“For never was a story more woe than that of Juliet and her Romeo.” “The fearful passage of their death mark’d love” has endured in the minds of the audiences for more than a century. This essay will compare the two productions of Romeo and Juliet: William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan production and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film production. The endurance of the story of Romeo and Juliet comes from Shakespeare’s prestige and the popularity is maintained by countless versions of Romeo and Juliet including Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the movie. Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation has shone light on Romeo and Juliet for different types of audiences by utilising the universal appeal of themes, language and context.
The themes in Romeo and Juliet are significant
Many people feel challenged and discouraged to read Shakespeare’s scripts due to the complexity of the use of the English language. Shakespeare’s script was written in a language that the audience from all sorts of social level could understand. In Shakespearean era, they relied mostly on language and the audiences’ minds to establish the setting. Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation however, in attempt to enhance and demystify Shakespeare’s language, relied more on actions than words. In act 1, scene 4, Mercutio’s soliloquy about Queen Mab is accompanied by the appearance of drugs in which Mercutio holds out to Romeo. It uses modern symbolism to imply that Queen Mab is dangerous but addictive, just like love. The initial message about the dangers of love is still preserved, although it is presented differently. The use of drugs as symbolism creates a wider appeal as drugs would be common in the late ‘90s, the audience would be able to relate to it more and understand what the words mean easily with the help of this
The play is written for all types of audiences and is imagined to be set in Verona where religious, social and political context were strong. These aspects attracted the Elizabethan audiences. However, the setting used would only be relatable to the Elizabethan audiences. Baz Luhrmann acknowledges this and he created the adaptations, based on the same religious, social and political context as the play but changes the setting of the play. Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Romeo said, “The world created by Baz Luhrmann heightened everything and made it more dangerous, liberating and interesting.” The created world is appealing to modern audiences as it is more exciting and relatable to them. The context of the created world is the same as the context presented in Verona. The accessibility and the excitement that the modern audience experienced from Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation maintained the popularity of Romeo and Juliet.
The endurance of Romeo and Juliet’s love story benefits from Shakespeare’s prestige, however, Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation and numerous other adaptations maintained the love story’s popularity. Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation took advantage of the universal theme of the story, language and context. With the theme that everyone can relate to, the modernised language and technique of showing rather than telling, the more relatable setting for modern audiences. Baz Luhrmann has demystified
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two lovers who have to risk their lives in order to demonstrate their love and will to stay together, regardless the feud between their families. By the end, the death of Romeo and Juliet finally bring the reconciliation to these two families. It is fate that the two most shall-not meet people fall in love and it love that eventually won against hatred. Since then, there have been many different versions of Romeo and Juliet, whether it was for film, stage, musicals. These different recontextualised adaptions change the original play by many ways, some modernise the language, environment, props as well as changing the original characteristics of some characters. Out of all the different adaptions of Romeo and Juliet, two stood out the most. One was the Romeo and Juliet (1996) and directed by Baz Luhrmann and the other one was Romeo and Juliet Broadway (2013) play version,
Romeo and Juliet presents an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families whose children meet and fall in love. Markedly, the meeting scene depicting love at first sight continues to be praised by today’s critics. Romeo and Juliet then receive the label of star-crossed lovers whose tragic demise is written in the stars. In fact, Shakespeare 's work is well received and its numerous adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and notorious stories. The cinematic world brings to the screens a disastrous approach by Baz Luhrmann to do the play justice. A glance at Baz Luhrmann’s productions allows audiences to assume he delivers movies which are unlike those of any other filmmaker today, or perhaps ever. Therefore, blending a delicate
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.
...ended. While Zeferelli’s version held true to the way the play has been written, only to take liberties with some of the dialogue, Luhrmann set the play in modern times. With his updated version Luhrmann was able to bring Romeo and Juliet to an entirely new, and younger audience. He directed the film so that today’s teenagers could relate to it. While the language may have confused some of today’s teenagers the majority understood the story. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, and romantic story that everyone at some point can relate to. This is not a fairytale it doesn’t have a happy ending, but it is a love story. Romeo and Juliet is a play that can be updated time and time again without ever loosing its original luster, and brilliance. I can only hope that when my children are teenagers another inspired director will bring this love story to life again.
Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.
Zeffirelli’s ultimate goal for his version of Romeo and Juliet was to capture Shakespeare’s original intentions for the play while targeting the teenage audience of his generation. Luhrmann’s intentions were different however; he changed the way an audience looks at Shakespeare’s masterpiece by modernising the props, costumes, and sets. Obviously, to match film time quotas Zefirelli and Luhrmann has both cut many lines out of the play.
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.
Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo and Juliet is compelling when communicating the main ideas of the play by providing the audience with a modern translation of the play using the motifs in the film which correlate to the play.
The environment surrounding the star-crossed lovers in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet can influence audiences who may interpret the scenes in different ways. The audience can be greatly affected in their interpretation of the story by the mise-en-scene, costuming, and the hidden symbolic meaning. This great piece of literature was edited in two unique and intriguing forms, one Zeferelli directed which was filmed in 1968, and the modern version produced in 1996. The different scenes throughout the length of the party were the most influential to me in that I saw how different these movies were directed, and the different meaning I experienced from watching these movies. Focusing on the environment of the scenes and the costuming helped me in my interpretation, because I found hidden symbolism in these two qualities.
In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Many of the recognisable themes are: youth and age, revenge, forbidden love, fate, action and hate. The main idea of the play is a feud that had been going on between two families, The ‘Montagues and Capulets’, the son of the Montagues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love and the story tells us how tragic, death, happiness and revenge find them throughout the play.
One of the most celebrated plays in history, “Romeo and Juliet”, was written by William Shakespeare in the late 16th century. It is a story about two lovers that have to meet in secret because of an ongoing family feud. Tragically, because of their forbidden love Romeo and Juliet take their lives so they can be together. In 1997, a movie was adapted from the play “Romeo and Juliet”, directed by Baz Lurhmann. However, as alike as the movie and the play are, they are also relatively different.
The classic play Romeo and Juliet by the famous playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and has captured and inspired readers everywhere. Regardless of the fact that it was written in the 1500’s, it is still being performed and extolled today. There is a multitude of reasons for such continuance of the play. First of all, its everlasting themes of love and hate enable people to deeply relate to the story. Secondly, its memorable characters deeply imprint on the minds of readers. And lastly, above all, is its magnificent language which many writers today regard in awe. These three elements make the acclaimed play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the most timeless stories of our lives.
Countless people all around the world are familiar with the idea of the famously tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Their heart wrenching love story has been an inspiration for many literature pieces throughout various genres and later cinematic works of art. The young couple was not only memorable for their passionate, devoted love, but also the tragic events that ultimately lead to their death. One aspect of the play that has a strong impact on the audience is Shakespeare’s use of charismatic and compelling language seen throughout the play. The unique personality traits used to describe Romeo and Juliet allows many to relate to the young lovers. Shakespeare’s use of descriptive language, allows the audience to understand the societal expectations, beliefs, and values set out for the men and women of Verona, Italy. Romeo’s character, however, can be been seen defying these expectations and also
3 Dec. 2013. Kerschen, Lios. A. A “Critical Essay on ‘Romeo and Juliet’. ” Drama for Students. Ed.
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 play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is set in the fictional city of Verona. Within the city lives two families, the Capulets and the Montegues, who have been feuding for generations.