Disloyalty In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Romeo And Juliet
Compare William Shakespeare’s Play with Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
Ideas: Power, Inequality, Loyalty Vs. disloyalty
Introduction

Context has greatly influenced how Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare in the 1500’s to how Williams Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet was produced in 1996 by Baz Luhrmann with a more modern intention.

A key theme of Romeo and Juliet that occurs throughout the play is Loyalty Vs. Disloyalty and the effects that this has on the characters Romeo and Juliet and their families. For example Romeo knows that if he tells his family of his love for Juliet it will be seen, as a disloyalty to his family and Romeo knows this so he tries to hide this truth.

Baz Luhrmann the producer of Romeo +

Juliet the film made in 1996 understands this theme and has ingeniously adapted it into a modern context; he portrays the Montague’s and the Capulet’s as rival family gangs. Both Families are shown as being rich, though the Capulet’s being richer and more powerful of the two. William Shakespeare in the original Romeo And Juliet describes the Montages and Capulet’s in the opening scene as “two households, both alike in dignity”. Shakespeare is saying here that the Montages are both families, (or households) and that they both hold a position of power. As both of the families are wealthy, but the Capulet’s are depicted as being the wealthier of the two gangs in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, if Romeo showed his intentions of marrying Juliet, both families would of seen this as disloyalty to their families.

In conjunction with the idea Loyalty Vs. Disloyalty, context has a vast influence in the way Power was used to impact Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In the Elizabethan Era, Men had an immense amount of control over women. Shakespeare has implemented this Elizabethan tradition of power in Romeo and Juliet through the manner that Capulet speaks to his daughter. An extract from the play Romeo and Juliet, where this manner is described is “Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday, or never after look me in the face: Speak not, reply not, do not answer me”. Even in Elizabethan English this is basic to comprehend, Capulet is showing his power over Juliet his daughter, a woman and forcing her to do what he wants or else “Speak not, reply not, do not answer me”. This shows how Capulet is enforcing his rule over women, which is considered appropriate in Shakespeare’s Era.

Likewise the Elizabethan era also has an imbalance in Equality between the social classes.

Both the Capulet and Montague’s families are wealthy, noble and even founding families of Verona. Evidence of the family’s wealth is displayed when the Capulet’s have a classy party and Romeo meets Juliet for the first time. Proof of the two rival families superiority is even shown in the opening Prologue where the families are described by the line “Two households, both alike in dignity.” In the Elizabethan Era the word “dignity” can be interpreted to “Elevated rank, office,” or “station”. Hence both families are of high social status and in a position of power. Additionally in the prologue the families are described as ancient with this line “From ancient grudge break to new munity”. We can then determine that the Montague and Capulet families were Ancient and influential and the upper class in the social hierarchy of Verona. The Montages and The Capulet’s reputation and high values were the only thing the families and the people working for the houses cared about and their servants would never consider betraying their masters, the house they worked in was like their family. Servants working in the houses were considered normal when Shakespeare wrote Romeo And Juliet, in the Elizabethan Era most powerful or rich people had people of a lesser class working for them. An example of hierarchy in Romeo and Juliet is the Nurse and Balthazar the servant

boy.

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Inequality in Romeo + Juliet (2nd example) Baz Luhmen
Inequality in Baz Luhmen’s Romeo and Juliet

Consequently both Shakespeare and Baz luhmen have used context respectively to communicate a story of love both in modern and in Elizabethan context. Context has obviously influenced how Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet and how Baz luhmen interpreted it into a film. Shakespeare and Baz luhmen have used the ideas of Power, Loyalty Vs. Disloyalty to show how two similar and dominant families have destroyed a young couple that of Romeo and Juliet.