Romeo And Juliet Movie Essay

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.

The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare shows how Romeo and Juliet meet. The play takes place in Verona, Italy. The Montagues and Capulets have ongoing feuds with each other. Romeo Montague meets Juliet Capulet at one of her family’s parties, instantly fall in love, and decide to secretly get married the the day after the party. Throughout the play, both Romeo and Juliet show character traits they have which leads to a tragic ending.

     Now how about some similarities. My first similarity is in both versions how the people carried around weapons. In the old one the people of Verona carried swords. In the modern version of the play the people of Verona carried handguns. Two different weapons, but they were used in the same fashion in both versions of the play. Another likeness is Paris didn’t bite the dust in any of the versions. He is only in a few scenes. He’s not even in the last scene where he was supposed to meet his maker. While on the subject of death, Lady Montague does not die in either version. She is seen exiting the final scene in both versions. She doesn’t even have a big role in the story. My next similarity is the

Luhrmann further modernised his film adaption by altering the play’s original prologue. The movie begins with a prologue made as a television broadcast. In doing this it informs the audience of the violence taking place between the two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The prologue differs dramatically from Zeffirelli’s interpretation. The 1968 version of the prologue is retold by a monotonous narrator, who simply tells the tale of the feuding families set over a milieu of an Italian city. In restructuring the prologue Luhrmann has made his interpretation of Romeo and Juliet more appealing to a teenage audience. Adolescent viewers can identify more with a modern television broadcast in comparison to a tedious monologue recital.

In many literary works, there are methods that authors use to make a story better. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, dramatic irony is the driving method. Dramatic irony is something in which characters do not know something, but the reader or audience knows what the true reality is. According to some researchers, “A staple of Elizabethan and Shakespearean drama was dramatic irony” (Halio 25). Furthermore some researchers also belive that dramatic irony is very prominent in the play, “ One of the more prominent literary devices in the play is irony” (Sauer 673). Romeo and Juliet, and also their friends and families face a lot of instances of dramatic irony in the story. Dramatic irony creates suspense and adds to

The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about the dilemma of choosing love over loyalty for your family. In the story Romeo and Juliet come from separate families who hate each other, but still find love in each other. They get married without telling their families and eventually the two families get into a fight which ends in Romeo getting banished from the city where Juliet lives. They have a plan for him to get back into to the city to prevent Juliet from being forced to marry another man, but it fails and ends with the suicide death of both Juliet and Romeo. Shakespeare's major theme in the text is that Love plays a major role in our lives and can heavily affect our decisions.

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

Of all the treasures in the world, true love is of the most valued. They say that when you are truly in love, the universe around you simply stops, and no one else matters except you and your love. Love has the mesmerizing beauty of a stunning red rose, but it also has spiteful thorns surrounding it. But between friends and family, love can quickly go from black and white to shades of grey and can become fatal and suspenseful.

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

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

Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet has been reimagined many times across different mediums. One interpretation that stands out among the rest is Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film of the same name. The most shocking and powerful difference between Luhrmann’s work and other films or stage productions of this piece, is the movie’s setting. Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is set in the modern city of Verona Beach, New York, ruled by two powerful business families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Themes, language, and ideas remain the same, while places, props, and wardrobes are updated to the twentieth century. This compelling change helps emphasize the violent, fast-paced, and chaotic society of the play, which comes to precipitate the tragic demise of the two main characters.

There he was, lying in agony in the dark and weary night, next to his beloved's tomb in the ominous cemetery. Seeing the vile creature, Death, take away her soul from his hands. Death insisted to come with him with his hands filled with the white bones of the dead, he came along without hesitation. The well-known tragedy, Romeo, and Juliet by William Shakespeare was a transcendent illustration of the effects of the underdeveloped adolescent brain. The two star-crossed lovers had their destiny planned in front of them. The tragic and mournful deaths of Romeo and Juliet resulted from their impromptu love taking over their everyday lives. Romeo laid on the murky ground of the cemetery, weeping in front of the tomb of Juliet and he would soon kill

was the first film of Romeo and Juliet. It was produced in 1968 and it

play was to be acted; this had an entrance and an exit. There was no

William Shakespeare wrote the play Romeo and Juliet, which is about the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are forbidden to see one another, due to their families’ feud. The Capulets, Juliet, and Montagues, Romeo, are the enemies in this feud. The question is, were the parents against them? Or were they just trying to protect and make them happy? Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. When he was eighteen years old, he married Anne Hathaway and has three children, Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet.