Romeo e Giulietta

Romeo and Juliet it’s one of Shakespeare’s best-knew tragedies, it’s most famous love story of all time. The
story takes place a Verona, during four days and four night and the protagonists are two rival families: the
Montagues and the Capulets, in particular their children Romeo and Juliet. The first two acts of the story
are a love comedy, when the two lovers meet at the Capulet’s ball and it is love at the first sight, they are
secretly married by Friar Laurence. The real tragedy starts in the third act, whit the death of Mercutio
Romeo’s friends, and of Tybalt Juliet’s cousin; Romeo was banished from Verona. In the fourth act Juliet
drink a poison to avoid marriage with Count Paris, finally in the fifth act tragic conclusion with the death of
two lowers.

The story

it’s a comedy when we have: the instant attraction of the young lovers, the masked balls, the comic
servants and the surface life of street fights.

It’s a tragedy when we have: the tragic role of chance leading up to the deaths of two lovers.

The two lovers

Romeo was a courteous lover, intense adoration of a chaste woman, link to image of the light.

Juliet was unconventional, because she stand of innocence, belong to no characterization and is a real
woman.

The Themes and style

Themes are: the power of lover, the feud between two families, the power of fate, individual against
society. Style features: regular rhythm, use of rhymes in couplets, use of sonnets dialogues, imaginary of
the light linked to life and imaginary of the darkness linked to death.