Romeo and Juliet - Context

Staging
1. The play was first performed in 1595
2. 16th and 17th century audiences watched at open air theatres in the day
3. The stage had no scenery, few props, and women were played by young boys
4. The poor (groundlings) stood closest to the stage - wealthier people paid higher prices for seated galleries
Queen Elizabeth
1. Reigned from 1533-1603
2. England prospered and was very important in Europe - but not all citizens supported her
3. She did not marry (defying gender roles/expectations of patriarchal society of the time) - this may have been due to her infertility/prevention of political instability and power loss through her husband
Setting of the Play
1. 14th Century Verona, Italy
2. Successful and cultured city
  1. However - suffered from widespread violence/deadly battles over issues including the rivalry between Emperor supporters and Pope supporters
    1. Montecchi and Capuleti families were real - fighting for power in Verona
    2. Society was significantly divided in Verona - power fights, struggles, challenges, insults and duels lead to violence and fighting - defence of honour is more important than life itself in the play
The Bubonic Plague
1. Plague killed 1/3 of Italian population in 14th Century
  1. Killed 17,000 people in London due to an outbreak (1592 - The Black Death)
  2. The most famous way to avoid the plague was to walk around with flowers in or around noses - people would be able to "ward off the stench and perhaps the evil that afflicted them"
Astrology
1. In 14th Century Italy and Elizabethan England - stars were linked to fate and fortune, believed to predict/influence human events
2. Boethius - a 6th Century philosopher - very popular at the time
  1. Believed that fortune (good and bad) along with God control his destiny
  2. Fortune is random - bad fortune is more important, can teach humans about evil
Gender
1. 14th Century Italy and Elizabethan England were patriarchal societies
2. Women were denied all political rights - legally subject to their husbands
  1. Disobedience was seen as a crime against religion
  2. Women who did not marry were forced to live under control of a male relative, she would become a nun
  3. Aristocratic families married their young daughters to well off men - girls were eligible at 14 years old
    1. Girls expected to become wives and mothers
The Catholic Church
1. Catholics secretly plotted to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, she had a Protestant rule
  1. Catholics involved were executed and enforced a harsh reign on Catholics later as her power increased
Patriarchal Society
1. Patriarchal society - one which is ruled/dominated by men
  1. Fathers are of prime importance
    1. Particularly present in Capulet's character
      1. He gives orders to Lady Capulet and Juliet
      2. He is much older than Lady Capulet,, she was married to him as a young girl, and he becomes a father-figure to Lady Capulet as well
2. Males have complete control over their wife and daughters, would hold all the wealth and land
Influences
1. The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and juliet - Arthur Brook (1562 poem)
  1. Similar plot
  2. Key Differences
    1. Events take place over 9 months
    2. Tale does not open with conflict
    3. Juliet is 16
    4. Mercurio, Nurse and other minor characters are less well developed
2. Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe (Metamorphoses)
  1. 2 lovers in Babylon live in connected houses
    1. They are forbidden to wed because of parent's rivalry
      1. They whisper their love through a crack in the wall
        Pyramus believes Thisbe to have been eaten by a lion and kills himself
        Thisbe does the same after finding his dead body
        Pyramus' blood turned mulberry fruits from white colour to red - the gods forever change their colour to honour the lovers

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Romeo and Juliet - Context

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