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Scholars have found it extremely difficult to assign one specific , overarching theme to the play . Proposals for a main theme include a discovery by the characters that human beings are neither wholly good nor wholly evil , but instead are more or less alike , awaking out of a dream and into reality , the danger of h... |
= = = Love = = =
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Romeo and Juliet is sometimes considered to have no unifying theme , save that of young love . Romeo and Juliet have become emblematic of young lovers and doomed love . Since it is such an obvious subject of the play , several scholars have explored the language and historical context behind the romance of the play . ... |
On their first meeting , Romeo and Juliet use a form of communication recommended by many etiquette authors in Shakespeare 's day : metaphor . By using metaphors of saints and sins , Romeo was able to test Juliet 's feelings for him in a non @-@ threatening way . This method was recommended by Baldassare Castiglione (... |
In the later balcony scene , Shakespeare has Romeo overhear Juliet 's soliloquy , but in Brooke 's version of the story her declaration is done alone . By bringing Romeo into the scene to eavesdrop , Shakespeare breaks from the normal sequence of courtship . Usually a woman was required to be modest and shy to make su... |
The play arguably equates love and sex with death . Throughout the story , both Romeo and Juliet , along with the other characters , fantasise about it as a dark being , often equating it with a lover . Capulet , for example , when he first discovers Juliet 's ( faked ) death , describes it as having deflowered his da... |
= = = Fate and chance = = =
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Scholars are divided on the role of fate in the play . No consensus exists on whether the characters are truly fated to die together or whether the events take place by a series of unlucky chances . Arguments in favour of fate often refer to the description of the lovers as " star @-@ cross 'd " . This phrase seems to... |
= = = Duality ( light and dark ) = = =
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Scholars have long noted Shakespeare 's widespread use of light and dark imagery throughout the play . Caroline Spurgeon considers the theme of light as " symbolic of the natural beauty of young love " and later critics have expanded on this interpretation . For example , both Romeo and Juliet see the other as light i... |
= = = Time = = =
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Time plays an important role in the language and plot of the play . Both Romeo and Juliet struggle to maintain an imaginary world void of time in the face of the harsh realities that surround them . For instance , when Romeo swears his love to Juliet by the moon , she protests " O swear not by the moon , th 'inconstan... |
Another central theme is haste : Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet spans a period of four to six days , in contrast to Brooke 's poem 's spanning nine months . Scholars such as G. Thomas Tanselle believe that time was " especially important to Shakespeare " in this play , as he used references to " short @-@ time " for ... |
Time is also connected to the theme of light and dark . In Shakespeare 's day , plays were most often performed at noon or in the afternoon in broad daylight . This forced the playwright to use words to create the illusion of day and night in his plays . Shakespeare uses references to the night and day , the stars , t... |
= = Criticism and interpretation = =
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= = = Critical history = = =
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The earliest known critic of the play was diarist Samuel Pepys , who wrote in 1662 : " it is a play of itself the worst that I ever heard in my life . " Poet John Dryden wrote 10 years later in praise of the play and its comic character Mercutio : " Shakespear show 'd the best of his skill in his Mercutio , and he sai... |
In the later part of the 18th and through the 19th century , criticism centred on debates over the moral message of the play . Actor and playwright David Garrick 's 1748 adaptation excluded Rosaline : Romeo abandoning her for Juliet was seen as fickle and reckless . Critics such as Charles Dibdin argued that Rosaline ... |
= = = Dramatic structure = = =
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In Romeo and Juliet , Shakespeare employs several dramatic techniques that have garnered praise from critics ; most notably the abrupt shifts from comedy to tragedy ( an example is the punning exchange between Benvolio and Mercutio just before Tybalt arrives ) . Before Mercutio 's death in Act three , the play is larg... |
Shakespeare also uses sub @-@ plots to offer a clearer view of the actions of the main characters . For example , when the play begins , Romeo is in love with Rosaline , who has refused all of his advances . Romeo 's infatuation with her stands in obvious contrast to his later love for Juliet . This provides a compari... |
= = = Language = = =
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Shakespeare uses a variety of poetic forms throughout the play . He begins with a 14 @-@ line prologue in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet , spoken by a Chorus . Most of Romeo and Juliet is , however , written in blank verse , and much of it in strict iambic pentameter , with less rhythmic variation than in most of ... |
= = = Psychoanalytic criticism = = =
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Early psychoanalytic critics saw the problem of Romeo and Juliet in terms of Romeo 's impulsiveness , deriving from " ill @-@ controlled , partially disguised aggression " , which leads both to Mercutio 's death and to the double suicide . Romeo and Juliet is not considered to be exceedingly psychologically complex , ... |
= = = Feminist criticism = = =
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Feminist literary critics argue that the blame for the family feud lies in Verona 's patriarchal society . For Coppélia Kahn , for example , the strict , masculine code of violence imposed on Romeo is the main force driving the tragedy to its end . When Tybalt kills Mercutio , Romeo shifts into this violent mode , reg... |
= = = Queer theory = = =
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A number of critics have found the character of Mercutio to have unacknowledged homoerotic desire for Romeo . Jonathan Goldberg examined the sexuality of Mercutio and Romeo utilising " queer theory " in Queering the Renaissance , comparing their friendship with sexual love . Mercutio , in friendly conversation , menti... |
= = = The Balcony Scene = = =
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The balcony scene was introduced by Da Porto in 1524 . He had Romeo walk frequently by her house , " sometimes climbing to her chamber window " and wrote " It happened one night , as love ordained , when the moon shone unusually bright , that whilst Romeo was climbing the balcony , the young lady ... opened the window... |
Nevertheless , in October 2014 , Lois Leveen speculated in The Atlantic that the original Shakespeare play did not contain a balcony . The word , balcone , did not exist in the English language until two years after Shakespeare 's death . The balcony was certainly used in Thomas Otway 's 1679 play , The History and Fa... |
= = Legacy = =
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= = = Shakespeare 's day = = =
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Romeo and Juliet ranks with Hamlet as one of Shakespeare 's most performed plays . Its many adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and famous stories . Even in Shakespeare 's lifetime it was extremely popular . Scholar Gary Taylor measures it as the sixth most popular of Shakespeare 's plays , in the period... |
= = = Restoration and 18th @-@ century theatre = = =
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All theatres were closed down by the puritan government on September 6 , 1642 . Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 , two patent companies ( the King 's Company and the Duke 's Company ) were established , and the existing theatrical repertoire divided between them .
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Sir William Davenant of the Duke 's Company staged a 1662 adaptation in which Henry Harris played Romeo , Thomas Betterton Mercutio , and Betterton 's wife Mary Saunderson Juliet : she was probably the first woman to play the role professionally . Another version closely followed Davenant 's adaptation and was also re... |
Thomas Otway 's The History and Fall of Caius Marius , one of the more extreme of the Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare , debuted in 1680 . The scene is shifted from Renaissance Verona to ancient Rome ; Romeo is Marius , Juliet is Lavinia , the feud is between patricians and plebeians ; Juliet / Lavinia wakes fro... |
The earliest known production in North America was an amateur one : on 23 March 1730 , a physician named Joachimus Bertrand placed an advertisement in the Gazette newspaper in New York , promoting a production in which he would play the apothecary . The first professional performances of the play in North America were... |
= = = 19th @-@ century theatre = = =
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Garrick 's altered version of the play was very popular , and ran for nearly a century . Not until 1845 did Shakespeare 's original return to the stage in the United States with the sisters Susan and Charlotte Cushman as Juliet and Romeo , respectively , and then in 1847 in Britain with Samuel Phelps at Sadler 's Well... |
Professional performances of Shakespeare in the mid @-@ 19th century had two particular features : firstly , they were generally star vehicles , with supporting roles cut or marginalised to give greater prominence to the central characters . Secondly , they were " pictorial " , placing the action on spectacular and el... |
American actors began to rival their British counterparts . Edwin Booth ( brother to John Wilkes Booth ) and Mary McVicker ( soon to be Edwin 's wife ) opened as Romeo and Juliet at the sumptuous Booth 's Theatre ( with its European @-@ style stage machinery , and an air conditioning system unique in New York ) on 3 F... |
The first professional performance of the play in Japan may have been George Crichton Miln 's company 's production , which toured to Yokohama in 1890 . Throughout the 19th century , Romeo and Juliet had been Shakespeare 's most popular play , measured by the number of professional performances . In the 20th century i... |
= = = 20th @-@ century theatre = = =
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In 1933 , the play was revived by actress Katharine Cornell and her director husband Guthrie McClintic and was taken on a seven @-@ month nationwide tour throughout the United States . It starred Orson Welles , Brian Aherne and Basil Rathbone . The production was a modest success , and so upon the return to New York ,... |
John Gielgud 's New Theatre production in 1935 featured Gielgud and Laurence Olivier as Romeo and Mercutio , exchanging roles six weeks into the run , with Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet . Gielgud used a scholarly combination of Q1 and Q2 texts , and organised the set and costumes to match as closely as possible to the Eliz... |
Peter Brook 's 1947 version was the beginning of a different style of Romeo and Juliet performances . Brook was less concerned with realism , and more concerned with translating the play into a form that could communicate with the modern world . He argued , " A production is only correct at the moment of its correctne... |
Throughout the century , audiences , influenced by the cinema , became less willing to accept actors distinctly older than the teenage characters they were playing . A significant example of more youthful casting was in Franco Zeffirelli 's Old Vic production in 1960 , with John Stride and Judi Dench , which would ser... |
Recent performances often set the play in the contemporary world . For example , in 1986 the Royal Shakespeare Company set the play in modern Verona . Switchblades replaced swords , feasts and balls became drug @-@ laden rock parties , and Romeo committed suicide by hypodermic needle . In 1997 , the Folger Shakespeare... |
The play is sometimes given a historical setting , enabling audiences to reflect on the underlying conflicts . For example , adaptations have been set in the midst of the Israeli @-@ Palestinian conflict , in the apartheid era in South Africa , and in the aftermath of the Pueblo Revolt . Similarly , Peter Ustinov 's 1... |
In the 19th and 20th century , Romeo and Juliet has often been the choice of Shakespeare plays to open a classical theatre company , beginning with Edwin Booth 's inaugural production of that play in his theatre in 1869 , the newly reformed company of the Old Vic in 1929 with John Gielgud , Martita Hunt and Margaret W... |
In 2013 , Romeo and Juliet ran on Broadway at Richard Rodgers Theatre from September 19 to December 8 for 93 regular performances after 27 previews starting on August 24 with Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad in the starring roles .
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= = = = Ballet = = = =
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The best @-@ known ballet version is Prokofiev 's Romeo and Juliet . Originally commissioned by the Kirov Ballet , it was rejected by them when Prokofiev attempted a happy ending , and was rejected again for the experimental nature of its music . It has subsequently attained an " immense " reputation , and has been ch... |
In 1977 , Michael Smuin 's production of one of the play 's most dramatic and impassioned dance interpretations was debuted in its entirety by San Francisco Ballet . This production was the first full @-@ length ballet to be broadcast by the PBS series " Great Performances : Dance in America " ; it aired in 1978 .
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= = = Music = = =
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At least 27 operas have been based on Romeo and Juliet . The earliest , Romeo und Julie in 1776 , a Singspiel by Georg Benda , omits much of the action of the play and most of its characters , and has a happy ending . It is occasionally revived . The best @-@ known is Gounod 's 1867 Roméo et Juliette ( libretto by Jul... |
Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz is a " symphonie dramatique " , a large @-@ scale work in three parts for mixed voices , chorus and orchestra , which premiered in 1839 . Tchaikovsky 's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy @-@ Overture ( 1869 , revised 1870 and 1880 ) is a 15 @-@ minute symphonic poem , containing the famous melody k... |
The play influenced several jazz works , including Peggy Lee 's " Fever " . Duke Ellington 's Such Sweet Thunder contains a piece entitled " The Star @-@ Crossed Lovers " in which the pair are represented by tenor and alto saxophones : critics noted that Juliet 's sax dominates the piece , rather than offering an imag... |
The most famous musical theatre adaptation is West Side Story with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim . It débuted on Broadway in 1957 and in the West End in 1958 , and became a popular film in 1961 . This version updated the setting to mid @-@ 20th @-@ century New York City , and the warring fa... |
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