Romeo and Juliet Characters

The Montague Family

Those and them loyal

Romeo Montague

*About 16 years old

*from an upperclass family

*Tragic Flaw: In love with the idea of being in love

Lord Montague

*Romeo's father

*Often referred to as just Montague

Lady Montague

*Romeos mother

Benvolio

*Romeos cousin + friend

*Benevolent (good natured. well meaning. kindly, trustworthy)

*Ussually is not bias

Abram

* a Montague servingman (servant)

Balthasar

*Romeos servingman

*more dedicated to serving and working for specifically Romeo

Mercutio

*Romeo's best friend; no blood relation

*related to the prince Escalus (prince of Verona)

*Sassy, rude, crude, speaks his mind

The Capulet Family

Juliet

*she is turning 14

*Romeo's love interest throughout the vast majority of the play (after Rosaline)

Lord Capulet

*Juliet's father

*often referred to as just "Capulet"

*head of the family rivaling with the Montague's

Lady Capulet

*Juliet's mother

Nurse

*Juliet's nursemaid and caretaker

*shes raised Juliet and is responsible for meeting Juliet's needs (kind of like a nanny but with greater responsibilities)

* Juliet's confidant

*Heavyset and dumb-witted

Tybalt

* Juliet's cousin

*hotheaded

*always ready to fight

Romeo And Juliet [Script + Device Vocab]

Script Vocab

Prologue

-part of story that comes before main actions and intro

-the prologue for romeo and juliet gives an overview of the entire play

~why do you think plays include this info?

Epilogue

-a short section at the end of the story; a way of wrapping up or giving final thoughts

Dialogue

-the words that characters exchange when speaking with one another

~Point to Note: all end in -logue

-Etymology: from french... -logue from ancient greek -oros (-logos "one who speaks in a certain manner")

Player

-Term that means actor/ess

Stage Directions

-not meant to be spoken

-info that is written into the script to tell how the player should perform

- often set off by italics

Act

-A large division of a play

-most plays have 3-5 acts

Scene

Smaller division of a play

scenes are marked with in a act

Chorus

a special narrator or announcer

Device Vocab

Dramatic Irony: when the reader or audience knows something about what is happening in the story but the characters in the story don't know

Situational Irony: The player realized the situation or event is opposite of what s/he previously expected or thought

Verbal Irony: Sarcasm; words spoken different/sharply in meaning from the actual meaning

Pun: a Shakespearean favorite; this is a humorous play on words to produce a double meaning

Comic Relief: a break in a very serious scene

a character says or does something funny but related to the scene. It lightens the mood momentarily.

Soliloquy: A long speech made by one character alone on stage and is used to communicate inner thoughts and feelings to the audience

Monologue: similar to soliloquy but occurs with other players on stage; there are many significant monologues in ROM. including Mercutio's queen mab speech

Aside: lines spoken by a player in a way that suggests that the other characters on the stage can not hear but audience can

Allusion: an appearance or reference to another peice of literature or art

Foreshadowing: a hint or suggestion of things to come

Simile: 2 unlike things compared using like or as

Metaphor: see "simile" w/ out using like or as

Hyperbole: great overstatement or exaggeration

Foil: (No not aluminium) equal but opposite character [alternate ego]

Tragedy Plot

Plot:

Tragedy's Plot...Regular....

1) Exposition: Introduction of main characters

Hero will start out favorably

Author will plan seeds in readers mind of developing problem

Intro of secondary main characters

2) Rising Action: Here the author will inject some crisis that puts pressure on the hero

Events begin to work against the main character

He will need to make some difficult decisions

Unfortunatly and at the worst possible time, his tragic flaw will get in the way

causing him to make a bad irreversable decision

nothing the main character can do to stop it

as the readers we see sadness, destruction and possible death looming

3) Climax: While we thin of the word climax as something big, but its actually more subtle

It is the highest point of tension in tragedy however it comes later than we usually expect.

the climax of a tragedy begins to reveal the total downfall and complete destruction of the main character.

4) Falling Action: Readers sinse the main characters destruction but others close to him may not or may also be ruined

Main character might try to make last attempts but the situation has already spun out of control

As readers, we are aware of doom, but read further to see how it will unfold and to what degree

5) Denouement: Readers learn how the main character ends up. It will be sudden to the main character. The problem may be solved, but it will be in a very sad way. Reader may cry/want to cry for main character after all, he could of been a likeable person

The English Sonnet

Sonnet: Means title song

-There are Italian sonnets

~created by Giacomoda Lentino of Italy in 1230

-There are English Sonnets

~ also called Shakespearean sonnets

Sonnets

~Structured poems of 14 lines

~English sonnets are arranged as 3 quatrains (stanza of 4 lines) followed by a couplet

~Traditional rhyme scheme is:

abab, cdcd, efef, gg

~Written in Iambic Pentameter

1) Iamb = 1 foot

2 syllables

That follow a unstressed, stressed pattern

2) Pent = 5

5 iamb's in a line (So for every line there are 5 stressed syllables and 5 unstressed)

*** First syllable is unstressed

~ "embedded sonnets" in a lot of Shakespeare's plays

~used in a lot of his plays, writing, etc.

Elements of Greek and British Tragedy

Greek

Aristotle and the Unities

*Unity of time

*Unity of place

*Unity of action

Time:

- Greek depicted a story that spanned one day

- Has beginning middle and end

Place:

- stage represents action in ONE place

Action:

- action that strayed from play was not included; no play within a play

-each scene should contribute directly to progression of play

-no chance or coincidence

Aristotle's Plot

*Violence is not portrayed on stage

Character

-Tragic hero brings about his own downfall, he has little control of his own plight

-In ancient Greece, tragedy is influenced by fate, god, etc

-hero may or may not die

- suffering is bad as dying

-hero must understand his doom (simple versus complex)

Aristotle's Influence => Shakespearean

* an explicit link to Aristotle influence in Shakespeare arguably does not exist

* Shakespeare did not know Greek and ancient text were just being rediscovered

* Shakespeare didn't have access to information

Shakespearean Tragedy

*Hero dies

*relatives die because of a excess of a trait (Ex: pride jealousy, greed)

* Hero contributes directly to the disaster from which he dies (while, Aristotle => Fate)

Shakespearean Tragedy Cont.

*less to do with how small man is in the world and how little he has to do with his own fate

* Catastrophe - is the result of a deed or action, and action is result of mans character

Shakespearean Character

*tragic hero

* Some argue that its a mistake to call the hero's flaw a "tragic flaw" because he is predisposed to the trait which could also a characters virtue => which in different circumstances leads to downfall

* Character CHOOSES not to do anything about his flaw

Shakespearean Plot

*allows chance

*hero may encounter circumstances that when combined w/ chance occurrences lead to circumstances that are beyond the hero's control

Opinions of Shakespeare

-argued whether it was correct during Shakespeare's time because it did reflect Aristotle's work

-Shakespeare did not have access to the information or documents

Shakespearean Tragedy

-British tragedy

-Renaissance tragedy

-Shakespearean tragedy

Elements of Aristotelian Tragedy

Elements: Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Melody, Spectacle

Characteristics of Tragedy

- Aristotle defines tragedy according to 7 characteristics

>>Mimetic: copies life

> mime; mimics

>> It is serious

>> It tells a full story of appropriate length

> has beginning, middle, and end

>>It contains rhythm + harmony

> it flows

> story line goes together

>>rhythm and harmony occur in different combinations in different points of the tragedy

>> performed rather than narrated

>> it arouses feelings of pity and fear, then purges these feeling through catharsis

> Catharsis: emotional/spiritual cleansing

6 Components - Most important to least important

1. Plot

2. Character

3. Thought

4. Diction

5. Melody

6. Spectacle

Plot

- outcome must rely on tightly constructed cause and effect

-tragedy should NOT depend primarily or personality of protagonist

-most important according to Aristotle

- tragedies are "plot driven"

I. Beginning, Middle, and End

-Beginning must start the cause and effect chain and not depend on anything out side the realm of play

- Middle (climax) should be caused by earlier incidents and affect events yet to come

-End (resolution) should be caused by earlier events and not lead to any further incidents

II. Completeness and Unity of action

- self contained

- acts should not succeed one another w/out probable or necessary sequence

- coincidence should be avoided

- Info should be dramatized not reported

III. Magnitude

-tragedy should have a certain level of impact on audience

- it should be appropriately long and complex

- serious w/ universal significance

> Universal Significance: no matter who watches it, it is significant to any audience from anywhere and means something to them

IV. Simple or Complex

-if plot is simple:

>should focus on hero's downfall

-if plot is complex:

>should have both a reversal of intention and recognition

a. Reversal of Intention: what protagonist intended is not what happened

b. Recognition: protagonist will understand what lead to his downfall

Character

-should support plot

-protagonist should be of high social standing so that his fall is apparent

> if someone is already poor and doesn't have much, what is there really for him to lose..?

-fall should be the result of a flow in personality, not of vice

> you have to like the character to have pity and fear aroused

I. Hamartia

-Often translated as "tragic flaw"

> but it is argued whether it is closer to "mistake"

-Protagonist mistakenly brings own downfall

-Downfall ~ result of lack of knowledge, not because he/she is sinful or morally weak

II. Character Qualities

-good or fine

-true to type

-true to life

-consistency

-necessary or probable

-true to life yet more beautiful

Thought

-speeches should reveal character

> what character says has to reveal their thoughts because it is shown on a stage and the audience cant hear their thoughts

-a general attitude is expressed

-the themes of a play

Diction

-the "expression of the meaning of words"

-appropriate for the plot and characters

- Metaphors used

>"...it is the mark of genius, for to make good make metaphors implies an eye for resemblances."

Song or Melody

-Musical element of chorus

-still a piece of tragedy that reflects its origins

-should be carefully integrated almost like another actor/character

-choral odes should contribute to the plot

Spectacle

-the play itself, not special effects, should arouse pity and fear

-spectacle "create[s] a sense, not of the terrible but only of the monstrous

-least important

Homework- Sentence Build

I apologize. I have been trying to get pages for assignments, homework, notes, etc. Unfortunately this has been difficult so for now we will make do.

The Sentence Build Homework is an on-going assignment that is added to each night. The first night you were instructed to create a simple sentence with one subject and one verb. For instance: The dog barked. The next step was to add a subject: The dog and bird barked. Next, you were to add a verb: The dog and bird barked and tweeted. The next night we added an adjective to each subject: The brown dog and the blue bird barked and tweeted. Tonight, you must add one adverb to each verb: The brown dog and the blue bird barked loudly and tweeted softly. These are just examples. DO NOT use these because A: that's cheating but B: if you turned in those sentences, she would not approve. She expects creativity. If this assignment continues with further instructions, I will edit this post with updates.