R&J

• LB GRAPES: CONTEXT

  L=LITERARY CONTEXT

  B=BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

  G=GEOGRAPHICAL

  R=RELIGION

  A=AUDIENCE RESPONSE

  P=POLITICAL VIEW

  E=ERA

  S=SOCIAL CONTEXT
• L=LITERARY CONTEXT

  • Shakespearean tragedy - clear 5 part structure including a prologue.
  • prologue -> tells us the outcome > creates dramatic irony.
  • Exposition (beginning) > foreshadowing all the way through.

  RISING ACTION} build up of what's happening.

  1. Romeo's premonition > predicting his own death
  2. tension between Capulets and Montagues.

  CLIMAX} Point of no return > when R kills TY because TY kills M. > Peripeteia.

  FALLING ACTION} R:"Fortune's fool"

  DENUMENT} 2 Deaths - ending feud. (everything is restored)
• B=BIOGRAPHICAL

  • 1597 - PLAY IS WRITTEN
  • 1596 - Shakespeare had just lost his son> knows of 'grief'
  • a lot of his plays were about legitimate heirs ( J as an only daughter of Capulet) > links to the monarchy issues
  • Shakespeare was possibly 'catholic' > tensions between 2 religions at the time.

  e.g. Reflects in the feud between Capulet and Montague.
• G=GEOGRAPHICAL


  Set in Italy - Verona:

  1. associated with romance, passion
  2. associated (Italians) hot tempered
  3. freer society than Elizabethan England

  The setting of the play is used as a warning to Aristocrats not to criticise the queen.
• R= RELIGION


  Christian religion > ROMAN CATHOLICS >> Viewed as corrupted & having an excess of passion.

  • church weddings
  • sin/salvation - sin = murder
  • Blasphemy > R+J use religious language to describe each others love.

  {"And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss" - Act 1 Scene 5}
• R=RELIGION (PT2)

  • 'Suicide' (sin) - Elizabethan era weren't fully against it.

  KEY SENTENTCE: {FAMILY SINS- DESERVED IT}

  1. The tragic ending can be seen as a manifestation and re-assertion of traditional Christian divine justice.

  [ELIZABETHAN PPL BELIEVED:]

  • Divine rule of kings > God put the monarch on the throne
  • Great Chain Of Being > Social hierarchy (God - angels - king/queen - everyone else in order)
  • Believed spheres/planets/stars were in perfect alignment. > that earth was centre of solar system and everything orbited around earth. ( this obvi wrong)
• A=AUDIENCE RESPONSE


  Shakespeare wrote for a cross-class audience >

  1. Lower class humour } boardy/sexual (nurse)
  2. also used refined language (R+J = SONNET)

  • Very popular - everyone knows it
• P=POLITICAL VIEWS (NOT VERY MUCH)

  • Not about politics
  • more on fighting/ arguing with the differences between different groups of people.
• E=ERA (LINKED W SOCIAL)

  • Elizabethan era , set in 14th/15th century (past)
  • Queen on the throne.
• S=SOCIAL

  -Patriarchal society > men are superior to women

  [POSITION OF WOMEN:]

  1. Lesser than men > lower in the Great Chain Of Being
  2. Mother of sin > ORIGINAL SIN > 'EVE'
  3. Seen as possessions / objectified

  {possessions / objectified}

  • property of husbands - used in bargaining + bargaining for gifts - links to gaining social class.
  • Sexual Objects - J breaks the social norms
• S=SOCIAL (PT2)

  [MARRIAGE:] >> Young marriages mostly

  (A) More likely to survive childbirth & have a surviving heir

  (B) Unlikely to be touched by a man > men preferred virgins.

  • Shakespeare made strong female characters to break stereotypes.

  [GENDER NORMS>]

  MALE-

  1. Protecting/strong]
  2. honour } LORD C, TYBALT, MERCUTIO + J
  3. working/leaders.]

  FEMALE-

  1. Mothers ]
  2. loving/caring} R

  Both lead characters are breaking gender norms