Lesson Title: Romeo and Juliet

Elements of Literature 612-621; 751-754

Created by Mrs. Ariana Tivis and Mrs. Emmett for English 9

Objectives

• -identify and define words from Romeo and Juliet that have become archaic since the play was written

• -evaluate the plot’s structure and development, and the way in which conflicts are resolved

The Tragedy of Romeo and JulietThe Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

• You will be responsible to this play just You will be responsible to this play just like any other story.like any other story.

• Review the PowerPoints and review the Review the PowerPoints and review the details found in each lesson that details found in each lesson that summarizes each act and each scene.summarizes each act and each scene.

• Please keep up with the readings and Please keep up with the readings and assignments!!!assignments!!!

Stumbling Blocks

• Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet about four hundred years ago. Language is constantly evolving and changing. It’s not surprising, then, that many words are now archaic, which means that they or their meaning have disappeared from common use. When you are reading, make sure you pay attention to the sidenotes that the book gives to help you with the words.

THE ELIZABETHAN LANGUAGE - "WHY DIDN'T THE ELIZABETHAN LANGUAGE - "WHY DIDN'T HE USE PLAIN ENGLISH?"HE USE PLAIN ENGLISH?"

The works of William Shakespeare are often dreaded by The works of William Shakespeare are often dreaded by students because of the language he uses!students because of the language he uses!

• "Why didn't he use plain, simple English?" is a "Why didn't he use plain, simple English?" is a question often used by students new to the Works of question often used by students new to the Works of Shakespeare!Shakespeare!

• The answer is, of course, that he did! But the The answer is, of course, that he did! But the Elizabethan language was different to ours!Elizabethan language was different to ours!

• There weren't so many words and people used a whole There weren't so many words and people used a whole variety of ways to spell them as dictionaries weren't variety of ways to spell them as dictionaries weren't available! (There are at least 16 different Elizabethan available! (There are at least 16 different Elizabethan spellings of Shakespeare!)spellings of Shakespeare!)

• If Shakespeare was looking for a descriptive word, and If Shakespeare was looking for a descriptive word, and couldn't find one he made one up! William Shakespeare couldn't find one he made one up! William Shakespeare invented words, and he used them to good effect when invented words, and he used them to good effect when it came to Shakespearean Insults!it came to Shakespearean Insults!

• You are going to be distracted and caught on the archaic language. It can make the reading awkward and difficult. Try to focus instead on meaning of passage as a whole and catching the gist of the rest of the words in the passage, the majority of which you will understand with no problem. Don’t Quit!!!!

• Example: The brightness of her check would shame those starsAs daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so brightThat birds would sing and think it were not night.

• Translation: She’s pretty!

Say What!?!?!

• We mentioned in the lesson before that Shakespeare wrote his plays using poetry and prose. He used language that would have been common and easily understood by common people. That was four hundred years ago. If we notice the difference in the way people talked forty years ago( “That chick was groovy!”) Then we will certainly notice a difference in the language from four hundred years ago.

Archaic Language Here are some archaic words that are used frequently in this play:

‘a: hea’: onalike: bothan’ or and: ifanon: soon; right away; comingbut: if; except; onlycounsel: private thoughtsfrank: generousGood-den or go-den or God-den:

Good eveninghap or happy: luck; luckyhumor: mood; moistureJack: common fellow; ordinary

guymaid: unmarried girl

mark: listen toMarry: mild oath shorten from “by

the Virgin Mary.”nice: trivial; foolishowes: ownsshrift: forgiveness for sins that

have been confessed to a priest. After confessional, a person was said to be shriven.

soft: quiet; hush; slow upstay: waitstill: alwaysstrange: aloof or coldwherefore: whywithal: with that; withwot: know

Practice: Talk like a Shakespearean!!!

• Complete the paragraph by writing the correct archaic word from the word list.

“__________!” shouted I, running like Mercury after the school bus. It was my good __________ that the driver was a regular ___________ and stopped the bus so that I might board. Would but that I were never so ___________ that I would sleep past my clock’s alarm! Perhaps I am not so luckless a fool, thought I, when there, the only seat remaining, ‘twas next to Julie, the fairest ___________ in the ninth grade

List

maid

nice

Jack

hap

stay

Sir Frank Dicksee’s Romeo and Juliet

Tragedy• A tragedy is a narrative about serious and

important actions that end unhappily. Usually a tragedy ends with the deaths of the main characters. In some tragedies, the disaster hits totally innocent characters; in others the main characters are in some ways responsible for their downfall. Shakespeare’s tragic plays usually follow a five part pattern.

Tragedy

Act IIICrisis, or turning point

Act IIRising action, orcomplications

Act IExposition

Act IVFalling action

Act VClimax and resolution

1. Exposition

The exposition establishes the setting, introduces some of the main characters, explains background, and introduces the characters’ main conflict.

2. Rising Action

The rising action consists of a series of complications. These occur as the main characters take action to resolve their problems.

3. Crisis or Turning Point

The crisis, or turning point, is the moment when a choice made by the main characters determines the direction of the action: upward to a happy ending, which would be a comedy, or downward to tragedy. The turning point is the dramatic and tense moment when the forces of conflict come together. Look for the turning point in Act III.

4. Falling Action

The falling action presents events that result from the action taken at the turning point. These events usually lock the characters deeper and deeper into disaster; with each event we see characters falling straight into tragedy.

5. Climax and Resolution

The final and greatest climax occurs at the end of the play--usually, in tragedy, with the deaths of the main characters. In the resolution (or denouement) all the loose parts of the plot are tied up. The play is over.

Journal: Love“Kids these days! They think that love conquers all, that

nothing matters except how they feel about each other. They have no sense of responsibility to their families, no respect for tradition, no regard for those who are older and wiser. They don’t know the problems they’re going to have that all the love in the world won’t solve for them.”

What do you think of this complaint?

Have you heard older people say some of these things?

Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Love

• How is love usually portrayed in books and television?

• Do you think this is realistic or completely unrealistic?

Romeo and Juliet• Most of Shakespeare’s plays were based

on stories that were already well known by his audience. Romeo and Juliet was no exception. The story was first published in 1562 by Arthur Brooke as The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet

This is the story of a very young man and a nearly fourteen-year old girl who fall in love at first sight. They are caught up in a very passionate and idealized love. They are in love with the idea of being in love. In their minds, they have an ideal of what love is that isn’t based on truth.

Romeo and Juliet

• In Brooke’s version of the story there was a moral that would have been considered normal back then. Romeo and Juliet had to die because they broke the law, married unwisely, and against their parents’ wishes.

• Shakespeare takes a different approach. He presents the couple as “star-crossed lovers,” doomed to disaster by fate.

Reach for the stars….

“Star-crossed”. To understand what this means, you have to realize that most people of Shakespeare’s time believed in astrology. Astrology is belief that future events can be foretold using the stars. They believed that the course of their lives was partly determined by the hour, day, month, and year of their birth--hence “the stars” under which they were born. Shakespeare himself might night have shared this belief.

Although in the prologue Shakespeare says that Romeo and Juliet are star-crossed, he does not make them mere victims of fate. Romeo and Juliet make decisions that lead to their disaster. More important, other characters have a hand in the play’s tragic ending.

Destiny….?

• What do you believe:

Do we control our own destiny?

Do thinks happen randomly as the result of fate?

The Cast of Characters

• The MontaguesLord Montague

Lady Montague

Romeo, son of Montague

Benvolio, nephew of Montague and friend of Romeo

Balthasar, servant of Romeo

Abram, servant of Montague

• The CapuletsLord CapuletLady CapuletJuliet, daughter of CapuletTybalt, nephew of Lady CapuletNurse to JulietPeter, servant to the NurseSampson, servant of CapuletGregory, servant of CapuletAn Old Man of the Capulet family

• The OthersPrince Escalus, ruler of VeronaMercutio, a relative of the Prince and friend of

RomeoFriar Laurence, a Franciscan priestFriar John, another Franciscan priestCount Paris, a young nobleman, a relative of the

PrinceAn OfficerCitizens of VeronaRelatives of both familiesMaskersGuardsWatchmenAttendants

The Scene:

• Verona and Mantua, cities in northern Italy

Works Cited

• Anderson, Sophie. "Take the Fair Face of Woman...” Commonswikimedia.org. 21 Sept. 2008. 1 July 2009. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairfacefairy_2.jpg

• Dicksee, Frank Sir. “Romeo and Juliet.” Commonswikimedia.org. 11 Nov. 2008. 1 July 2009. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DickseeRomeoandJuliet.jpg