Romeo And Juliet Modernization Analysis

Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet effectively appropriates the Shakespearean 16th century love tragedy. So why has Luhrmann decided to appropriate Romeo and Juliet? By changing the context, Luhrmann effectively makes the play relevant, discussing his contextual concerns of the 1990’s. This is done through the use of themes in the film, love, family disputes and hate which have remained similar to the original play, although the way they have been presented are different, in particular the form and characters. The form has had an obvious change as the original play has been adapted into a film. Characters in the film have also been appropriated to correspond with Luhrmann's contextual concerns. Hence, Luhrmann successfully appropriates the original Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet by maintaining similar themes, but altering the form and characterisation to fit his contextual concerns.

Juliet and Lord Capulet at first have a caring relationship but soon after Tybalt’s death this changes. It was planned that she would marry Paris when she was fifteen but after her cousin’s death, the marriage is brought forward. In Shakespearean times, it is not unusual for girls to have marriages arranged by their parents and also to

From “the fatal loins” (Prologue.5) of Lord and Lady Capulet, protagonist Juliet is born in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Early on in the play Juliet is portrayed as a very dutiful daughter to her family. After her encounter with Romeo however, she begins a rapid transformation from a naive young girl into a woman. By the end of the play Juliet’s transformation evolves her from a dutiful daughter, into a faithful wife that is willing to desert her family in the name of love.

In order to understand Romeo and Juliet, it must be remembered that these two heralds of love were little more than children. In Renaissance England, the category of adolescence was not recognized (Cox 391). A person went from childhood to adulthood without the liberty that is allowed to modern adolescents. Nowadays, the teenage years are accepted as a turbulent period in which defiance of authority and assertion of "self" are not only allowed, but also expected. Adults explain away even the most inexplicable behavior of teenagers as "just a phase". However, as this was not done in Shakespeare’s England, both Romeo and Juliet were expected to take on the roles of adults, and were chastised for their refusal to enter in the adult world as their parents would have them. Juliet is first presented to the audience as a young woman who has come to marrying age: “Well, think of marriage now; younger than you, / Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, / Are made already mothers…Thus then in brief: / The valiant Paris seeks you for his love”(1.3.69-74). Juliet is presented with the idea of marrying Paris with

William Shakespeare is widely known for all of his literary works; one of his most famous love tragedies being 'Romeo and Juliet'. A Shakespearean definition of tragedy exemplifies the sense that human beings are inevitably doomed through their own failures or errors, the ironic action of their virtues, or even through the nature of fate and destiny (Sayour, Susan, 2007). Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale based on two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. Throughout the play, Shakespeare intentionally draws on text structures and language features in order to replicate the attitudes, values and beliefs of Elizabethan audiences and intertwine it into his

Shakespeare understood that with young love came rebellion, (which upon Juliet’s marriage to Paris being advanced ahead of time), made the lovers more determined to defy their scorning families and the chain of being. Had their families ceased their feud and with time, let their children get to personally know each other, their young love might’ve extended into true love. Shakespeare presents the complexities and faults with young love in the play with rebellion and time as catalysts in their downfall, suggesting a negative view of the human nature.

If one was able to look into our classroom, they would see the kids rushing to the whiteboard to try and get a part that they can read. Spots filled, they anxiously wait to continue on with the story. Then that person would ask, “Why would they be so excited to read something so old and outdated?” Well to answer, it’s because Shakespeare’s work is still applicable to our lives today. Shakespeare should stay in the 9th grade curriculum, because it strongly relates to today's day and age, keeps the kids in the class active and paying attention, and helps convey a strong message that everyone should follow.

An infinite amount of children believe that Shakespeare is meaningless and is too difficult for them to read. Those many adolescents read the book for school, earn retched grades, do not understand the story, do not ask questions, and allow themselves to fail, all because they think that Shakespeare is pointless. For those who read it know how beautifully Shakespeare catches teen romance in Romeo and Juliet. Some might say that they know what all of the teenagers of the world are going through, but really when one becomes an adult they begin to think differently. When doctors and other officials tell a teenager that they know what they are going through, that man or woman, most likely, cannot recollect what it was like as a teen. One wonders

By the middle of the play, I was able to identify who was mature because of Juliet’s vocabulary. I was able to do this because Juliet’s usage of quantities used as a reference point of who is mature. I saw that the Friar, along with the Nurse and Lady Capulet was not as mature as a younger character. This I could see due to of his use of qualitative and religious adjectives, despite being elder than Juliet. While speaking to Romeo, he says:

‘The characters in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet undergo significant changes throughout the course of the play.’

Throughout the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet continuously find age an obstacle to their love. They seem to be old enough to care for themselves, but not old enough to escape the pressuring influence of their families. For example, near the beginning of the story, Juliet does not

Juliet is just under 14 years old, and a Capulet, whose family are bitter enemies of the Montagues. As the prologue explains, "From forth the loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life". The

Why this is important: This is exaggerating the fact that Juliet is very young and inexperienced. This shows that their powerful and passionate love might be a little dramatic and just the fact it is their first love and maybe they aren’t mature enough for this level of love yet.

From the story, the reader can gather that Juliet is thirteen and can surmise that Romeo is around the age of seventeen; “She hath not seen the change of fourteen years” (Act I. Scene II. 9). Many studies have been done about the behavior of teens and the cause

Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. When the play begins, we learn from the nurse that Juliet is soon turning fourteen (“Even or odd, of all the days in the year come Lammas-Eve at night shall she be fourteen”). In Juliet's first meeting with her mother and the nurse, she seems to be an obedient and responsible child. She comes immediately when they call her and answers always respectfully to her mother: "Madam, I am here, / What is your will?" (“Act 1, Scene 3). She is also clever as when her mother asks her what she thinks about marriage, she gives an ambiguous answer by saying what her mother wanted to hear really: “it is an honour I dream not of” (“Act 1, Scene 3). We learn that she is