Essay MSND and R&J Comparisons Between Two Shakespearian Plays Among many of the plays written by Shakespeare, many of them have similarities. The continuous and constant themes throughout these performances are what make Shakespeare such a renowned play writer. His great understanding of how humans work only added to his capabilities of creating wonderful plays that can relate directly to the members of the audience. If you pay close attention to his puns and his humor and sometimes even the serious aspects in his plays, you can find certain themes that translate over into other plays of his. An example of consequence is as follows. Shakespeare does an exquisitely wonderful job of connecting two completely different plays by using subliminal messages, themes and putting many commonalities and cohesions between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Act one of MSND is similar to R&J in the aspect of rapidity, a sense of rushed decisions and actions. In MSND, it is very first stated that Hippolyta and Theseus are to be married within the time of four days. Th...
In plays, as in real life, individuals’ actions can change the course of events in theirs, as well as, other individuals’ lives. In both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, the lovers were forced to take their own lives or be killed because of fate and the actions of others.
Chloe Fleming investigates Baz Luhrmann’s capability in embodying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in his own modern film adaptation and praises the hell out of it.
A Comparison of the Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet I have been studying the prologue to 'Romeo and Juliet' written by the
Romeo and Juliet, (R&J), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (AMSND), are two different genres with but have the same basic plot: Two young lovers can’t wed and the girl is to marry another man who is preferred by her father, so the couple meets at night and plans to run away. Both couples have gone against the wishes of their authority figures but it doesn’t end well for Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, or Juliet. R&J is set in Elizabethan times, and the Chain of Being would have been disrupted by their actions.AMSND has fantastical elements that interfere with fate and these elements such as fairies and cupid, would have been understood to be higher on the chain than man by its attendees of the time. Is it the force of celestial bodies that makes R&J a tragedy and AMSND a comedy?
In William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” Mercutio gives an imaginative speech of Queen Mab to jest Romeo for not having fun with others but dwell on his passion towards dreams. In act 1.4, Romeo explains to Mercutio that he is not going to the Capulet’s party as “dreamt a dream tonight” (1.4.50) that tell him not to. Romeo believes that dreams are reflecting reality and telling the truth and he is not joining his friends to the party. Mercutio exasperated by Romeo’s passion about dreams and scold him by giving the famous Queen Mab speech to illustrate the nature of dream to Romeo. Mercutio’s description of Queen Mab depicts that dreams are not reflecting reality but fantasy. Dreams are small yet powerful in their own way, they are hard to
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about two young lovers who are forced to be estranged as a result of their feuding families. The play is about their struggle to contravene fate and create a future together. As such, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would try and emulate Shakespeare’s masterpiece. This had been done before in many films. Prominent among them were, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 “Romeo and Juliet” and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” Both films stay true to the themes of Shakespeare’s original play. However, the modernised Luhrmann film not only maintains the essence of Shakespeare’s writings, Luhrmann makes it relevant to a teenage audience. This is done through the renewal of props and costumes, the reconstruction of the prologue and the upgrading of the setting, whilst preserving the original Shakespearean language. Out of the two, it is Luhrmann who targets Romeo & Juliet to a younger audience to a much larger extent than Zeffirelli.
In Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream he entices the reader using character development, imagery, and symbolism. These tools help make it a wonderful play for teens, teaching them what a well-written comedy looks like. As well as taking them into a story they won’t soon forget.
The play West Side Story, by Arthur Laurents, is based upon the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Despite a few differences, both works, in essence, have the same plot. The source of violence in Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story is the ever-present hatred between families and between gangs, although, because of the "star-cross’d lovers" motif in Romeo and Juliet, the hatred plays a larger role in producing the ending of West Side Story than it does the ending of Romeo and Juliet.
William Shakespeare has provided some of the most brilliant plays to ever be performed on the stage. He is also the author of numerous sonnets and poems, but he is best known for his plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. In this essay I would like to discuss the play and movie, "Romeo and Juliet", and also the movie, Shakespeare in Love.
The well known plays of Shakespeare contribute their recognition to the characters. In his plays characters are made to imitate people. His most famous play Romeo and Juliet is great demonstration of this. Shakespeare shows the complexities of the characters in Romeo and Juliet such as their actions and their emotions through juxtaposition.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is, in a way, Romeo and Juliet turned inside out--a tragedy turned farcical. The tragedy both are based on is the story of "Pyramus and Thisbe." In one, Ovid's story is treated as a melodrama (in Romeo and Juliet) and in another, it is fodder for comedy (in A Midsummer Night's Dream).
These themes all connect to human nature and are personally relevant to us today. Shakespeare’s use of vivid characterisation and realism makes very real characters but complex, believable characters which people today can relate to.
Shakespeare explored the power of love and magic and showed us how it is so unpredictable. Midsummer's night dream also shows us how love can affect your life even when you least expect it and by following your heart it may not turn out the way you
Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus is searching for the truth about the murder of the old king, Laios, and the situation will be resolved by the murder being banished from Thebes. In contrast A Midsummer Night's Dream is more centered around the lovers trying to overcome the forces that separate them and Oberon seeking revenge on Titania.
William Shakespeare's plays come in many forms. There are histories, tragedies, comedies and tragic comedies. Among the most popular are the comedies which are full of laughter, irony, satire and wordplay. Many times the question is asked: what makes a play a comedy instead of a tragedy. Shakespeare's comedies often use puns, metaphors and insults to provoke 'thoughtful laughter'. The action is often strained by artificiality, especially elaborate and contrived endings. Disguises and mistaken identities are often very common. Opposed to that are the tragedies, where the reader would find death, heartbreak, and more serious plots and motives. The plot is very important in Shakespeare's comedies. It is often very convoluted, twisted and confusing, and extremely hard to follow. Other characteristics of Shakespearean comedy are the themes of love and friendship, played within a courtly society. Songs often sung by a jester or a fool, parallel the events of the plot. Minor characters, which add flavor to the plot, are often inserted into the storyline. Love provides the main ingredient. If the lovers are unmarried when the play opens, they either have not met or there is some obstacle to their relationship. Examples of these obstacles are familiar to every reader of Shakespeare: the slanderous tongues which nearly wreck love in "Much Ado About Nothing", the father insistent upon his daughter marrying his choice, as in "A Midsummer Nights Dream", or the confusion of husbands in "The Comedy of Errors".