Act 1 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Introduction of Key Themes

Act 1 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Introduction of Key Themes

William Shakespeare is known worldwide as a playwright. His plays are

used for both entertainment and educational purposes, all over the

world. Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford Upon Avon.

Shakespeare is commonly known as 'gentle Shakespeare' from the way he

writes and conducts his plays: tender, often amused but always

sympathetic. This has attracted a range of audiences, which come along

with different expectations and different views. Audiences often like

to watch presentations of scripts they already know. The play Romeo

and Juliet introduces many key themes, such as love, friendship,

betrayal and death. These are all points which focus on dramatic

tension. This closely links with other Shakespeare's plays,

particularly A Midsummer Nights Dream, the humour and theme of love is

very much the same.

In the time that Shakespeare wrote and performed his plays, audiences

would have been watching in poor conditions, either upon rotten wooden

benches or stood in cold stands. This was taken into consideration

when Shakespeare composed his scripts. He would have thought about

ways to grab and keep the audiences attention, which he did so by

incorporating lots of dramatic tension.

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, although

not completely his own work. It was written between 1594 and 1596. The

basic plot was not his own and taken from a poem "The tragical history

of Romeus and Juliet" by Arthur Brooke, in 1562. There have been many

versions of Romeo and Juliet, the most recent being Baz Luhurman's

video creation starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes. Luhurman

adapted Shakespeare's play to suit a more modern day setting, and to

appeal to 20th century audiences. His movie was successful and many

new and younger people who wouldn't have before, got to appreciate

Shakeseare's works. Franco Ciffereli produced a version of Romeo and

Juliet, this was made in1968, so a more traditional and less modern

storyline was used. Because Shakespeare's writing is loose and