Comparison Of Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Could there ever be a film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that is as powerful and moving as the original play by William Shakespeare? Some people say that Romeo + Juliet, a film adaptation made in 1996 by Baz Luhrmann, is as good as the original. Some people disagree with that statement. The argument will be settled within this essay, as the similarities between the film and the play are laid out. The narrative and film techniques that the director used in the final scene brought dramatic and emotional feelings to the tragic death of the “star-crossed lovers” (Prologue, line 6).

In the play, the audience observes that the relationship between Juliet and her mother is dreadful as the relationship is very formal between Juliet and Lady Capulet. Shakespeare portrays this by Juliet calling her mother, ‘Madam’. This implies that Juliet is distant with her mother as she addresses her in a formal tone and this is not what you would call a mother. This illustrates that the relationship between Juliet and Lady Capulet is so bad, that she is equal to a stranger. Baz Lurhmann does not cut out this part, but, the camera angle faces Juliet to show the respect Juliet has for her mother. The effect created by this action is the audience can see that Juliet has deference for her mother even though she addresses her as a stranger, not as a mother and Luhrmann expresses this well. The Nurse cannot be seen at this time, which makes it more personal between Juliet and her mother. Baz Luhrmann and William Shakespeare both portray the terrible relationship between Juliet and her mother in the same way. However Baz Luhrmann has an advantage of camera use to depict the relationship between Juliet and her mother, whereas the audience will be watching all the characters in the play and they will not gain a sense of personal relationship which Luhrmann portrays through the camera angles. As a result, Baz Luhrmann and William Shakespeare both express the relationship using similar

In order to compare and contrast the play to the movie,first I will discuss the play .In the play there is a character named Romeo.Lovely Romeo wanted to marry Juliet and stay with her in Verona,Italy.But

The film and the play, Romeo and Juliet is an ever grey due to tragic over tones play which draws undivided attention of Shakespeare’s writing even during this modern era. The 1996 version, Baz Lurhmann adopted the storyline to reflect the revealing trend of dispute between two feuding families. A film which shows a detailed study of the play of the immensely popular 1996 version directed by Baz Lurhmann.

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, classic love story written by the incomparable William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare’s works are considered literary classics, but none are more loved than Romeo and Juliet. This play masterfully tells the love story of two teenagers in Elizabethan England. The title characters Romeo and Juliet are members of two feuding families, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. There are different stylistic ways of portraying Romeo and Juliet, and the two most popular film versions portray two very different styles of this one play. Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet was made in the 1970s, and is the film version most commonly shown in high school classrooms. The newest film version of this play is Baz Luhrmanns

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless story about two ill-fated lovers. Originally written by, Shakespeare, this story has been adapted by different directors who all commonly try to add their own unique twist to it. Two of the most prevalent adaptations of Romeo and Juliet have been done by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, who have taken this love story to the big screen. Franco Zeffirelli’s movie, which was produced in 1968, is extremely authentic and stays true to Shakespeare's vision, whereas, Baz Luhrmann’s version produced in 1996, is contemporary and appeals more to younger audiences. There are various differences and a couple of similarities between Zeffirelli’s and Luhrmann’s movie versions such as the costumes, their interpretations of

In the 1996 Romeo Juliet movie, Baz Lurhman kept an authentic text, but updates the setting and makes Shakespeare familiar to a whole new generation. It is easier for the audience to understand what is happening even if they do not really understand the text. The 1996 movie updates Shakespeare in a good way that made many people truly understand the text and be interested in it.

Setting is an element which can be looked over by the viewer. Sometimes what makes a scene work can be fully tied to its setting and props. With a setting that is realistic and well thought, you can truly tie a scene together. In the Franco Zeffirelli version of the play, we can see that the setting is around the Capulet mansion, by Juliet’s balcony. Romeo is below hiding in the bushes. The leaves of the bushes and how Romeo is below them show us how he is hiding and can’t be seen by anyone, the night sky and how dark it is in this scene also hide Romeo. Juliet is sitting on the ledge of her balcony. In this production, the balcony is made very wide, so in the scene, Juliet can walk along the entire balcony before Romeo speaks. This also gives her enough space to run away when she is scared by Romeo’s voice. The plot is not affected too much by these choices other than being able to have Juliet almost run away from Romeo. Through these setting options that Franco Zeffirelli took during his production, we have a medieval time period look and a more original looking production. However, the

The scene takes place in a pool, rather than on an actual balcony. Also, instead of the actors coming together from far apart, they are close together the whole time in Luhrmann’s rendition, making the scene seem somewhat unrealistic. The costumes Juliet and Romeo were wearing were more modern, so they did not even look like costumes. Perhaps due to having more experience, the faces of the actors were difficult to read. They also spoke their lines as if in an everyday conversation, as opposed to being actors in a play. These characteristics are why the 1996 version varies from its 1968

Act 2 scene 2 is where Romeo and Juliet meet again when Romeo tries to sneak into the Capulet’s household by entering through the Capulet Gardens. Here he meets Juliet on the balcony and now they both have a newfound passion for each other. In the 1996 version, the balcony scene was adapted into a pool scene. Since there was no balcony in the way, Romeo and Juliet could kiss more often than otherwise would have been possible. Since modern audiences are almost always interested in sex, the 1996 version uses this to keep the audience’s attention. In the 2013 version, the approach was more traditional, with a balcony and no pool. While Juliet was on the balcony, she rests her hand upon her cheek and Romeo comments about Juliet’s beauty, to himself, while the frame is a tight shot in Juliet’s face. The effect here was so literal,

The scene that was most different between the play and the movie of Romeo and Juliet was how the two crossed lovers first met each other. In the play Romeo and the Montague boys find out about the Capulet party through a poor peasant who could not read the invitations. While in the movie the Capulet party is announced through a newscast over T.V. I think the director changed this so the invite can go more along with the time period of the movie. This could change how the viewers see it by making the invite less secret. Over a newscast anyone who was paying attention to the T.V. could of heard the invite. Another main difference in this scene would be Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other in the bathroom across a fish tank rather than across the ballroom in the play. This could take away from the romantic side of the two first seeing each other. In the play it seems Romeo and Juliet have more privacy when they first speak to each other. In the movie the two are getting on and off an elevator just not to be seen. This could add more suspense to the scene and make the viewers see the movie from a lofty viewpoint.

For a start, in the film there were a lot of key scenes from the play Baz Luhrmann decide to leave out the film like the nurse monologue. In the play the audience gets to see and hear why the nurse cares for Juliet like her own child. “Even or odd of all days in the year, come Lammans-eve at night shall she be fourteen Susan and she-God rest all Christian souls!-Were of an age: well, Susan is with God; on Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen.”(Shakespeare Scene III) The audience did not know that the nurse lost her only child because the monologue was not in the film. He also eliminated the chance for the audience to have an emotional connection with the nurse, if the audience knew the nurse lost her child the audience would understand the nurse

This proves that the movie differs from the book because it can be argued that Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting is a pure scene that should go untouched. The innocence of the lover’s meeting is ruined due to the changes of how they meet, and Shakespeare's elegant literary strategies are lost creating a disappointing feeling when viewing the

Thames Shakespeare’s collection and Franco Zeffirelli’s version had different interpretations on the famous play “ Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare. However, both versions will be compared on it’s scenery and settings, costumes and camera angles. First of all, scenery and setting of Zeffirelli’s version were more realistic than Thames Shakepeare’s. The main reason is because I felt that the overview of the city, including the street made the viewer understand well about the setting and most importantly, since it’s outside, the viewer had more visual

Since Romeo and Juliet are madly in love, they both think the same way about exile. But, the acting of Juliet in the 1968 movie did not perform at a standard where the emotions affect the audience. Despite the acting in the 1968 movie version of Romeo and Juliet, the movie depicts the story the way Shakespeare wanted to which also helps the audience understand the message. Lastly, the 1996 movie version of Romeo and Juliet has some strength and weaknesses that will signify whether that this version is better than the 1968 version. One of this movies specific strength was the emotional performances of the dialog.