Romeo and Juliet: Curriculum Guide

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE BY

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PETER DUBOIS DIRECTED BY

TABLE OF CONTENTS Common Core Standards 3 Massachusetts Standards in Theatre 4 Artists 5 Themes for Writing and Assessment 7 Mastery Assessment 10 Further Exploration 13 Suggested Activities 17 References and Resources 20 Notes 21

Š Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 February 2019 No portion of this curriculum guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education & Community Programs Inquiries should be directed to: Alexandra Smith | Interim Co-Director of Education asmith@huntingtontheatre.org This curriculum guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by: Ivy Ryan | Teaching Artist Fellow Dylan C. Wack | Education Apprentice Alexandra Smith | Interim Co-Director of Education

COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

STANDARDS: Student Matinee performances and pre-show workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Activities are also included in this Curriculum Guide and in our pre-show workshops that support several of the Massachusetts state standards in Theatre. Other arts areas may also be addressed depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 1

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 5

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Grade 7: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

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Grade 7: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

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Grade 8: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

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Grades 9-10: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks), create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

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Grades 9-10: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

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Grades 11-12: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Grades 11-12: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 2

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 6 •

Grade 7: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

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Grade 7: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

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Grade 8: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

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Grade 8: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide and objective summary of the text.

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Grades 9-10: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

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Grades 9-10: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

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Grades 11-12: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view required distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

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Grades 11-12: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 3 •

Grade 7: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).

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Grade 8: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

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Grades 9-10: Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the themes.

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Grades 11-12: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop related elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7 •

Grade 7: Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).

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Grade 8: Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

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Grades 9-12: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g. recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist).

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MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS IN THEATRE ACTING •

1.7: Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted or improvised scene (By the end of Grade 8).

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1.12: Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ wants, needs, objectives, and personality characteristics (By the end of Grade 8).

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1.13: In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a collaborative process) (By the end of Grade 8).

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1.14: Create complex and believable characters through the integration of physical, vocal, and emotional choices (Grades 9-12).

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1.15: Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a character analysis (Grades 9-12).

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1.17: Demonstrate increased ability to work effectively alone and collaboratively with a partner or in an ensemble (Grades 9-12).

AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE Attending live theatre is a unique experience with many valuable educational and social benefits. To ensure that all audience members are able to enjoy the performance, please take a few minutes to discuss the following audience etiquette topics with your students before you come to the Huntington Theatre Company.

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How is attending the theatre similar to and different from going to the movies? What behaviors are and are not appropriate when seeing a play? Why?

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Remind students that because the performance is live, the audience’s behavior and reactions will affect the actors’ performances. No two audiences are exactly the same, and therefore no two performances are exactly the same—this is part of what makes theatre so special! Students’ behavior should reflect the level of performance they wish to see.

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Theatre should be an enjoyable experience for the audience. It is absolutely all right to applaud when appropriate and laugh at the funny moments.

Talking and calling out during the performance, however, are not allowed. Why might this be?

Be sure to mention that not only would the people seated around them be able to hear their conversation, but the actors on stage could hear them, too. Theatres are constructed to carry sound efficiently!

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Any noise or light can be a distraction, so please remind students to make sure their cell phones are turned off (or better yet, left at home or at school!). Texting, photography, and video recording are prohibited.

READING AND WRITING SCRIPTS •

2.7: Read plays and stories from a variety of cultures and historical periods and identify the characters, setting, plot, theme, and conflict (By the end of Grade 8).

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2.8: Improvise characters, dialogue, and actions that focus on the development and resolution of dramatic conflicts (By the end of Grade 8).

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2.11: Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of literature (Grades 9-12).

TECHNICAL THEATRE •

4.6: Draw renderings, floor plans, and/or build models of sets for a dramatic work and explain choices in using visual elements (line, shape/ form, texture, color, space) and visual principals (unity, variety, harmony, balance, rhythm) (By the end of Grade 8).

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4.13: Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production (Grades 9-12).

CONNECTIONS •

Strand 6: Purposes and Meanings in the Arts — Students will describe the purposes for which works of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and architecture were and are created, and, when appropriate, interpret their meanings (Grades PreK-12).

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Food, gum, and drinks are not permitted in the theatre or lobby. There is also no food, gum, or drinks permitted during intermission.

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Strand 10: Interdisciplinary Connections — Students will apply their knowledge of the arts to the study of English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering (Grades PreK-12).

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Students should sit with their group as seated by the Front of House staff and should not leave their seats once the performance has begun.

FIND US ONLINE! Did you know the Huntington Theatre Company’s website provides students and teachers opportunities to more deeply explore the season’s offerings and learn about upcoming events in the Education department?

Utilizing the website at huntingtontheatre.org find the answers to the following questions: 1.

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Who will play the role of Lord Capulet in the Huntington’s production of Romeo and Juliet? Who will play Mercutio?

What other roles have these actors played at the Huntington?

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

2.

Who is the artistic director of the Huntington Theatre Company?

Who is the managing director? How long have they each been in their respective positions? What are the primary responsibilities of each of these jobs?

3.

Your friend broke her foot and needs to use a wheelchair. What accessibility services does the Huntington provide for patrons like her?

4.

Did you know the Huntington Theatre Company is on Facebook?

Like us at facebook.com/HuntingtonTheatre and facebook.com/EducationAtHuntington.

ARTISTS first works were performed. The first reference to Shakespeare in London came in an essay written by Robert Greene, in which he implored his contemporaries to abandon their careers before they were eclipsed in popularity by Shakespeare, writing:

“For there is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that, with his Tigers heart wrapped in a Players hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.”

— Groatsworth of Wit Bought With a Million

of Repentance (1592) The consensus among most scholars is that “Shake-scene” is a direct reference to the young Shakespeare, who had been popular since 1594 when he joined the Chamberlain’s Men, a theatre company that would eventually enjoy the patronage of King James, transforming them into the King’s Men. They performed in “the Theatre,” the first theatre built in London. When the lease on that building ran out, the company struggled until The Globe Theatre was completed in 1599. The company would also perform in royal courts, including those of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.

Playwright William Shakespeare

PLAYWRIGHT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE William Shakespeare was a British playwright and poet whose plays, sonnets, and poems are regarded as some of the best works in the English language. His works have been translated into every living language, and he is the most produced playwright in the world, with major theatres around the globe devoted exclusively to his plays. Some of his best-known works are Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet — plays that have spawned countless adaptations.

Despite his incredible success and fame during the Elizabethan era and in the 400 years since his death, little is concretely known about the details of his life. What we do know for certain is based on church records from Stratford-upon-Avon. Everything else is based either on his contemporaries’ writings about him or conjecture from what is known about his theatre and his plays.

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare, a glove-maker and alderman, and Mary Arden in April of 1564. Baptized on April 26, he would have been born several days prior. His birthday is marked on April 23, which coincides with the feast day of Saint George, the patron saint of England. This deduction helps cement England’s greatest dramatist to a birthdate. Raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was educated at the King’s New School where he studied Greek and Latin and would have been introduced to the playwrights that would influence his own work, including Plautus, Seneca, and Ovid.

At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway and shortly thereafter the couple had their first child, Susanna. Two years later, his twins Judith and Hamnet were born. The years between the birth of the twins in 1585 and 1592 are a mystery as far as Shakespeare is concerned; scholars have determined that at some point during those years he moved to London and that his plays began being produced in the interim, but there are no records of when he moved or when exactly his

Shakespeare took much inspiration for his plays from the works of the Greeks, his contemporaries, and from the recently concluded War of the Roses, upon which he based the history plays. Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11 in 1596, possibly influencing many of the playwright’s tragedies. By this time Shakespeare was well known in London. Many plays were attributed to him which only propelled his popularity. He was a master of both verse and prose, creating characters that were hugely influential to Elizabethan theatre and to this day.

Shakespeare was able to financially produce his large body of work by courting patrons through his acting and producing roles. By the early 1600s, Shakespeare’s works were published in London, a significant marker of his popularity, given the high cost and difficulty to publish anything at the turn of the 17th century. He remained prolific in the London theatre through 1611, after which he spent more time in his large home in Stratford-upon-Avon.

William Shakespeare died in 1616. While no official cause of death is recorded, there are several references to him dying unexpectedly. He was buried in the chancel of Trinity Church in Stratford along with his wife and his daughter Susanna. A funerary monument is affixed to the wall in Trinity Church depicting Shakespeare, a statue believed to accurately represent the playwright as it was sculpted while his wife and daughters were still alive. His grave has remained untouched since 1616, in no small part due to the curse engraved on it that reads “Friends, for Jesus’ sake, forebear, to dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man who that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones.”

In 1623, the First Folio was printed, a collection of Shakespeare’s works edited by John Heminges and Henry Condell, two actors in the King’s Men. While his works had been printed before this, the Folio edition is one of the most reliable editions of Shakespeare’s work, and is the basis for hundreds of editions of his plays. Only 234 remain of the original printing of the Folio, with notable collections at the British Museum, the New York Public Library, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, which has the largest collection at 82 copies. The Boston Public Library also has a copy of the First Folio.

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QUESTIONS: 1.

400 years after his death, Shakespeare is still the most produced playwright in the world. Why do you think his works have remained so popular? What aspects of his work still feel relevant today?

2.

Shakespeare, in his will, left his wife Anne his “second-best bed.”

What does this mean?

3.

William Shakespeare wrote four categories of plays: histories, comedies, romances, and tragedies. Research the difference between the four types of plays. What are characteristics of each?

Romeo and Juliet is considered a tragedy, but does it contain elements of the other categories?

Modern Terrorism, Becky Shaw, Trust with Sutton Foster, All New People, and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Second Stage Theatre); Measure for Pleasure, Richard III, Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?, and Biro (The Public Theater); and The View From 151st Street and Jack Goes Boating with Philip Seymour Hoffman (LAByrinth Theater Company/The Public Theater). His productions have been on the annual top ten lists of The New York Times, Time Out, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Newsday, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Evening Standard, The Boston Globe, and Improper Bostonian, and he received an Honorable Mention for 2013 Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe Magazine.

Mr. DuBois served for five years as associate producer and resident director at The Public Theater in New York City, preceded by five years as artistic director of the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska.

Mr. DuBois has directed multiple episodes of the podcast “Modern Love,” including its debut with Broadway actress Lauren Molina, who has also appeared in productions at the Huntington. Prior to his work at Perseverance Theatre, Mr. DuBois lived and worked in the Czech Republic where he co-founded Asylum, a multi-national squat theatre in Prague. “Prague was this place I was just drawn to like a magnet,” DuBois recounted to The Boston Globe in December 2007. “The idea that there was a country being run by a playwright, Vaclav Havel. I saved up some money and got on a plane. That was my first experience really being in an artistic community, and that really made me feel like a thriving artist, alive and excited.”

“Where I think institutions have real value is in the way that they can support artists,” he continues. “Artists who work in the performing arts have nothing if they don’t have an audience, and they have nothing if they don’t have institutions behind them. So I love having a home for me to do my work as an artist, but also providing a home for other artists to do their best work.” His past Shakespeare directing credits include productions of Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Winter’s Tale, All’s Well That End’s Well, and Much Ado About Nothing.

QUESTIONS: 1.

As a producer and artistic director, Peter DuBois has played an integral part in shaping theatre companies around the world.

Research another theatre he has worked for (The Public Theater, Perseverance Theatre, or Asylum). Compare and contrast their mission statements, current and previous seasons, and educational programs with those of the Huntington Theatre Company.

2.

In an interview with The Boston Globe, Peter DuBois explained that after two and a half years he left Prague because he “really wanted to explore what it meant to be an American artist.” What makes someone an American artist? What kind of stories are unmistakably American? Based on these definitions, who is an American artist you admire and why?

3.

Peter Dubois has directed many genres of theatre from world premiere new plays to beloved musicals to creative spins on classics. He has directed plays in every space imaginable from an abandoned Salvation Army building in the Czech Republic to the historic Broadway-style 890 seat Huntington Avenue Theatre.

Looking at DuBois’s eclectic body of work, what can you learn about him as an artist? What patterns emerge in the playwrights or plays he selects? What kind of stories interest you? If you could put any story on a stage tomorrow, what would it be and why?

Artistic Director Peter DuBois

PETER DUBOIS: DIRECTOR AND THE HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR The 2018-2019 season marks Peter DuBois’s eleventh season as artistic director at the Huntington Theatre Company where his directing credits include many new works by some of the American theatre’s most exciting playwrights and classics by masters of the art form. His Huntington credits include the musicals Sunday in the Park with George (2016) and A Little Night Music (2015); new plays such as Fall (2018); Can You Forgive Her? (2016); after all the terrible things I do (2015); Smart People (2014); The Power of Duff (2013); Rapture, Blister, Burn (2013); Captors (2011); Sons of the Prophet (2011); Becky Shaw (2010); Vengeance is the Lord’s (2010); The Miracle at Naples (2009); and classics such as Tartuffe (2017).

His West/End London credits include Sex with Strangers and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Hampstead Theatre); All New People (Duke of York’s Theatre); and Becky Shaw (Almeida Theatre). His New York credits include Can You Forgive Her? (Vineyard Theatre); The Power of Duff with Greg Kinnear (New York Stage and Film/Powerhouse Theater); Rapture, Blister, Burn (Playwrights Horizons, 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Sons of the Prophet (Roundabout Theatre Company, 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist); 6

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

THEMES FOR WRITING AND ASSESSMENT

NILE HAWVER

The cast of Romeo and Juliet

THE CONSEQUENCE OF FAILED COMMUNICATION Could much of the tragic plot of Romeo and Juliet been avoided if stronger communication existed between the characters during the play’s final three acts? A series of miscommunications enhanced by adrenaline, passion, and high stakes leads to a snowball effect of violence, totaling six untimely deaths before the play’s end. Of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, Romeo and Juliet finishes as the fifth bloodiest after Titus Andronicus (14 deaths), King Lear (ten deaths), Hamlet (nine deaths), and Macbeth (eight deaths). While many of Shakespeare’s plays feature the tragic deaths of audiences’ and readers’ favorite characters, Romeo and Juliet is perhaps one of the Bard’s most enduring, specifically because these deaths seem avoidable, all the more heartbreaking given the iconic couple’s youth and optimism.

The moment Romeo and Juliet shifts irreversibly into the world of tragedy comes at the beginning of Act III when the conflict between the Montagues and Capulets is at its peak. When Mercutio (Romeo’s friend) encounters Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin) on the street, Mercutio elects to engage in combat rather than conversation.

TYBALT (to his companions): Follow me close, for I will speak to them. – Gentlemen, good e’en. A word with one of you.

MERCUTIO: And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something. Make it a word and a blow. (III.1)

Mercutio enters with the unwavering intention to duel with Tybalt, while Romeo and his cousin Benvolio attempt to deescalate the conflict.

Benvolio knows the public nature of Tybalt and Mercutio’s quarrel will only push them to intensify their posturing. He attempts to serve as a voice of reason: “Either withdraw unto some private place,” he begs them. “Or reason coldly of your grievances / Or else depart. Here all eyes gaze on us” (III.1). When Benvolio’s words fail, Romeo attempts to stop this impending brawl between Mercutio and Tybalt by drawing his

own rapier for the express purpose of beating down theirs. Ultimately, Mercutio is slain because he refuses to listen to his level-headed companions and Tybalt dies at Romeo’s hands. When Romeo learns from the Nurse that Juliet is devastated by Tybalt’s death, Romeo desperately turns his dagger on himself, absorbed by his emotions, eclipsing his ability to communicate logically. It foreshadows his eventual death and is another instance of the character’s propensity for impulsiveness, resulting in terrible consequences.

In Act III, Scene 5, the relationship between Lord Capulet and his daughter Juliet becomes strained when he reveals that he intends for Juliet to marry Paris. Lord Capulet believes it is his paternal right to choose his daughter’s husband, disregarding Juliet’s opinion on Paris and marriage. Instead, he assumes Juliet will be grateful and feel blessed for the match. Lord Capulet enters the scene with eagerness to share this supposedly happy news, but when Juliet politely expresses her lack of desire to be Paris’s bride, Lord Capulet is unable to contain his anger.

Rather than continuing the conversation with his daughter, Lord Capulet resorts to violent threats. He demands that Juliet marry Paris “or I will drag thee on a hurtle thither” from their family home and condemn her to “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets” (III.5). He threatens to beat her, warning that his “fingers itch” (III.4). Many productions of Romeo and Juliet portray the immediate consequences of this argument by depicting Capulet physically harming Juliet.

Perhaps the most famous example of the consequences of failed communication in Romeo and Juliet comes when a letter from Friar Lawrence is not delivered in time to Romeo in Matua. This letter contained vital information about the sleeping potion Juliet took to appear dead in order to avoid marrying Paris. When Friar Lawrence learns Friar John failed to deliver the letter, he instantly understands the consequences. “Unhappy fortune!” he exclaims. “By my brotherhood / The letter was not nice but full of charge / Of dear import, and the neglecting it / May do much danger” (V.3).

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QUESTIONS:

QUESTIONS:

1.

Identify another moment in Romeo and Juliet where communication fails. Why does communication fail in this instance?

What are the consequences? How does this event impact the rest of the plot? What could the characters have done differently?

1.

Compare and contrast the course of love in two of Shakespeare’s play from two different genres (comedy, tragedy, history, romance).

Use examples from the text to support your arguments.

2.

2.

Write an alternative ending to Romeo and Juliet where Romeo did receive Friar Lawrence’s letter about Juliet and the sleeping potion.

Write your own original short love story implementing at least two of the same obstacles that Romeo and Juliet face (ex: family feuds, banishment, murder, arranged marriages).

3.

Think of a time in your life when you failed to communicate effectively. What were the consequences? If you were granted a chance to do it over, what would you do differently?

3.

What are your beliefs about love? What does your definition of “true love” look like? How does that compare with the depiction of love in Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare’s other plays?

4. What is your favorite love story and why? What are the story telling elements that help you invest in the narrative?

FATE

Claire Danes (Juliet) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Romeo) first encounter in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film Romeo + Juliet

THE COURSE OF LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH William Shakespeare has arguably penned some of the most complicated love stories in English literature. The lovers in his plays face many obstacles including love triangles, mistaken identity, social rank, jealousy, rivalries, meddling friends, sickness, death, and much more. Regardless of whether the play is a comedy, history, romance, or tragedy, the journey of searching for or keeping true love is deeply woven into all of Shakespeare’s plays. The playwright himself best summed up the way he approached love in his body of work with Lysander’s words in Act I, Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Ay me, for aught that I could ever read, / Could ever hear by tale or history, / The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. It is also considered one of his most compelling tragedies since it deals with love, death, and fate. The play’s opening prologue reveals to the audience that fate plays a part in this story. It describes the titular characters as “star-crossed lovers,” which the Norton Shakespeare defines as “thwarted by the adverse influence of the stars appearing at the time of their birth, which controlled their destinies” (“The Norton Shakespeare,” Greenblatt et. al, 968). Before an audience even meets the two lovers, they are told that the cards are stacked against them. Even the inclusion of a prologue is a sign to the audience that everything that is about to happen has already been decided by a higher power; no matter what the characters do, the two shall die as the story progresses.

Romeo and Juliet’s relationship begins as a pure spark, a love-at-firstsight connection, but it is not long before they encounter obstacles.

The most immediate challenges to Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is Juliet’s betrothal to Paris, arranged by her father, and the longstanding feud between the Capulets and Montagues; forces seemingly out of their control. The tragic fate of the young couple in Romeo and Juliet is bluntly revealed in the prologue:

“From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.”

More than 400 years later, audiences still love this story and hope that young love will somehow triumph over a harsh and hateful world.

William Shakespeare takes his characters and audiences on epic journeys in pursuit of love. Whether the ending is a surprise or not, we are on the edge of our seats wondering what will be thrown at love next and whether this obstacle will be the one to break the delicate bond. As a society, we have endured great hardship, suffering, and heartbreak;yet we have not given up on our innate desire for love to triumph.

The Death of Mercutio, Act III Scene I, Romeo and Juliet by Edwin Austin Abbey. Mercutio’s accidental death is a turning point in the play.

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ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

NILE HAWVER

The cast of Romeo and Juliet

Even though the play begins with a skirmish in the streets between the two warring families, the early scenes of the play are actually not traditionally tragic since they are laced with comedic elements. The early scenes also set the path of the ill-fated lovers. Romeo and his cousin, Benvolio, receive an accidental invitation to the Capulet feast because the Capulet servant is illiterate. He haphazardly states that “if you be not o the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine” (I.2).

Romeo’s friend Mercutio also has several comedic moments, including his Queen Mab speech in Act I, Scene 4 which he uses to mock Romeo’s talk of dreams, saying dreams “are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy.” These barbs are followed by the scene at the Capulets’ feast, where Romeo and Juliet meet and fall instantly in love.

Their “pilgrim’s hands” dialogue exchange forms a sonnet, a common form of poetry that Shakespeare often used when writing about love.

Shakespeare even included comedy for the groundlings, the rowdy, lower class audience standing in the yard, with an extended scene of sexual puns and double entendres; Mercutio tells Benvolio that Romeo approaches “without his roe, like a dried herring” (II.4), a reference to having spent the night having sex with, as Mercutio believes, a young woman named Rosaline. All of this, were it not for the prologue, would lead audience members to believe that this play is a comedy with a marriage, reconciled differences, and a big celebration to close the show.

However, as is true with all tragedies, someone must have a hamartia, or fatal flaw. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, the fatal flaw lies with both families and their grudge against each other, which leads to their children’s downfall.

At the beginning of the third act, Mercutio and Benvolio are approached

by Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, who accuses Mercutio of consorting with Romeo, whom he deems a villain. Romeo enters, having just married Juliet in secret and therefore now a kinsman to Tybalt, and has no interest in fighting with him. The insulted Mercutio, however, is ready to duel with Tybalt, and draws his sword. The two fight, and Romeo joins the fray and attempts to break up the conflict. He steps between the two fighters and Mercutio, unable to block the oncoming attack, is stabbed

by Tybalt, who thrusts under Romeo’s arm. Both houses are responsible for Mercutio’s death: Tybalt who delivered the blow and Romeo who intervened. Mercutio is not a member of either house and the ancient grudge that fueled the hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets has killed another citizen of Verona. This is where the reversal of fortune, a staple in tragedy, begins to befall both Romeo and Juliet. With his dying breaths, Mercutio prophetically proclaims: “A plague o’ both your houses!” (III.1), setting in the tragedy in motion that dominates the second half of the play. In retaliation for Mercutio’s murder, Romeo stabs Tybalt, and is promptly banished from Verona by the Prince. Were that

not the case, the letter detailing Juliet’s plan to fake her death would not have been necessary, and its failed delivery would not have sealed their fate.

Shakespeare was heavily influenced by the Greeks, whose tragic plays often sought to teach their audience lessons. Shakespeare’s tragedy of Romeo and Juliet teaches an audience that mindless bickering and attachment to ancient grudges may result in unimaginable and irreversible consequences. Romeo and Juliet themselves were not directly responsible for Mercutio’s death, the event that triggers the downward spiral of the play, nor were they involved in the origins of the feud between their families. Tybalt and Mercutio seemed destined to fight each other and it was fate that Mercutio was caught in the crossfire of war between two families of which he was not a member. The audience of Shakespeare’s time were recovering from nearly 100 years of civil war — The Wars of the Roses — and religious persecution from the Protestant Queen Mary and later the Catholic Queen Elizabeth I. British people were well-accustomed to the idea of groups of people unreasonably hating each other for several generations. Audiences of Shakespeare’s time would have been primed to see conflict and tragedy as inevitable aspects of their time. While the deaths of Romeo, Juliet, and all the others who die in the play are heartbreaking, the feud makes them unsurprising.

QUESTIONS: 1.

What is the definition of “star-crossed?”

2.

Describe what cultural events in British society and government influenced Romeo and Juliet? What message was Shakespeare trying to communicate to audiences through this play?

3.

Mercutio lays a “plague o’ both your houses” in Act III, Scene 1, even though he is close friends with Romeo. Why does he do this?

4. Do you believe in destiny? How might Romeo and Juliet have escaped their grim ends were it not for fate?

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MASTERY ASSESSMENT PROLOGUE

12. Why does Romeo claim he cannot dance?

1.

13. Who is Queen Mab? Why does Mercutio describe her in such detail?

What is a prologue? What is its purpose in a play?

2. What does “star-crossed lovers” mean? How does it apply to Romeo and Juliet?

3. How long does the prologue tell us this play takes?

14. What is Mercutio’s ultimate point about dreaming?

SCENE 5 15. How does Tybalt recognize Romeo? What does Lord Capulet tell Tybalt to do when he discovers Romeo at the feast?

16. How does Romeo describe his lips to Juliet?

17. Who interrupts the Romeo and Juliet at the dance?

Where does Juliet go?

18. What does Romeo discover about Juliet? How does Juliet discover who Romeo is at the end of the scene?

ACT II SCENE 1 1.

Where does Romeo go at the beginning of the scene?

2. What is the name of the woman Romeo used to love?

3. Which mythological character does Mercutio refer to in order to rouse Romeo?

SCENE 2 4. Where is Juliet in relation to Romeo?

A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

ACT I SCENE 1 1.

Where is this scene’s setting?

2. How do the Capulets begin a fight with the Montagues?

3. Who enters and successfully quells the fighting?

4. When Romeo enters, what reason does he give for his sadness?

5. What is the central metaphor of Romeo’s speech at the beginning of the second scene?

6. What does “wherefore are thou Romeo” mean in Juliet’s speech?

7. What does Juliet compare Romeo to? What is her frustration about being in love with Romeo?

8. What does Juliet say her family will do to Romeo if he is caught on her balcony?

9. What does Juliet ask Romeo not to do as a show of adoration? Why does Romeo say he is unsatisfied?

5. How does Benvolio think Romeo can forget his troubles?

SCENE 2 6. What does Paris want from the Capulets? Why does Lord Capulet say no? How long does he say Paris will have to wait?

7. Why is Capulet inviting people to his house that evening?

8. How do Romeo and Benvolio find out about the event at the Capulet’s mansion?

SCENE 3 9. How old is Juliet, according to the Nurse and Lady Capulet?

10. How does Juliet feel about being married? What does Lady Capulet think about the idea of her daughter being married?

SCENE 4 11. What are Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio doing at the beginning of the scene?

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A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

ACT III SCENE 1 1.

What is the double meaning of the word “hot” as used in this scene?

2. What did Mercutio do to anger Tybalt? What does Mercutio do in response to Tybalt’s accusation?

3. What does Tybalt call Romeo? How does Romeo react? What is Romeo’s new relationship to Tybalt?

4. Who begins to fight? Who tries to intervene? Who dies at the end of the fight?

5. How does the subsequent fight between Romeo and Tybalt end?

6. Why does Lady Capulet think Benvolio is lying after he explains the order of events?

7. What is the Prince’s punishment for Romeo?

SCENE 2 8. What does Juliet wish would come faster?

9. Who does Juliet believe is dead when the Nurse arrives with the news of the quarrel?

A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

10. How many times to Juliet reenter the scene after she leaves the first time?

10. Whose side, Romeo or Tybalt’s, does Juliet take? Why? 11. Where does the Nurse go at the end of the scene?

SCENE 3

11. What does Juliet tell Romeo to return with in the morning?

12. What is Romeo’s response to learning he is banished? What would he prefer his punishment to be?

SCENE 3

13. What does Romeo claim are outside Verona’s walls?

12. What is Friar Lawrence doing when the scene begins?

14. What does Romeo begin to do? What does the Friar say to stop him?

13. What time of day is it? How do you know?

14. What change in Romeo shocks Friar Lawrence?

15. What does Romeo ask of Friar Lawrence?

16. Why does Friar Lawrence agree to help Romeo? What does he think will happen as a result of his actions?

SCENE 4

15. What does the Friar tell the Nurse to tell Juliet? What does the Nurse give to Romeo?

SCENE 4 16. To whom would Lord Capulet marry Juliet? How soon would he like the wedding to take place?

17. Where do Benvolio and Mercutio think Romeo has been?

18. How does Mercutio describe Tybalt?

19. Who from the House of Capulet enters to interrupt?

20. What news does Romeo have for Juliet? What does he give to the messenger for the trouble of going back and forth?

21. At this point, who knows about Romeo and Juliet’s plan?

SCENE 5 22. How does Juliet feel at the beginning of this scene?

What does she want from the Nurse when she arrives?

23. Why can’t the Nurse tell Juliet what news Romeo sent?

24. What does the Nurse instruct Juliet to do?

SCENE 6 25. What is Friar Lawrence’s advice to Romeo about love?

26. How does this scene end?

A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

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SCENE 5 17. Where are the two lovers?

18. Which bird signifies to Juliet that it is not morning? Which bird signifies to Romeo that it is?

19. What makes Romeo leave? How does he exit?

20. What does Lady Capulet believe are the two causes of Juliet’s sadness?

21. Where and when is Juliet’s wedding supposed to take place?

22. What threat does Lord Capulet make to get Juliet to agree to the marriage?

23. What comfort does the Nurse provide Juliet after her parents leave?

24. Where does Juliet go at the end of this scene? What does she seek out there?

ACT IV SCENE 1 1.

How does Juliet feel about Paris?

2. What solution does Friar Lawrence propose for Juliet’s dilemma?

SCENE 2 3. How does Lord Capulet respond to Juliet’s apology?

SCENE 3 4. What is Juliet afraid of after she says goodnight to her nurse and her mother?

A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

SCENE 4 5. Who first attempts to wake Juliet?

6. What conclusion do the Capulets draw about Juliet based on their observations?

7. Why does Lord Capulet say death is his son-in-law?

ACT V SCENE 1 1.

Why does Balthasar visit Romeo in Mantua?

2. Why does Romeo seek out the Apothecary? How does Romeo get what he wants from the Apothecary?

SCENE 2 3. What disrupted Friar John’s journey to Romeo? Why is this problematic?

SCENE 3 4. Why is Paris in the Capulets’ tomb?

5. Why does Balthasar disobey Romeo’s orders?

6. Why does Paris and Romeo’s interaction escalate into a fight?

7. What does Juliet discover when she wakes? How does she react?

8. How do the Capulets and Montagues process these events and new information?

A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

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FURTHER EXPLORATION MARRIAGE IN ROMEO AND JULIET Aspects of the plot of Romeo and Juliet can become sticking points for readers, viewers, directors, and actors. Culturally, Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the world’s most famous love stories, though the plot is far from a successful romance; two teenagers fall in love after a brief meeting on a dance floor, and a short time later they have both died by suicide, along with three other characters meeting their untimely end.

The overarching themes of love conquering all, and familial strife endure to this day, however our modern understanding of marriage, love, and courtship are at odds with the Elizabethan reality of these concepts.

The play explicitly states that Juliet is 13 years old, her father telling her suitor Paris “…she hath not yet seen the change of fourteen years” (1.2.9). While it may seem off-putting to think of a 13-year-old getting married, particularly to a man who is guessed to be around 18 years old, we are given context into the social norms of Shakespeare’s Verona: Lady Capulet tells Juliet, in an effort to convince her to marry Paris, that “Younger than you here in Verona, ladies of esteem are made already mothers” (1.3.76-78). While Romeo and Juliet’s youth may make their romance perplexing to a modern audience, we can gather from Lady Capulet’s assertion that marriage and childbirth happened sooner compared to today’s society. The University of Victoria states that in the late 1500’s, the average age of marriage was 20 in Stratford-uponAvon (for comparison, the US Census Bureau recorded the average age of marriage in America as 27 years old for women and 29 years old for men in 2018). This also adds pressure to Romeo to act quickly; if they do not get married as soon as possible, Juliet would have little chance of escaping her marriage to Paris — her father exclaiming to her as she tries to rebuke his insistence of her marriage, “I tell thee what: get thee to the church o’ Thursday or never after look me in the face” (3.5.167-168). This pressure can be partially understood by observing both Romeo and Juliet’s statuses as only children. Romeo, as the only son of the Montagues, would have inherited all his family’s wealth and ownings after the death of his father. Juliet on the other hand, would not inherit the vast wealth of the Capulet family unless she were to be married, with the inheritance being passed to her husband—while it was technically legal for women to inherit the estates of their family, it was practically unheard of. These reasons illustrate why Juliet’s parents are trying to marry her off to Paris — arranged marriages ensured that a family’s wealth was protected, and that the generations to come would be provided for. While arranged marriages in Europe had largely declined by the time Shakespeare was writing Romeo and Juliet, they had been a staple of the medieval period, especially between European monarchies. It would not be for at least another decade after Romeo and Juliet premiered in London that it was legal in England for people to get married without their parent’s consent, according to the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre. Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with the concept, what was at stake for the young lovers, and how the influence of their parents would have exacerbated the situation. With all that in mind, Romeo approaches Friar Lawrence to conduct the marriage in secret; Elizabethan marriages needed to be witnessed by a member of the clergy, in a process that lasted several weeks, according to the British Library. This process could be circumvented with what was known as a “Fleet marriage,” named after a prison in London where the ceremony often occurred: with the witness of a neighbor, a couple could get married almost immediately. Notably, William Shakespeare used this process to marry Anne Hathaway, likely due to her pregnancy with their first child.

Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort to James I. She was 15 years old when she married the future King of England.

QUESTIONS: 1.

What are pressures that Romeo and Juliet feel that push them to get married so young? Why were their statuses as only children a variable?

2.

Marriage is less a matter of family pride and sustainability as it was in the 16th Century. Do you believe there is a modern version?

Are young people pressured by their families in similar ways that Romeo and Juliet were?

3.

Most modern productions do not honor the age gap that Shakespeare wrote, having Romeo and Juliet being played by actors of around the same age. How would having age appropriate actors change our modern understanding of the play? Would the play be as popular?

FEUDING FAMILIES The core conflict of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the war-like opposition between two noble families. In an environment steeped in this age-old feud, “two star-cross’d lovers” (I.1) attempt to fight ancestral hate with true love. These feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues, were not original characters created by William Shakespeare, but the retelling of an Italian story based on real people.

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According to the Shakespeare Resource Center, Shakespeare likely uncovered the heartbreaking story of Romeo and Juliet in a poem called The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke, which was published in 1562. Shakespeare also could have known the popular tale from a prose collection by William Painter, entitled The Palace of Pleasure, written before 1580, which is cited by the Encyclopedia Britannica as a popular sourcebook for many Elizabethan dramatists.

Arthur Brooke and William Painter’s versions were inspired by a lineage of works by Italian writers, including the 1554 novella Giulietta e Romeo

by Matteo Bandello, a story in a collection titled Il Novellio by the widely popular fifteenth-century writer Masuccio Salernitano, and the Historia Novellamente Ritrovata di Due Nobili Amanti or A Story Newly Found of Two Noble Lovers, written by Luigi Da Porto in 1530. The earlier Italian versions tell the story of Romeo and Giulietta and the deadly feud between the families Montecchi and Capelletti. These names are also mentioned in a verse of Dante’s Purgatorio, published in the mid-1300s, though his poem includes nothing about star-crossed lovers:

“Come and behold Montecchi and Cappelletti,

Monaldi and Fillippeschi, careless man!

Those sad already, and these doubt-depressed!

(Purgatorio Canto VI, vv.106-108) Pietro Allighieri, Dante’s son, author of one of the first commentaries on The Divine Comedy, wrote that his father was referring to two rival political parties, not families. Such political parties typically covered a whole region and not simply one city, as factions in one region looked for allies in others. There is a house in Verona, Italy, known as “Juliet’s House” that tourists from around the world travel to visit. It was once inhabited by the Cappello family and dates back to the 13th century, though the famous balcony wasn’t added until the 20th century. Visitors are permitted to touch a courtyard statue of Juliet as a good-luck ritual, in the hope of finding the love of their life.

The bronze statute of Juliet below her fabled balcony at Juliet’s House in Verona, Italy.

In the entire canon of William Shakespeare’s works, there are very few original plots; Shakespeare was as gifted a borrower as he was a playwright. Drawing from classical works, histories, and other literary sources, Shakespeare liberally adapted stories (sometimes even lifting words and phrasing) in creating his plays. Shakespeare’s version of Romeo and Juliet was part of a larger trend among writers and playwrights of the time to publish works based on Italian novellas.

A total of ten of Shakespeare’s plays are set in Italy.

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QUESTIONS: 1.

Read Brooke’s The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Analyze the differences and similarities between these two works. Which recounting of the story do you prefer and why?

2.

What are other popular sources that Shakespeare drew inspiration from? If you were Shakespeare would you cite the sources you borrowed from? Why or why not?

3.

By today’s standards, would Shakespeare’s habit of borrowing plots and characters be considered plagiarism? What are the potential consequences?

THEATRE IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME While there is a contemporary stereotype of theatres as opulent, gilded buildings where the rich and powerful go to spend an evening, the commoners of London encompassed a significant portion of Elizabethan theatre audiences. Going to see a show was not high culture in Shakespeare’s day. For example, two neighborhoods outside of London, Southwark and Shoreditch, had brothels, bearbaiting rings, and theatres.

Theatre was attended by people of all classes. According to Globe Education at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, one penny would buy standing room in the yard, directly in front of the stage, and for two pennies you could sit on a bench in the galleries. Those who stood in the yard were called “groundlings” and would interact with the actors onstage as the plot developed. The yard was noisy and it often smelled bad because there were no bathrooms in the Globe Theatre. The most expensive seats in the house, often reserved for nobility, were above the stage in the tiring house, a structure that served both as backstage for the actors as well as the support for the balcony. At the time, the theatre was not just a place to enjoy the arts; it was also a place to be seen. Audiences would delight from watching the fabulously rich at the theatre. Royals also enjoyed Shakespeare’s plays, however it was deemed improper for them to attend. To counteract that, Shakespeare’s company, the Chamberlain’s Men, would perform privately in the courts of Queen Elizabeth and King James.

The Globe Theatre, built on the south bank of the River Thames, was technically located outside the city of London. Theatres were not allowed within the city limits, as they were considered immoral, and not fit to be in the same location with respectable businesses. Based on anecdotal evidence, sketches, and archeological digs, we know that Elizabethan theatres were circular buildings constructed of wood, with thatched or tile roofs and were open air. Theatrical lighting had not yet been invented, therefore shows were performed in the middle of the day, while the sun could illuminate the stage. The audience areas were the yard, where the groundlings stood, and the galleries, which were covered benches that were priced more expensively the higher up in the theatre they were. Theatres generally had thrust-style stages, which jut out into the audience, who watch from three out of four sides. Behind the stage was the tiring house, from which actors entered onstage, could access the trap doors below the stage, or could enter to the balcony above the stage. The Globe’s tiring house also housed, at various points in its history, church bells, a wind machine, and a cannon, the latter of which accidentally burned the Globe to the ground during a production of Henry VIII in 1613.

Notably absent from the Elizabethan theaters were women. Due to the theatre’s reputation as havens for vice and sin, women largely did not attend public shows. They also did not perform in them — it would have been immoral for women to appear onstage. According to the British

The interior of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, the recreation of the original Globe Theatre. Photo from Shakespeare’s Globe.

Library, the first actresses did not appear in London until 1660, after the Restoration of King Charles II (King Charles II’s mistress was one such actress, Nell Gwyn). Therefore, during Shakespeare’s life, all his most famous roles for women such as Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, Desdemona, and even Juliet, were played by young men. Boys from around 13 to 21 would play Shakespeare’s leading ladies, as their voices had not entirely changed yet. The youngest women in Shakespeare, Juliet included, would likely be played by the youngest men in the company.

QUESTIONS: 1.

Why did Elizabethan theatres eventually do away with thatched roofs? What materials were used instead?

2.

Do some research on the names of the theatres in Elizabethan London. Who named the theatres and how? How did theatres advertise what type of play was to be performed that day?

3.

Where was the most expensive seat in the house? Why was it so expensive? Explain why a person might want to sit there.

4. Consider modern theatre in comparison to Elizabethan theatre.

Why do you think attitudes toward the theatre, including who can participate, changed? Why is it no longer a “sinful” profession?

AMERICAN TRIBALISM The plot of Romeo and Juliet is propelled by the mutual hatred between the Capulets and the Montagues. Shakespeare’s play does not go into detail as to where the animosity comes from beyond the prologue’s report of an “ancient grudge,” a hatred based solely on the fact that the other family has always been hated. This can also be described as “tribalism,” a cultural phenomenon in which people of a similar group isolate from a dissimilar group, often demonizing other groups to fire up the support of members of the tribe. Tribalism can be based on race, political ideas, gender, religion, even sports team affiliation — anything that can divide people into the groups of “us” and “them.” While tribalism was a compelling plot device to audiences in Shakespeare’s day based on their own recent history of war and religious oppression, it also rings true to modern audiences.

Roughly 100 years before Shakespeare was born, the Wars of the Roses raged throughout England, as the Royal Houses of the Tudors and the Yorks fought for control of Great Britain. The fighting would not cease for 30 years and in the interim, England would have four kings, two each from the Tudors and the Yorks. Not long after the fighting ceased, Britain was once again thrust into political turmoil with the reign of Henry VIII, who split the Church of England from Roman Catholicism in order to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. This left the country with two major religious groups: Catholics, who were faithful to the pope, and Anglicans, who followed King Henry, largely out of fear of persecution. His son, Henry, died in infancy, leading to the coronation of his daughter, Queen Mary, who was staunchly Catholic. She tried to undo the changes her father made to the religious system in England, and burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake, earning her the nickname “Bloody Mary.” She did not have an heir, and so the crown went to her sister, Queen Elizabeth I, who was Protestant; suddenly the tables had turned and Catholics could no longer worship openly. In the short one hundred years before Romeo and Juliet made its London premiere, England had seen intense tribalism on both sides of the Wars of the Roses, and from whichever religious group was held in the favor of the Queen. Shakespeare’s audiences would have a clear understanding of the strength of hatred that was keeping these two families in Verona apart — they had experienced it themselves, with a kingdom torn apart by political and religious violence in recent generations. Shakespeare’s play sent a message of hope to these groups: through the pain they experience over their children’s deaths, the Capulets and the Montagues manage to come to a peaceful understanding. So too, then, could British society.

Modern tribalism, while in many ways more subtle, is still damaging to society. American society has always been made up of groups of “us” and “them,” whether it be the Loyalists and the Revolutionaries during the American Revolution, the abolitionists and slaveholders during the Civil War, or fissions between Republicans, Democrats, and other political parties throughout our nation’s history. However, in the past several years, partisan rhetoric has intensified and increased on both sides of the political aisle and between communities. Since the 2016 Election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, partisanship has been the modus operandi of the US Federal Government; since ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

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GUN VIOLENCE Like many productions of Shakespeare’s plays, the Huntington’s production of Romeo and Juliet removes the story from its original Elizabethan context and reframes it in a new setting.

This impacts everything in the production such as scenery, costumes, props, and music. Although the weapons of choice during Shakespeare’s time were swords and daggers, in the Huntington’s contemporary production the violence will include firearms.

Modern politics have become increasingly tribal.

January of 2017, the government has shutdown three times due to gridlock between Congress and the White House, and according to GovTrack, the 115th Congress passed 443 pieces of legislation into law. By comparison, the 80th Congress, nicknamed by President Truman the “Do Nothing Congress,” passed 906 bills according to Senate records. While disagreement and even stalemates are to be expected on Capitol Hill, the rhetoric surrounding modern politics has become divisive to the point of destruction. Look no further than the names thrown back and forth between presidential candidates in 2016. Then candidate Trump came up with nicknames for his opponents, regardless of party. Most famously he dubbed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.”

Meanwhile from the left, pundits claimed that Trump suffers from mental illnesses that should prevent him from being President. Messages that are designed to scare a population into agreement are traded with regularity, intensified by 24-hour news cycles that sensationalize reality in order to boost ratings.

While political tribalism is not a new phenomenon, its intensity in the early 21st century seems to be a newer development. In the 1980s, President Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill disagreed on many issues but would still have an occasional drink together to show Americans that they were still civil. In contrast, at the state funeral of President George H. W. Bush in 2018, the Clintons and the Trumps barely acknowledged each other; critics on both the left and the right may have interpreted a cordial exchange between them as evidence of weakness.

Average Americans find it more difficult to find common ground and compromise. And while tribalism certainly exists in terms of government and politics, other aspects of American life are also tribalistic. Arenas and stadiums sell higher priced tickets to games between two rival teams.

For example, playoff games to the see the Boston Red Sox become more expensive if their long-time rival, the New York Yankees are going to be playing, according to The Boston Globe.

Every day, according to research conducted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, approximately “100 Americans are killed with guns and hundreds more are shot and injured. The effects of gun violence extend far beyond these casualties — gun violence shapes the lives of millions of Americans who witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the next shooting.”

In the United States, •

The gun homicide rate is 25 times that of other high-income countries.

•

Firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens, and the first leading cause of death for Black children and teens.

•

Approximately three million American children witness gun violence every year.

•

At an all-time high, the number of mass shootings in the United States in 2018 rose to above 340.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 56,751 reported incidents with guns in 2018, with a total of 14,594 deaths. In the past ten years, there have been shootings in schools, synagogues, churches, bars, concerts, bowling alleys, restaurants, movie theatres, college campuses, offices, nightclubs, music festivals, homes, and many other places.

QUESTIONS: 1.

In what other ways does tribalism manifest in contemporary society? Consider rivalries or opposing factions that exist within your local community and state in addition to the national discourse.

2.

Think of historical examples of tribalism. Are there aspects of modern society with parallels to those eras? What elements of tribalism in Romeo and Juliet reflect these other times?

3.

Do you believe tribalism is a threat to society? Is possible to live without it?

4. Do you belong to a tribe of some kind? Describe it. How do you know you are a part of it? How do you know other people are not?

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Infographic from everytownresearch.org

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES ACTING: IAMBIC PENTAMETER Write the definitions below on the board: Iambic = iamb - a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed (or short) syllable, followed by a stressed (or long syllable). The same rhythm as a heartbeat.

ex. unite, provide, delay, belong, away, with me, my love,

I know, and dance, But soft.

Penta = five Meter = line 1 line is made up of five 2-syllable iambs!

An example of a full line in perfect iambic pentameter from Romeo and Juliet is:

“But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?”

With rhythmic emphasis, this line reads:

“But, SOFT! What LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS?” Use your body to further explore this core style in Shakespeare’s plays.

1.

Everyone stands in a circle where they can see everyone else in the class.

2.

Establish the basic foundational step for the group (toe heel, toe heel, toe heel, toe heel, toe heel). This the group heart beat, that everyone must stomp out.

3.

Have all of the students in unison say “dee dum dee dum dee dum dee dum dee dum” in call and repeat form until they seem to have it.

4. Go around the circle with each student contributing an original line in iambic pentameter with the rest of the group stomping out the heartbeat. Students can take a moment to think if need be at the top of their turn, say “Come back to me”, or just say “dee dum dee dum dee dum dee dum dee dum” in the rhythm if they prefer.

5.

If someone’s rhythm alters, point out the poetic device or jewel they helped to discover. Shakespeare often broke his own literary structure in order to draw attention to specific ideas and words

• If someone offers a metrical foot of one stressed

(long syllable), followed by an unstressed syllable

that is a TROCHEE.

Example: poet (PO-et)

is an important part of the visual storytelling. Costume designers work closely with directors, as well as scenic and lighting designers, to ensure that the way the actors are dressed onstage does not distract from the plot and provides a cohesive representation of the world of the play.

Shakespearean productions often rely on costumes to convey in what time period the production has been set, including Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Romeo and Juliet, which has been set in the modern era.

In this exercise, you will be the costume designer of a modern version of Romeo and Juliet and will design costumes for seven key characters: Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Paris, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence.

Materials: Paper, glue sticks, markers/colored pencils, tape.

1.

First, identify the setting for your interpretation of the play. Be as specific as possible regarding time and place. It can be anywhere; your school, Boston of today, Boston of 1890, a fictional place, etc.

2.

Next, determine whether the character is aligned with one of the warring families in the play or if they are neutral.

3.

Starting with the characters Romeo and Juliet, create a visual representation of how they are dressed by either sketching or creating a collage using magazine cutouts.

4. Next, describe each piece they are wearing and why. What do you intend for the audience to understand about the characters and the play through these costume pieces? Include details about any logos, hairstyles, and color palettes they may be wearing.

5.

Move on to Mercutio, Paris, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence.

Go through the same process.

6. Create a display of your designs and descriptions, and share with the rest of the class.

7.

Look over your classmates’ designs. Can you see the connection between the characters? Can you tell where this production is set based on the costumes? Compare and contrast their choices with your own.

8. Finally, make a designer presentation. Describe your central design concepts, what articles of clothing each character would wear, how the clothing sets them apart from each other. How will the clothing communicate the world of the play to the audience?

• If someone offers a metrical foot of two stressed syllables

(long syllables) that is a SPONDEE.

Example: earthquake (EARTH-QUAKE)

• If someone offers a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables

followed by a stressed syllable, that is an ANAPEST.

Example: understand (un-der-STAND)

• If someone offers a metrical foot of one stressed syllable

followed by two unstressed syllables, that is a DACTYL.

Example: typical (TY-pi-cal)

DESIGN: COSTUME DESIGN While frilled collars may come to mind when thinking about Elizabethan theatre, Shakespeare’s works have been adapted across cultures for hundreds of years. Costume design is integral to telling a story onstage.

Whether it be status, location, profession, or age, a character’s costume

Costume rendering of Juliet

Costume rendering of Romeo ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

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ELA: MAD LIB — SHAKESPEARE’S PROLOGUE This is an opportunity to be a playwright, to re-imagine a well-known Shakespearean text, and to explore the process of writing within a given form.

On the board, a handout, or on a big piece of paper, write out the Mad Lib version of the Romeo and Juliet prologue below.

Anytime a world is underlined, do not write it. Instead draw a line and use the guidelines beneath the line to choose a new word. Once the class has filled in all the blanks, students will volunteer to read couplets of their new opening to Romeo and Juliet. For added fun, compare and contrast the class’s prologue with Shakespeare’s original prologue.

Two households, both alike in dignity, (plural noun) 2 syllables

(noun) 3 syllables

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, (adjective) 1 syllable

(verb) 1 syllable

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, (noun) (noun)

1 syllable

3 syllables, rhymes last word 1st line

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

(noun)

1 syllable, body part

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

(plural noun) 1 syllable

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; (plural noun)

2 syllables

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

(adjective)

3 syllables

Do with their death bury their parents’ strife. (noun) (noun)

1 syllable

1 syllable, rhymes with “life”

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,

(noun)

1 syllable, rhymes with “remove”

And the continuance of their parents’ rage, (noun)

1 syllable, rhymes with “stage”

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove, (noun)

1 syllable

Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;

(noun)

2 syllables

The which if you with patient ears attend,

(noun) 1 syllable, body part

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. (verb)

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ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

1 syllable, rhymes with “attend”

ELA: LOVE LETTERS

ELA: TEXT ANALYSIS

In his lifetime, Shakespeare wrote approximately 154 sonnets, not counting the sonnets he included within his plays. Write your own sonnet or love letter to someTHING you love (pizza, a favorite book, your dog, a vacation spot you visited with friends or family, etc.). Perhaps provide a grab bag of topics, which are available if anyone is struggling to come up with something they feel passionately about. Below read Sonnet 18, one of Shakespeare’s most famous love sonnets, to get your creativity brewing.

One of Shakespeare’s most quoted phrases is spoken by Romeo and Act II, Scene 2, during the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo begins the scene by saying:

18 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee GUIDELINES:

• 10 lines

• One simile

• One rhyming couplet

• One line in perfect iambic pentameter

• If you finish early, draw a picture to accompany it.

• Optional sharing at the end (or can have a friend or

myself read it on your behalf)

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.

It is my lady, O, it is my love!

O, that she knew she were!

She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?

Her eye discourses; I will answer it.

I am too bold, ‘tis not to me she speaks: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head?

The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night.

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!

O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!

Analyze the many rhetorical devices Shakespeare uses in this speech.

First, identify words or phrases you do not recognize. Look them up, either in a dictionary or online. Then answer the following questions: 1.

What is the central metaphor in this monologue? What language does Shakespeare use to invoke this metaphor? What is its effect on the audience?

2.

What parts of Juliet’s body does Romeo talk about? How does he describe them?

3.

Romeo asks several questions throughout the monologue. Who is he speaking to and why does he ask these questions?

4. There are several exclamations in this speech. What do they signify?

How is Romeo feeling in these moments?

Next, rewrite the monologue in your own words. Do not skip any of the information in the original monologue. Share your monologue with a classmate or with a small group. Are your monologues similar? Discuss the similarities and differences with your classmate(s).

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

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REFERENCES AND RESOURCES Comprehensive Resources •

Absolute Shakespeare A comprehensive collection of Shakespeare’s work, including full texts, summaries, a timeline and lists of film adaptations. absoluteshakespeare.com

•

Shakespeare Resource Center Links and articles on teaching Shakespeare’s plays. bardweb.net/index.html

•

Shakespeare and Elizabethan England The Elizabethan Costuming Page Articles on what Elizabethan clothing with drawings. elizabethancostume.net/

•

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Learn more about Shakespeare’s life with extensive online collection. shakespeare.org.uk/home.html

•

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre The Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry with a detailed biography, contextual articles on Elizabethan literature, art, theaters and culture, and entries on famous Shakespearean actors, directors and scholars. britannica.com/topic/Globe-Theatre

•

Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection Images include production photos, books, manuscripts and art. luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/view/all

•

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet An engaging introduction to the play, written in the format of exclusive breaking news. bbc.co.uk/drama/ shakespeare/60secondshakespeare/themes_romeojuliet.shtml

Teacher Resources •

The Folger Shakespeare Library This website features lesson plans, primary sources and study guides for the most frequently taught plays and sonnets. folger.edu/education

•

Teaching Romeo and Juliet BBC and RSC’s Shakespeare Unlocked: Romeo and Juliet bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/484GwDBByzcGTGCy5bvmhLF/ romeo-and-juliet

Language Resources •

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Interactive Folio: Romeo and Juliet An interactive online folio that you can use while reading the script to select a word, read a lexicon definition, click on links for more information, or watch video clips. Created and maintained by Canadian Shakespeare. canadianshakespeares.ca/folio/folio.html

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE

•

Open Source Shakespeare Concordance View all the uses of a word or word form in all of Shakespeare’s works or in one play. opensourceshakespeare.com/concordance/ findform.php

•

Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary Part of Tufts University’s Perseus Digital Library and created by Alexander Schmidt. perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3A text%3A1999.03.0079

•

Shakespeare’s Words Glossary and Language Companion Created by David Crystal and Ben Crystal, this site is a free online companion to the best-selling glossary and language companion, Shakespeare’s Words. shakespeareswords.com

Movies (may contain mature content, prescreen before sharing) •

Romeo and Juliet (1968) Dir: Franco Zeffirelli

•

Romeo + Juliet (1996) Dir: Baz Luhrmann

•

Romeo and Juliet (2013) Dir: Carlo Carlei

•

West Side Story (1961)

•

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

•

Romeo and Juliet: Broadway HD (2013) – Broadway Revival

•

Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)

NOTES

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