preview

How To Interpret Romeo And Juliet

Decent Essays

Known as the greatest, and most Tragic love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet has captivated and entertained audiences since the late 1590s. Following the story of an ‘ill-fated’ and ‘star-crossed’ love, Shakespeare used strong themes of love, hate, punishments, and rebellion, in an Elizabethan Era context. However, as society has changed, the story of Romeo and Juliet quickly becomes more and more irrelevant. The language has become difficult to understand, and themes such as the importance of a family name become less important in the current society. As this makes it difficult for the audience to relate towards, the play becomes quite quickly less capable of speaking to a modern audience. Although the play of Romeo and Juliet may have captivated the audience …show more content…

In the opening scene, it is made clear that of the long standing hatred, ‘From ancient grudge break to new mutiny…where civil blood makes civil hands unclean’. In the Elizabethan Era, the importance of your family name was extremely important. We see this throughout the story, Juliet stating ‘tis but thy name that is my enemy’ and ‘Romeo would, were he - not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title’. As she constantly begs for Romeo not to be a Montague, the audience often cannot relate to this as it is not as relevant in today’s society. Although often many families will carry on the father’s family name, it is not at all enforced. People are rapidly becoming more independent, and making decisions based on what they believe, in contrast to what is expected. People can now, upon marriage, join last names, or choose to keep their own. In Romeo and Juliet, with the distinct hatred and separation between the two families, the possibilities to possibly do this were unthinkable. The irrelevance of this theme to a modern audience makes it hard to connect and engage with the

Get Access