Class project by 4LCO - Text analysis of Romeo and Juliet by Anna Laghigna

Focus on Romeo in the Balcony Scene. How would you describe him? by Toni, Allison

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

In his soliloquy in the Balcony Scene, Romeo compares Juliet to the sun to express his admiration for her beauty and her bright light. Romeo says that the moon is envious of her. He expresses his love to her and wishes that in a short time he could hold her in his arms.
Romeo discovers that also Juliet loves him when she comes out on the balcony and starts expressing her feelings for Romeo. She says that his name is the only problem between them in the famous line: "Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?"
Romeo overhears Juliet and decides to speak out only when Juliet says that if he gives up his name, she will give him all herself.
The evidences of Romeo's all consuming love to Juliet are that he is ready to be new baptized, that is he is ready to change his name and would prefer to die instead of living without Juliet's love.
In Romeo's speech there are various themes, the predominant is true love which is expressed in terms of passion and in a very sensuous language.
The contrapposition of life and death is present at the beginning of the speech and in the end, for example when he says that he would rather die than live on without Juliet's love.
Juliet is compared to the sun because she is shining and her eyes are compared to two of the fairest stars in all the heaven.
The purity of Juliet is expressed by a metaphore, in which Juliet is seen like a bright angel. In fact she is up on the balcony while Romeo is standing below her in the garden. She is presented like an angel who stays in the sky over the mortals.
From this scene, we can understand that Romeo is bold and courageous because he goes to Juliet's house at his life risk. He in fact enters the Capulets' garden to see Juliet and he risks his life to do so. He would be ready to do anything to be reloved by Juliet, so he is also very determined.
He is very passionate, lovesick and sentimental because he can't resist to Juliet. His words are very tender and delicate, so that we can understand that he is very respectful and sensitive.
However, he is also impetuous and shows his tragical flaw when he kills Tybald.
Romeo is impusive and makes a big mistake which will result in the final catastrophe.
He is too mpetuous because he does not stop to think and he kills himself.

Plot, language and dramatic techniques in Romeo & Juliet by Jessica, Cristina, Sara

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Romeo and Juliet are the protagonists of the story, which is set in Verona and partly in Mantua. The tragedy lasts only five days.
The story starts with a Masque Ball at the Capulet's house. Romeo decides to take the risk of going to the party because Rosaline, the girl who he is infatuated with, will be there. Romeo and his friends go to the party in masks. At the hall in Capulet's house the two protagonists meet for the first time, but they do not know who they are. For both of them, it's love at first sight.
When they first speak to each other, Romeo compares her to a rich jewel and to a snow-white dove. Following the rules of courtly love, Romeo looks on her as a sort of angelic figure. They use a sustained metaphor concerning a pilgrim at the shrine of a saint and sin to cleverly converse about their touching hands and their first kisses. At the end of the scene Romeo discovers that Juliet is a Capulet and that their love is impossible.
However, in the night Romeo goes to Juliet's house. In the famous Balcony Scene, he starts a monologue, in which he praises Juliet's beauty. Suddenly, Juliet appears at the balcony and is overheard by Romeo while she is speaking out her love for him. They declare their love and promise to marry. From the on the tragedy will go from bad to worse until the final catastrophe, in which both Romeo and Juliet will die.

Main themes

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

The main themes in Romeo and Juliet are the hostility between the two families of Verona: the Capulets and Montagues which will ruin the love of Romeo and Juliet. Fate is another important theme.
In the tragedy, Shakespeare made often use of monologues and soliloquis, especially when the protagonists declare their inner thoughts and feelings. The protagonists often speak to each other through dialogues which are in the form of sonnets.
The playwright didn't use many stage directions or asides.
Shakespeare's English is the language of the Renaissance. He used the Elizabethan Sonnet which is made up of 14 lines, grouped in 4-4-4-2 (3 quatrains and a couplet). The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Shakespeare's language is rich in metaphores and is very ornate.
He divided the lines in ten sillables and alternated unstressed and stressed accent following the Iambic pattern.
In the Balcony Scene, Juliet says that anything that we call with a name, for example a rose, would remain beautiful even if we called it with another name. By that she means that if Romeo had another name, he would be the same lovely boy.
In the dialogue between Romeo and Juliet in the Balcony Scene, Romeo says to Juliet that he would prefer to die knowing that she truly loves him rather than live without her love.

Prokofiev - Dance of knights

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Focus on Juliet in the Balcony Scene. How would you describe her? By Verena, Elisa Alessandra

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

At the beginnig of her speech Juliet thinks that she is talking to the moon about her feelings. She has just met Romeo and feels very excited because they have kissed for the first time!

When Romeo speaks out Juliet is scared and she doesn't know who he is. Juliet asks him why he is there, hidden in the dark and overhearing her reflections.

She fears that someone of the Capulets might discover him and that he could be killed.

From Juliet's words an behaviours, we can understand a lot about Juliet's personality. Juliet appears to be simple and sincere although she's a noble. In fact she's a Capulet but she is also innocent and pure.

When Juliet meets Romeo at the Ball, she flirts with him. It is the first time that they speak and Juliet looks sensuos and spontaneous. The girl often provokes Romeo, for example she says " You kiss by the book."

In the Balcony Scene, Juliet expresses her love for Romeo. She appears very determined and self-confident. In fact she's willing to run away from her family in order to marry Romeo.

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Romeo's destiny is doomed when Tybald kills his best friend Mercutio and he kills Tybald. The Prince of Verona, who had prohibited further duels and killings in town, exiles Romeo to Mantua. In the meantime Juliet asks the friar for help. He gives her a potion to drink which will make her seem dead. The friar writes a letter to Romeo to tell him of their plan. Juliet's family, thinking she is dead, takes her body to the family crypt. Romeo receives news of Juliet's death and leaves Mantova before the friar's letter arrives. Here Fate plays a very important role in the lives of the two protagonists and the audience becomes very involved, because they know of the letter.
In a tragedy, the catastrophe is the final moment when all hope of recovery disintegrates. It often involves the isolation and death of the protagonist. The same happens to Romeo, who returns to Verona and goes to the Capulet family crypt. When he sees Juliet, he is overcome with grief and kills himself by drinking a poison.
When Juliet awakes from her death-like sleep, she sees Romeo dead, and kills herself with his dagger.
In this tragedy the audience is in a privileged position because they know everything. For example the audience know that Juliet isn't really dead because they have seen her drinking the special potion.
In our opinion, a story similar to Romeo and Juliet's unhappy love could still happen in real life, both because also today people still fall in love in mysterious ways but also.... WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT HOSTILE FAMILIES, where in the world?

Structure of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by Rachele, Riccardo, Giulia

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy divided in 6 parts. It follows the traditional structure of a tragedy. The story develops in fact from an introduction through climax, followed by a moment of crisis and decline up to the final catastrophe.
In the introduction the play develops positively with an increase in the happiness/harmony of the characters. At the beginning of the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet are in fact both happy. Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline and has planned to go to the Capulets' party to see her in secrecy. Juliet is also very excited about the masque ball. The audience however knows that something is going to happen because it has been warned of the impending tragedy through the prologue.
The development is represented by Romeo and Juliet's first encounter at the Ball. For them it is love at the first sight, but they still don't know their true identities because the ball is in masque.
The first moment of crisis occurs when Romeo and Juliet realize that they belong to hostile families and that their love is impossible.
The climax, which in a tragedy marks the highest and happiest moment for the characters, consists in the Balcony Scene, in which the two protagonists declare their love. The most passionate moment is when they kiss. After that, the two lovers decide to marry in secrecy with the help of Friar Lawrence.
This moment of great happiness is followed by the big crisis, which in a tragedy is called the decline. Romeo and Juliet's reversal good fortune continues and worsens and becomes more complicated
The turning point in the two lovers' fortunes is when Juliet's mother arranges for her daughter's marriage to a nobleman, Paris. Juliet is desperate because she has already married Romeo.

Main themes in Sonnet XVIII

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

The main themes in this sonnet are love and beauty and the eternal quality of art. The sonnet develops through the comparison between the lover's beauty and the beauty of a summer day.

The sonnet starts with a question, which provokes curiosity and expectation in the reader to know the answer until a final solution is given in the epigram.

The language is highly figurative and varied in the use of adjectives: in fact the sonnet contains several personifications, metaphors and even some commercial terms. A ricurrent simile in this sonnet is that of the beauty of a summer day as a symbol of the lover's youth and beauty. This beauty can be disturbed by rough winds which shake the darling buds of May, meaning that this beauty is delicate and fragile . However, in the final couplet another metaphor explains that the lover's beauty will not disappear as long as this sonnet lives unlike the beauty of a summer day which will soon fade away and be forgotten. As for the use of commercial vocabulary, the time of the summer - being the most beautiful season of the year, is compared to a lease whose time is always too short.

The argumentative structure of the poem revolves around a single idea which appears in the opening question. The poet gives an answer to the initial question at line two: the lover is more lovely and temperate than a summer day. He develops his answer focusing on the characteristics of a summer day, which is beautiful, sometimes too hot and full of fairy flowers, but also hit by strong storms. The last quartain explores the contrast between the lover and the summer day. The lover and his beauty will not fade away. So it will remain eternal thanks to poetry. The final couplet ties up the theme of the sonnet: the lover will live on till these lines exist.

Sonnet XVIII by Amanda, Endrit, Veronica,

2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Sonnet XVIII is also known as "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer' s Day?" William Shakespeare wrote this sonnet to celebrate the beauty of a lover, whose identity is not certain. The poet finds some characteristics, which a summer day and a loved person have in common. For example, both are beautiful, temperate but sometimes also too hot; both can be ruined by rough winds, the brevity of time and fate.

This poetic composition is a typical Elizabethan sonnet: there are 14 lines divided in 3 quatrains and a couplet. The final epigram is indented and the argument changes in the ninth line with a turning point. This sonnet is written in iambic pentameter, since there are 5 feet, each made up of one unstressed and one stressed syllable. This type of rhyme is particularly rhythmic since it reminds us of the human heart beats. This is the reason why Elisabethan poets, like Shakespeare, loved using sonnets to express strong feelings and emotions

The main themes in this sonnet are love and beauty and the eternal quality of art. The sonnet develops through the comparison between the lover's beauty and the beauty of a summer day.

The sonnet starts with a question, which provokes curiosity and expectation in the reader to know the answer until a final solution is given in the epigram.

Romeo & Juliet reloaded

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet has been often readapted to contemporary age. This 2014 version features Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad.

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Write your appreciation of the excerpts we read in class from the Ball Scene, the Balcony Scene and Sonnet XVIII

laghigna — 2020-03-08 11:05:16 UTC

Work in groups of three and follow the guidelines on the Inquiry Sheets.

Then divide your composition in more slides and attach a copyright-free picture each from www.photos4class.com