Play Analysis
Romeo and Juliet is a play that depicts a romance between two individuals who belong to rival communities. It ends in a tragedy as both of the lovers commit suicide. The play expresses several themes such as community rivalry, love and relationships, social classism, among others. The play was written in 1594, but its setting was that of the 1300s. This paper is an analysis of the play Romeo and Juliet taking into consideration the staging, lighting, costumes, characters and the tone that the work has. It also explains the parts that make it easy to remember and the feelings that Romeo and Juliet arouses.
The renaissance period. It is the time of literature between the 14th and the 15th century. The era is marked by fashion statements such as ruffled poet shirts, long dresses that look like robes but are embellished by beautiful golden or silver jewels. The play was staged by Lord Chamberlain’s Men at a theatre that had been build by James Burbage in 1576. The staged version matches the written version of the play, especially in the use of pronunciation as described in the paragraph below.
The dresses are also made of expensive fabric. Male characters in the play also wear knee-breeches. Language use is also a representation of the era (Hemmer & Kennedy, 2020). The characters used words like “My Lord” to refer to their masters. Another instance is the use of shortened words such as “Tis” (short form for “it is”). There are also ancient English words such as “thou” “thine” “doth” and “trudge” (Shakespeare n.d).
Romeo and Juliet begins by introducing two families that are at war with each other. The scene is characterized by the fighting of young men from the two warring families. They are at a party hosted by the head of the capulet family. The feast was meant to introduce Juliet to a suitor named Paris. It was during the event that Romeo sees Juliet and falls irrevocably in love with her. In this scene, the audience experiences a joyful mood, especially after Romeo finds Juliet.
The celebration of the actors of the play also creates a joyful feeling since most of the characters are happy. The second act also has a joyful spirit, as Romeo and Juliet declare their love for each other. They even take vows in the presence of Juliet’s nurse. In the two acts, the play is brightly lit with occasional darkness to signify the change in periods of the day.
The third scene, however, changes the mood of the play. Romeo is asked for a challenge by Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt (Shakespeare, n.d). The lighting of the play changes and becomes gloomier than it was during the first two scenes (Providence College, 2010). The killing of Romeo’s friend Mercutio also saddens the mood of the act. The lighting is further dimmed in the act to match the sad mood. It remains in that state to the end of the play when Romeo and Juliet die. In the final scene, the lighting is increased despite the sad mood at the ending. The families come together after the death of the two lovers.
The tone of the play shifts between comic and tragedy. The starting scenes have a comic effect. One such scene is when Romeo says that all his love belonged to Rosaline, but he immediately falls in love with Juliet upon seeing her. The tone becomes intense in the second scene when Romeo is banned from his home place after killing Tybalt.
The scenes then move to become more intense after Romeo hears that his lover Juliet has died. It was a plan that Juliet had hatched to meet his lover, but the messenger did not arrive in time to deliver the message since there was a plague. The death of the two creates a sombre tone. The tone, however, lightens when the two warring families decide to interact with each other. Some details stood out throughout the performance. The death of the lovers, for example, was intriguing and is almost impossible to forget. I felt sorry for the two lovers who could not live up to their dream of marrying each other. I understood the importance of true love and the limits that people are willing to go for it. The first segments of the play are complex, but as it gets to the ending, the play focuses on Romeo and Juliet, making it easier to comprehend. The love of Romeo and Juliet was the most outstanding aspect of the play.
References
Hemmer, C., & Kennedy, C. (2020). Clothing. Retrieved 16 May 2020, from https://romeoandjuliet1600sculture.weebly.com/clothing.html
Providence College. (2010). Romeo and Juliet. Retrieved 16 May 2020, from https://youtu.be/6idyuKJRK8c
Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet: Entire Play. Retrieved 16 May 2020, from http://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeo_juliet/full.html