Concetti Chiave
- The play is set in Verona, where a feud between the Montague and Capulet families disrupts the peace.
- Romeo and Juliet's secret marriage fails to unite them due to their families' hatred, leading to their tragic deaths by poison.
- Shakespeare's work is the first romantic tragedy, symbolizing adolescent love with themes of passion and purity.
- The play explores love's various facets through characters like Juliet's father, her nurse, and Count Paris.
- The tragedy highlights characters' free will and questions the power of appearance and illusion.
Introduction to the feud
The play begins in Verona, city in which the peace has been shattered by the feud between two prominent families: the house of Montague and the house of Capulet. The drama represents the tormented love story between Romeo and Juliet who belong respectively to the two rival families.The lovers, married secretly, still aren’t able to appear together for the hate of the families and so, they try to look for a solution that, still it will be a bankruptcy, since at the end for an error, an equivocation, they will get killed with a poison.
Themes and character dynamics
The story of Romeo and Juliet represents the first romantic tragedy of Shakespeare and it has become the archetype of adolescent love: the absolute passion, the true and pure love characterized by a difficult path.To be honest, Romeo and Juliet can be described both as a tragedy and a comedy because it starts happily with the ball but it end badly with the death of the main characters.
Moreover in the play it is described the matter of love in his multifaceted meanings, according to other characters such as: Juliet’s father, Juliet’s nurse or Count Paris.
Other important aspect well-evident, are that Shakespeare gives however his characters free will to decide their own fate (that makes Romeo and Juliet a “modern” tragedy) and, with the Romeo’s death he wants to question the power of appearance and illusion.
List of the main characters
Romeo Montague – the 16 years old heir of the family; he is handsome, gentle, passionate and idealistic but also immature and impulsive.Juliet Capulet – the 13 years old daughter of the Lord and the Lady Capulet; she is naïve but, after she fell in love with Romeo she matures and she became enterprising (she is the one who asks Romeo to renounce to his name, and legacy, in order to live freely their love).
Escalus – the Prince of Verona.
Benvolio – Romeo and Mercutio’s loyal friend; he is remembered for his attempts to stop Romeo’s infatuation for Rosaline that continues even when he fell in love with Juliet; Mercutio provoked him saying that his private life was terrible despite his depicture as a honest and moderate man in public.
Rosaline – Romeo’s first love.
Mercutio – Romeo’s friend and Escalus’ nephew; he is a creative spirit and an intelligent mind although he can became easily angry; he tries to make Romeo resonate about his love but at the end he is killed Tybalt.
Count Paris – Juliet’s suitor.
Tybalt – Juliet’s cousin; he is vain and he loves following the latest trends, for this reason he considers the lack of taste and courtesy execrable; when he becomes angry he can be dangerous because his fury cannot be controlled.
Friar Laurence – Romeo’s old teacher but also a friend for Juliet; he is the one who marries the young couple; he is know for his devotion, moderation, civic sense and his mastering potions and medical herbs.
Nurse – Juliet’s nanny; she is a character who catalyzes in himself being rude, talkative, emotional and comical.
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