IGCSE English Literature notes on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Includes context notes on language, religion, Shakespeare's sources and improvements, Greek tragedy, fate, humanism, women, love, revenge, duels, and theatre. Also includes character quotes: Prince, Friar, Tybalt, Benvolio, ...
Language
o Blank verse – unrhymed iambic pentameter
close to natural speaking + refinement of character
o Prose – ordinary speech
Lower class character, lack of education/refinement
Low comedy (Mercutio)
o Rhyme/Verse – usu. Rhymed couplets
ritualistic or choral effect
o Songs
Lighten mood or add humor
Queen Elizabeth I
o Ppl debate question of female monarchs still + debate her marriage
o Moderation, religious tolerance, and peace
King James VI
Religion
o Bible translated to English
o Mounting dissatisfaction w Catholic church
o People want more direct relationship w God not via Priest - protestant
o English openly loathed Catholics
o Stereotypical views of Catholics
Italy and Italians (Catholic and home of Pope) – quarrelling, devious, lustful
(Mercutio, Romeo, Tybalt)
Friar = Catholic – undermines parents, lead to death of lovers
o Believed in eternal damnation (hell) – bigamy and suicide
Sources
o Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Tale of Pyramus and Thisbe
o Luigi da Porto’s Giulietta e Romeo
Gave its modern form, names of lovers, rival families, setting in Verona
o Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet
Plot taken directly from Brooke’s poem
Common for writers to do this
Shakespeare’s improvements
o Subtlety and originality of characters
o Intense pace of action
o Enrichment of thematic aspects
o Language
Greek tragedy
o Chorus – to comment on what is expected = dramatic irony
, o Senecan tragedy – arbitrary destiny causes catastrophe, tragedy of character
exacerbates, lovers punished for reckless passion
Fate
o Fate and Wheel of Fortune – everything predestined in the heavens
o Life is ruled by God and Fate, Fate acts as God’s agent
o Natural state of universe = balance. If universe out of balance due to disruption,
violence etc. something needs to happen to bring it back to balanced state
o R & J – feud makes world out of balance + deaths cleanses evil and restores balance
Humanism
o God and Fate have an influence, but human choices affect the future
o Emphasized free will and power of individual
Women
o Patriarchal hierarchy
o Had no rights
Legally property
Patriarch had absolute authority
Daughters had no ability to act/make decisions on their own esp. husbands
correct that Cap chooses husband for Juliet
disobedience appropriately vilified
Much rarer for husband to be considerate in his views like Cap was
o Justified by religion – punished for ‘original sin’
Used language in Genesis to perpetuate female subservience
“To promote a woman to bear rule…is repugnant to nature,” (John Knox)
o Noble society – children raised by ‘wet nurse’ – no strong bond w their parents
o Women = important bearers of family honor = behavior carefully controlled
Love
o Love and marriage = separate things
o Marriage = economic and social arrangement + further family power, wealth, children
o Aristocratic women – arranged marriages to benefit fam
Higher up in society = less freedom
o Idea of courtly love had significant influence on Renaissance lit
o Petrarchan Love
In love with the idea of love
No contact, except by letter, poem, gifts
(Romeo’s love for Rosaline)
o Real love (R & J)
Physical, powerful, passionate
Corresponds w courtly love as it is accompanied w great emotional suffering
Revenge
o Sir Francis Bacon
A man who focuses on revenge only exacerbates his own suffering
People who take revenge end up being haunted by it
Duels
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