Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Romeo and Juliet - Other Knowledge
- Genre/Conventions
- Shakespearean Tragedy
- Protagonists are in conflict with an overpowering force (love vs. feud of
the families)
- Both protagonists are tragic heroes (high status, sympathetic, their fatal
flaws contribute to inevitable downfall)
- 5 part-structure:
- 1) Exposition - Initial Accident
- 2) Rising Action - Growth in the Tension
- 3) Climax - High Point of the Action
- 4) Falling Action - Plot begins to unravel
- 5) Denouement - Ending/Resolution to the Drama
- Key Terms
- Hamartia
- A fatal flaw - leading to the downfall of a tragic
hero
- Hubris
- Exalted pride of the protagonist - leads to their defiance of
authority
- Peripeteia
- A sudden negative reversal of fortune/change in
circumstance - leading to downfall
- Structure
- Contrast
- Scenes often contrast strongly with the one
that follows them - highlights the theme of
conflict
- Timeframe
- The play begins on a Sunday and ends before
daybreak on the following Thursday - creates a
rapid pace of action
- Events in the present are results of events
from the past - 'from ancient grudge break
to new mutiny'
- The Friar offers constant reminders for events
to slow down ' Wisely and slow. They stumble
that run fast' - accelerating the pace of action
therefore increases sense of urgency and
inevitability
- Foreshadowing
- Romeo and Juliet's downfall is hinted at
throughout the play - increasing suspense
for the audience
- Dramatic
Irony
- Some things are revealed to the audience before the
characters - increases tension
- Juxtaposition
- The placement of 2 ideas/statements/events
near each other to invite
comparison/contrast
- Moments of light vs. moments of shade
- Scenes of hectic confusion are
placed next to quieter,
intimate love scenes - makes
dramatic contrast
- Eg. Capulet's feast (A1S5) alongside
R+J's declaration of love (A2S1) OR R+J's
wedding (A2S6) next to the street brawl
(A3S1) and followed by Juliet's speech
while waiting for Romeo, unaware of
the pervious violence (A3S2)
- Creates dramatic tension and
makes tragic events more
compelling to watch
- Blank Verse/Prose
- Dialogue is presented as blank verse -
a type of poetry that does not rhyme,
but has a pattern of 10 syllables per
line
- Creates rhythm
- Higher status characters speak in blank verse, lower
status characters speak in ordinary prose (sounds like
natural dialogue)
- Soliloquy
- A speech that a character makes alone on the stage
- presents a deeper insight into the characters/
shows character's innermost thoughts/feelings at
key moments
- Symbolism
- Light
- Juliet's beauty, overwhelming
power of R+J's love, hope, optimism
- Darkness
- The secrecy of R+J's love,
impending/inevitable death
- Poison
- In the power of human
hands/human will to extract the
potential evil/fatal harm from an
object/thing