The Function Of The Tragic Greek Chorus

As time passed this old grudge broke to utter hatred which led to chaotic civil fights. This dispute had been ongoing for so long that it is forgotten why it had begun. Each member of each household just had to pass on the streets and one way or another chaos would start. Shouting, crashing from civil pillar to post, cursing and bawling, with or without knowing it they filled the good, innocent and helpless citizens of Verona with trepidation and fury to have their cities peace and tranquillity so senselessly disturbed by two uncontrollable and reckless households over a fight they did not know how started. Romeo and Juliet are described as 'star-crossed lovers'.

A chorus is a common element to Greek tragedy’s and in ancient theatre consisted of a group of people who provide a number of different contributions to a play, providing a historical perspective, acting as counsellors and advisors to the plays characters and at times representing various groups such as villagers or a jury. Within this essay, I will consider the main contributions of the chorus within “The Burial at Thebes”

Even before we delve into the metaphorical and poetic world of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the fate of our titled characters has already been told as we find out about ‘A pair of star-cross'd lovers’ who ‘take their life’. However the story, as we begin to read, is far from explained and unfolded, in fact, Romeo and Juliet have not even met.

‘From forth the loin of these two foes/ A pair of star crossed lovers take their life’ 1.2.chorus. Romeo and Juliet, a very famous play written by William Shakespeare, is filled with nearly every powerful emotion imaginable, love, lust, hate, desire, spite, joy, happiness, depression, adoration, anger, vengeance and so many more. The tragic deaths of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet were brought about by how the people around them and they themselves dealt with these emotions.

The play, Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is about a tragedy of two star crossed lovers who want nothing more than to be together forever. “…Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (2.2.35-36) Romeo, a Montague, who is young and passionate, meets Juliet at a Capulet party. When they meet, it’s love at first sight. Juliet, a Capulet, is a beautiful young lady tired of being controlled by her father, Lord Capulet. The two families are in a never ending feud that comes between Romeo and Juliet’s love. In the course of four and a half days, Romeo and Juliet plan their marriage with the help of Priest Friar Laurence and Juliet’s Nurse. After the couple is married,

In Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet, the prologue refers to the title characters as “star-cross’d lovers” with a “death-mark’d love”, showing that the two are doomed from the start (Shakespeare 3). Being from two opposing families that are in a never-ending feud, Romeo and Juliet 's love is forbidden. However, throughout the novel, the lovers defy their parents and pursue their fast-forming love with the help of supporting characters, such as Friar Lawrence, who are seemingly presented as beneficial characters that help the story progress. However, it can be argued that these ”beneficial characters” are actually interfering with their relationship, and are a key factor in contributing to their deaths. Although fate is seemingly

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by Shakespeare around 1595. In the book the two main characters Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed lovers” who have a devastating ending of death inflicted on them by themselves after only being married for3 days. Although everyone plays a role, there are three main culprits for their tragic suicide.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, two start crossed lovers take their lives when they Cannot be together. Friar Lawrence helps the couple become married and hopes this will end their parents feud. Friar Lawrence was the creator of the plan for Juliet to avoid her arranged marriage with Paris. He is unable to stick to the plan because he could not provide Romeo with a letter containing the plans.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare circa 1595. The play consists of two love-struck protagonists who become star-crossed due to belonging to two rival families who are constantly at each other’s throats. It begins with the prologue which states that the play will finish with a double suicide between Romeo and Juliet. This causes the whole play to be dramatically ironic as we, the readers, know the fate

The role of the Chorus in the Shakespeare's play, Henry V, is significant. Due to the subject matter that the play deals with, it is hard to present in the way that it deserves. The Chorus helps the audience follow the play by helping them to picture things as they were through the use of imagery. It uses descriptive language in describing events that take place in the play. The Chorus also helps in making the plot of the play flow together better by filling the time lapses that occur between acts due to the fact that the event being depicted in only a few hours actually occurred over several years, leaving some gaps between events. It also explains what happens in an act

The chorus is an essential feature of Greek classical drama. Instances of various types of dance, singing, and speech are some elements of a Greek chorus. “Composed of similarly costumed men, they performed on the orchestra located beneath the stage. The chorus stayed in the orchestra for the duration of the performance from which vantage point they observed and commented on the action of the characters.” Oedipus is a play written by Sophocles, a respected playwright, and it is “generally assumed that the main function of the Sophoclean chorus is a philosophical one; that it serves above all as the spokesman for a certain view of life.” The chorus can be dramatic in the following ways: “through the personality of the group forming the chorus and the appropriateness of their relationship to the action and the characters, through the iambic lines spoken by the coryphaeus, through physical participation in the action and through the choral songs.” The chorus is an important component of the Greek Tragedy Oedipus. Aside from its responsibility to effectively represent the people of Thebes, the chorus in Oedipus has a powerful influence over audience perceptions and emotions.

trying to imply through his work. Sophocles and other dramatists use "the chorus" as a notable element to portray an

In section 18 of the Poetics Aristotle criticizes Euripides for not allowing "the chorus to be one of the actors and to be a part of the whole and to share in the dramatic action, . . . as in Sophocles." Aristotle may be thinking of the embolima of Euripides' later plays (satirized also by Aristophanes), but he is certainly wrong about the Medea. Its choral odes are not only all intimately related to the action but are also essential for the meaning of the play, particularly because here, as elsewhere (e.g. Hecuba), Euripides forces us reevaluate his main protagonist in midstream and uses the chorus (in part) to indicate that change.

A final cultural difference is the importance of the chorus and its use in the plays Agamemnon, Oedipus, and Medea. The chorus was not highly involved in the action of the plays. In general, the chorus’ main functions were to create a psychological and emotional background to the action through its odes. It introduces and questions new characters, as well as point out the importance of events as they occurred, to establish facts and avow the outlook of society. Finally, the chorus covers the passage of time, between events, and separates episodes (Calder 21). Within the play Agamemnon, by Aeschylus, the chorus represents the voice of wisdom of the city as well as its limitations (Novelguide). The chorus’ limitations are clear when they fail to

In answering this question, I will look at the question in two ways. Firstly, I will look at the role of the chorus objectively, examining the basic role of the chorus in the play, and looking at the role of the Chorus as Sophocles would have intended the role of the Chorus to be understood. However, I will then look at how I think the Greek audience would have perceived the role of the Chorus and then how the role of the Chorus is perceived today by a 20th century and examine the key differences in the two different sets of perceptions. Finally, I will look at the importance of the role of the Chorus to a 20th century audience and a Greek audience respectively.