1596
Structure: 5 Acts / 24 Scenes
Author: William Shakespeare
Turkish Edition: Remzi Kitabevi, February 2016, İstanbul
Form: Tragedy — Closed form
Language: A poetic and ornate language is used.
Pages: 160
Characters:
- Prince Escalus: ruler of the city-state of Verona
- Count Paris: close relative of Prince Escalus
- Mercutio: friend of Romeo
- Capulet: head of the Capulet family
- Capulet’s Wife: second head of the Capulet family
- Juliet: daughter of Capulet
- Tybalt: Juliet’s cousin
- Montague: head of the Montague clan
- Montague’s Wife: second head of the Montague family
- Romeo: son of Montague
- Benvolio: Romeo’s cousin and friend
- Balthasar & Abram: servants of Montague
- Friar Lawrence: priest close to Romeo
- Friar John: another priest
- Nurse: Juliet’s nurse
- Rosaline: Capulet’s niece
- Sampson, Peter & Gregory: servants of Capulet
- Apothecary: the man from whom Romeo buys poison
- Chorus
Plot Breakdown (Act by act):
ACT 1: Romeo and Juliet are the children of two enemy families (Montague and Capulet). Romeo is initially in love with a girl named Rosaline, but when he sees Juliet at the Capulet feast he realizes this is true love and confesses to Juliet. Juliet reciprocates.
ACT 2: The two lovers pledge their love and, with the help of the Nurse and Friar Lawrence, secretly marry.
ACT 3: Romeo’s friends Mercutio and Benvolio fight with Tybalt of the Capulet family. While Romeo tries to break it up, his close friend Mercutio is killed. Romeo cannot stand this pain and kills Tybalt. For committing this murder, he is banished by the Prince. Juliet is forced by her family to marry a count named Paris.
ACT 4: Juliet consults Friar Lawrence and finds a solution. She drinks a potion and stays asleep for 42 hours, is thought dead and taken to the family tomb, where she waits to reunite with Romeo.
ACT 5: Things do not go as Juliet and Friar Lawrence planned; Romeo only hears that Juliet has died and buys a potent poison, heading to her tomb. There he encounters Paris and must kill him. Then he goes to Juliet, drinks the poison and dies. Friar Lawrence arrives, Juliet wakes and finds Romeo dead. She kisses Romeo and stabs herself. Everyone gathers at the tomb. Events are clarified and peace is made between the two families.
CONTEXT & AUTHOR ANALYSIS
romeo and juliet dramaturgy, analysis, review
Historical — Social Conditions of the Period in which Romeo and Juliet was Written:
In Europe, the rule that had fallen under the monopoly of religion with the Middle Ages—damaging science, philosophy and art—was cleansed only with geographic discoveries and trade, that is, with the start of the Renaissance, the rebirth. This new age brought to the stage great men of letters like Dante, Cervantes and W. Shakespeare, alongside great scientists and thinkers like Da Vinci and Locke. The human-oriented new understanding of governance has borne fruit in all fields and laid the foundations of Europe’s rise.
We see the primary priority of the Renaissance, which began in Italy and spread to other countries, as independence. The desired independence in thought and art turned people toward each other, helping them understand their own material and spiritual existence in the world. This orientation gave birth to certain ideas and required everything to be reinterpreted. Religion, systems of government, science, and—of most interest to us—the theatre were all reinterpreted and took on a new form. Theatre largely escaped the monopoly of religion and became freer than in the previous period. During this era when art and the artist could breathe, measure, harmony and balance were essential and works were produced according to these criteria.
Author: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Although there is much disagreement about the author’s life, some facts are certain: William Shakespeare, son of John Shakespeare, was born in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1564. In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway and this marriage produced three children named Susannah, Judith and Hamnet. Other claims about his schooling and jobs are not based on solid evidence and are outside our topic.
Place of Romeo and Juliet among the author’s other works:
W. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is clearly a weaker tragedy compared to his other tragedies. The extremely ornate language and sometimes contrived dialogues lead to this thought. However, this does not mean that Romeo and Juliet is unsuccessful. From the day it first appeared to today it has been staged and adapted countless times and has inspired many people—and still does.
DRAMATURGICAL ANALYSES
Plot
Hostile Montague and Capulet servants clash in the streets. The Prince quells the fight and everyone disperses. Romeo, at first in love with Rosaline, sees Juliet at a Capulet party and realizes true love. The pair secretly marry with help from the Nurse and Friar Lawrence. Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo kills Tybalt in revenge, leading to his banishment. Juliet is pressured to wed Paris. Seeking help from Friar Lawrence, she drinks a potion to appear dead and awaits Romeo in the family tomb. The message fails to reach him; believing Juliet dead, Romeo buys poison and goes to her grave where he kills Paris, drinks the poison and dies. Juliet wakes, sees Romeo dead and takes her own life. The families gather and make peace.
Action Plan
Two servants of the Capulet and Montague houses fight and the brawl grows. The Prince intervenes and they separate. Benvolio persuades Romeo to attend the Capulet feast where he meets Juliet and they fall in love. They marry in secret. Romeo kills Tybalt who killed Mercutio and is banished. The Capulets force Juliet to marry Paris. She and the Friar devise a plan using a sleeping potion and hope to reunite with Romeo. The Friar’s letter never reaches him. Thinking Juliet dead, Romeo buys a poison and kills himself beside her. Juliet awakens, stabs herself, and the families reconcile.
Theme
Main Theme: Impossible Love
Sub Themes: Love, Hatred, Desire to Reunite, Enmity and Peace, Life and Death, Fate.
Story
Main Story: The story of the children of two enemy families who fall in love and pay for that love with their lives.
Sub Story: Mercutio: the story of a man who becomes a victim of the senseless feud of two enemy families.
Conflict
Primary Conflict: Two young people from rival families, nurtured by hatred, put love ahead of their families’ hostility. Thus the central conflict of the play is the Love–Hatred duality.
Secondary Conflict: Romeo and Juliet defy their families and fate even in secret. This can be called the action–fate conflict. Conflicts involving the Prince, Paris, the Friar and the two families can be categorized as reason–emotion, order–disorder and moderation–excess.
Characters
Main Characters: Romeo and Juliet
Supporting Characters: Friar Lawrence, Mercutio, Montague, Capulet, Paris, Lady Montague, Lady Capulet, Nurse, Apothecary, Benvolio, Tybalt, Friar John, Balthasar
Functionary Characters: People of Verona, maskers, watchmen, servants, attendants, musicians.
Opposing Characters: Within the ‘love’ concept mentioned in the conflict, we can place all members of the Capulet and Montague families opposite Juliet and Romeo. In detail, Romeo and Paris compete for Juliet. One represents disorder and excess as a banished murderer, the other the defender of order and model citizen. Other examples briefly: Montague vs Capulet (enmity); Juliet vs Nurse (view of love); Friar Lawrence vs the Montague and Capulet families (view of love and hatred)
General Character Analysis:
- Juliet: P: Romantic, brave, determined and headstrong; genuinely loves Romeo. Upon seeing him she says she would rather die than marry anyone else and later proves it.
- Romeo: P: Romantic, fickle, indecisive and impulsive. A bit of a womanizer and at times cruel; many die by his hand or because of him.
- Prince Escalus: A ruler who shows tolerance to nobles yet is incompetent and unsuccessful in governing.
- Count Paris: Because he is related to the Prince he defends the established order.
- Mercutio: Beneath his mocking manner lies a country honesty. He challenges both families and dies cursing this corrupt order.
- Capulet: Wants to marry his daughter to Count Paris to strengthen his ties with the Prince. A duplicitous misogynist.
- Capulet’s Wife: A copy of today’s “accepts everything” woman figure.
- Tybalt: Wants to pick fights out of senseless anger and can cause trouble even during a family celebration. Unstable.
- Montague: Compared to Capulet, a relatively good father to his child.
- Montague’s Wife: Her character is not developed; she dies suddenly.
- Benvolio: Generally serves Romeo’s character. Cowardly.
- Balthasar & Abram: Servants.
- Friar Lawrence: Has a positive view of love. Different from the usual priest profile. Respected and loved. Learned…
- Friar John: Through negligence causes many problems.
- Nurse: Slightly lame. Provides comic relief. Has a shallow view of love and is grumpy. Not noble, from the lower class.
- Rosaline: Never seen in the play.
- Sampson, Peter & Gregory: Servants.
- Apothecary: A poor man.
Theme
Main Theme: Love risks everything.
Sub Themes: If love loses its measure it can end in disaster. Therefore one must be measured.
Historical Essence
“Romeo and Juliet is a typical Renaissance play. The sense of harmony, balance and symmetry shared by Renaissance artists and thinkers in painting, sculpture, architecture and philosophy is present in this play as well.” (Ö. Nutku)
Along with reflecting the artistic understanding of its time, the play also demonstrates the privileges of the noble class through the tolerant relationship between the Prince and the feuding families, and shows the injustices suffered by women of that era by considering the Capulets’ treatment of Juliet and the passivity of the other female characters. The emphasis on the clash of hatred and love also reveals fractures in the social structure of the period.
Universal Essence
When we consider the main lines of this play we can easily see why it remains relevant. The destruction wrought by two hostile sides works against both; where the seeds of hatred are sown instead of love, nothing but death and sorrow can flourish. Yet these kinds of conflicts continue and hatred is still a compass. Wars and blood feuds go on. That is why this work, which confronts us with the truth and takes love as its compass, still maintains its universality.
Exposition:
The children of two enemy families, Romeo and Juliet.
Knot:
These children fall in love and secretly marry; Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished; Juliet faces marriage to Paris.
Resolution:
Romeo mistakenly believes Juliet is dead and kills himself with poison; Juliet awakens, stabs herself, and the families reconcile after learning the truth.
Inciting Incident:
The fight between the Montague and Capulet families.
First Major Knot:
Romeo and Juliet fall in love at the evening feast at first sight.
Crisis Points:
The lovers’ secret marriage and the threat of Juliet marrying Paris.
Last Major Knot:
The plan Friar Lawrence and Juliet make with the sleeping potion.
Climax:
Romeo kills himself beside Juliet, and she cannot bear it and kills herself with a dagger.
Finale:
The families make peace.
Assessment
To be added…
Suggestion
To be added…
REFERENCES
- Banu, Ç.D. Nefret ve Düşmanlık Ekseninde Bir Aşk Öyküsü: Romeo ve Juliet (Göstergebilimsel Bir Yaklaşım)
- Shakespeare, William, Romeo ve Juliet, Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul, 2016
- Urgan, Mina, Shakespeare ve Hamlet, Yapıkredi Yayınları, İstanbul, 2014