RomeoandJulietRomeoandJuliet英国文学英国文学 Introduction•Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career around 1597. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime, and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Background•Shakespeare's primary inspiration was based on a poem by Arthur Brooke: The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Many of the details of Shakespeare’s plot are lifted directly from Brooks’s poem, including the meeting of Romeo and Juliet at the ball, their secret marriage, the sleeping potion, and the timing of the lover’s eventual suicides. Shakespeare uses his poetic dramatic structure, such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story. Also, Shakespeare uses a variety of poetic forms throughout the play. He begins with a 14-line prologue in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet.Background OntlineuMain Charactersu Plot OverviewuMain idea of the Act II Scene 2Plot Main CharactersRomeo The son and heir of Montague and LadyMontague. A young man of about sixteen, Romeo ishandsome, intelligent, and sensitive. Thoughimpulsive and immature, his idealism and passionmake him an extremely likable character. He lives inthe middle of a violent feud between his family andthe Capulets, but he is not at all interested in violence.His only interest is love. At the beginning of the playhe is madly in love with a woman named Rosaline,but the instant he lays eyes on Juliet, he falls in lovewith her and forgets Rosaline. Thus, Shakespeare gives us every reason to question how real Romeo’snew love is, but Romeo goes to extremes to prove the seriousness of his feelings. He secretly marries Juliet, the daughter of his father’s worst enemy; he happily takes abuse from Tybalt; and he would rather die than live without his beloved. Romeo is also an affectionate and devoted friend to his relative Benvolio, Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence. Main CharactersJuliet The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl, Juliet begins the play as a naïve child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to roam around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. Nevertheless, she shows amazing courage in trusting her entire life and future to Romeo, even refusing to believe the worst reports about him after he gets involved in a fight with her cousin. Juliet’s closest friend and confidant is her nurse, though she’s willing to shut the Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo. Main CharactersFriar Lawrence A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civic-minded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being a Catholic holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mystical potions and herbs. Mercutio A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. One of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s plays, Mercutio overflows with imagination, wit, and, at times, a strange, biting satire and brooding fervor. Mercutio loves wordplay, especially sexual double entendres. He can be quite hotheaded, and hates people who are affected, pretentious, or obsessed with the latest fashions. He finds Romeo’s romanticized ideas about love tiresome, and tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite. Main CharactersThe Nurse Juliet’s nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. A vulgar, long-winded, and sentimental character, the Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches. But, until a disagreement near the play’s end, the Nurse is Juliet’s faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet’s affair with Romeo. She provides a contrast with Juliet, given that her view of love is earthy and sexual, whereas Juliet is idealistic and intense. The Nurse believes in love and wants Juliet to have a nice-looking husband, but the idea that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is incomprehensible to her. Tybalt A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. Vain, fashionable, supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. Once drawn, his sword is something to be feared. He loathes Montagues. Plot OverviewThe story takes place in Verona, Italy. Two noble families, the Montagues and Capulets, hate each other and are feuding. Plot OverviewA nobleman, Paris, wants to marry Juliet Capulet, the beautiful daughter of the family. Her father tells him to come to a party he is planning that night so he can meet her. Romeo, the son of the Montague family, also goes to the party. He is in disguise so none of his enemies will recognize him. At the party, he meets Juliet. It is love at first sight, and they spend the night dancing and talking. Plot OverviewThe two young lovers decide to marry in secret.Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar Lawrence, who, though shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers in secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between Capulet and Montague. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence’s cell and are married. The Nurse, who is privy to the secret, procures a ladder, which Romeo will use to climb into Juliet’s window for their wedding night. Plot OverviewHowever, there is a fight between Tybalt, -Juliet’s cousin and Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio. Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo is very angry. He goes looking for Tybalt and kills him to get revenge for his friend. Plot OverviewDistraught, Juliet suddenly finds herself married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she resettles herself, and realizes that her duty belongs with her love: to Romeo.Romeo has to leave the city, and Juliet’s father tells her she must marry Paris. Plot OverviewJuliet asks a friend to help her. He gives her a potion that will make everyone think she is dead. In fact, she will just be sleeping. Then, when she wakes up, she can escape and be with Romeo. Plot OverviewHowever, Romeo returns to the city in secret. He sees Juliet lying there and thinks she is dead.He is so heartbroken, he takes poison and kills himself. When Juliet wakes up she sees Romeo is dead, and takes his dagger and kills herself too.Although both lovers are dead, something good comes out of the tragedy. The two families agree to stop fighting and live in peace. Unfortunately it is too late for Romeo and his young love, Juliet. ACT II scene 2MAIN IDEA 1: Having left the feast, Romeo decides that he cannot go home. He must instead try to find Juliet. He climbs a wall bordering the Capulet property and leaps down into the Capulet orchard. Juliet suddenly appears at a window above the spot where Romeo is standing. Romeo compares her to the morning sun, far more beautiful than the moon it banishes. He nearly speaks to her, but thinks better of it. ACT II scene 2MAIN IDEA 2: Juliet, musing to herself and unaware that Romeo is in her garden, asks why Romeo must be Romeo—a Montague, and therefore an enemy to her family. She says that if he would refuse his Montague name, she would give herself to him; or if he would simply swear that he loved her, she would refuse her Capulet name. Romeo responds to her plea, surprising Juliet, since she thought she was alone. ACT II scene 2Video Time Themes•The Forcefulness of Love•Love as a Cause of Violence•The Individual Versus Society•The Inevitability of Fate The Forcefulness of Love Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition. Love is naturally the play’s dominant and most important theme. The play focuses on romantic love, specifically the intense passion that springs up at first sight between Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, love is a violent, ecstatic, overpowering force that supersedes all other values, loyalties, and emotions. Love as a Cause of Violence•The themes of death and violence permeate Romeo and Juliet, and they are always connected to passion, whether that passion is love or hate. The connection between hate, violence, and death seems obvious. • It is only through death that Romeo and Juliet can preserve their love, and their love is so profound that they are willing to end their lives in its defense. The Individual Versus Society•It is possible to see Romeo and Juliet as a battle between the responsibilities and actions demanded by social institutions and those demanded by the private desires of the individual. The Inevitability of Fate•The mechanism of fate works in all of the events surrounding the lovers: the feud between their families; the horrible series of accidents that ruin Friar Lawrence’s seemingly well-intentioned plans at the end of the play; and the tragic timing of Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s awakening. Conclution•Romeo and Juliet had a profound influence on subsequent literature. Before then, romance had not even been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy. Romeo and Juliet has generated the most varied adaptations, including drama, opera, music, ballet, film, television and painting. Thank you 结束结束 。