Romeo and Juliet

In the city of Verona, there is a longstanding quarrel between The Montague and Capulet families.
First Act. In a street of Verona, Romeo Montague tells his cousin Benvolio that he has fallen in love
with Rosaline but she doesn’t return his love. When Romeo knows that Rosaline will be at a party
at the Capulets’ house, he decides to go to the party. There Romeo meets Juliet and they fall in love
at first sight. At the end of the act, they discover that their families are professed enemies.
Second act. The two lovers decide to marry. This act finishes with their secret wedding by the help
of the friendly priest Friar Laurence, who hopes that this union may end the families’ quarrel.
Third act. This is the longest act and can be divided into two parts: the first is characterised by
public events and the second is characterised by private events. Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, is killed
by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, during a street fight. So Romeo decides to revenge his friend and kills
Tybalt. He is banished from Verona to Mantua. This act ends with Romeo meeting Juliet at the
Capulet’s House.
Fourth act. Juliet decides to take a poison given by Friar Laurence. This poison makes her appear to
be dead. Friar sends a message to Mantua, to inform Romeo of the plan, but before receiving the
message, Romeo hears that Juliet is dead and decides to return to Verona.
Fifth act. Romeo arrives to Juliet’s tomb and, kissing her for the last time, takes some poison from
her lips. When Juliet wakes from the trance, sees Romeo dead beside her. So she kills herself with
Romeo’s dagger.

Shakespeare’s play is set in the city of Verona because Italians were considered passionate and
violent.
Romeo is characterised by an adoration and respect for a lay (NON CAPISCO COSA INTENDI…
Girl?) who is chaste and ‘impossible’.
Juliet is beautiful and rebellious. At the beginning she appears as an obedient child who does what
their parents say. Her first meeting with Romeo changes her and she becomes more mature. She
immediately shows determination and strength. Romeo compares their love to light for two reason.
At first because of the speed at which their romance is moving, but also because their love is just
like a lightning breaking the darkness of the night sky. When Juliet wakes and finds Romeo beside
her she decides to kill herself because of her strong love, exactly as Romeo had done. Furthermore,
Juliet’s suicide needs more courage than Romeo’s, because he dies with poison while she kills
herself with a dagger.
The most important themes of the play are:
-The power of love. Romeo and Juliet’s love is so powerful that becomes more important than their
families.
-Passion and violence. The same passion leads to violence, from Tybalt’s death to the lovers’
suicides.
-Individual against society. What the lovers want conflicts with what their families want.
-The power of fate. During the play, the lovers have negative feelings about what is going to
happen.
About the style, Shakespeare’s rhymes are regular and often used in ‘couplets’. We can find some
oxymora: life and death, love and hate, dark and light, Montagues and Capulets or peace and
fighting