Language in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Language in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet was written in the late 16th century by William

Shakespeare, a time when the language was very different to the

English we speak today.

I have seen several different productions of Romeo and Juliet:

Firstly, Baz Luhrmann's modern film, which I really enjoyed and easily

understood. This was because Luhrmann's version transposed the action

into the 21st century, with drugs, alcohol, car, firearms and a modern

set, so that I could easily identify and relate to it. Zefferili's

old-fashioned film is probably more how Shakespeare imagined his play

to be, as it is portrayed with a set and costumes from the 16th

century. Finally I saw a theatrical production in Warwick which helped

Shakespeare's words come to life, and gave me a clearer idea of each

character's role in the play.

Gregory and Sampson

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In 'Romeo and Juliet,' the opening scene involves two of Capulet's

servants, Gregory and Sampson, who are armed with swords and bucklers.

This straight away gives the impression that they are aggressive and

ready for a fight.

Both men are chatting together, very crudely, about sex and women.

Like typical men they are boasting about their sexual prowess, turning

everything into crude jokes, using word-play such as 'stand',

'thrust', 'maidenheads', 'tool' and 'weapon'.

They are very sexist referring to women as being the 'weaker vessels'.

They think that they can over-power women and that women look up to

them as superiors. As Sampson says; 'Me they shall feel while I am

able to stand' and 'tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.'

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... middle of paper ...

...o Juliet in

private without the Nurse present as she feels that they are not very

close, and the Nurse can deal with the situation better.

To show that the Nurse is not very well educated she does not speak in

poetry. Instead she speaks in prose, which shows she is not very

sophisticated.

Shakespeare used language to give his characters different

personalities and to make them come to life. He also changed the tone

of the play by altering the way different characters spoke. He uses

language to set a crude and bawdy scene and then changes the tone of

the play into a romantic and emotional scene again, by using more

sophisticated poetry.

He also uses language to establish a character's intellect, and to

emphasize their position in society, for example the Nurse's crude

references, as opposed to the Friar's.