Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare

Shakespeare Humor: On his way to Wyoming to visit with Grandma, Billy spotted a bowlegged cowboy. "Look at dat dare bowlegged cowboy. I ain’t never seen nuttin like dat no how."

Grandma was shocked and made Billy read Shakespeare every day for a month. On the way home he saw a whole bunch of

bowlegged cowboys. Says Billy, "Behold! What manner of men are these, who wear their legs in parentheses?"

Introduction to Shakespeare: Little is known of the factual details of Shakespeare’s life, although his artistic fame is worldwide. Shakespeare never gave an interview or wrote an autobiography – not even one of his letters survive. Shakespeare was baptized April 26, 1564, but his birthdate is unknown. He married and had three children, a boy and a girl. The boy died before reaching adulthood, leaving Shakespeare with no male heir. Even less is known of his life during the years of 1585 and 1592, but it is known that he lived in London apart from his family. He began writing plays and soon actors were performing his plays for Queen Elizabeth I. Nearly 400 years after first being performed, Romeo and Juliet is still popular.

The Characters: Romeo’s name comes first in the play’s title, but Juliet is the stronger character. She makes all the important decisions in the play. Quite a headstrong young lady for only being of the age of 13!

The Story behind the characters: There is a political background to Romeo and Juliet and that is almost always overlooked. During the Italian Renaissance, powerful families often quarreled violently. One feud was between the Cerchi and Donati families in Florence. The fighting started around 1300 and continued for 50 years. Shakespeare learned of their story and we now have Romeo and Juliet.

Themes: A few of the themes are maturity vs. immaturity, hate vs. love, and tragedy vs. comedy. I’m sure as we read the play we will recognize other themes.

Discussion as a class:

1.To what extent do you believe that fate determines what happens in the lives of all of us? Explain.

2.Do you believe that the actions of others can sometimes determine what happens to you? Explain.