单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,*,Romeo and Juliet,Introduction,Romeo and Juliet,is a,tragedy,written by,William Shakespeare,early in his career,around 1597.It was among Shakespeares most popular plays during his lifetime,and along with Hamlet,is one of his most frequently performed plays.,Background,Shakespeares primary inspiration,was based on a poem by,Arthur Brooke,:,The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet,(1562).,Many of the details of,Shakespeares plot are lifted directly from Brookss poem,including the meeting of Romeo and Juliet at the ball,their secret marriage,the sleeping potion,and the timing of the lovers eventual suicides.,Shakespeare use,s,his,poetic dramatic structure,such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension,his expansion of minor characters,and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story,.,Also,Shakespeare uses a variety of,poetic forms,throughout the play.He begins with a 14-line prologue in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet,.,Background,Ontline,Main Characters,Plot Overview,Main idea of the Act II Scene 2,Plot,Main Characters,Romeo,The son and heir of Montague and Lady,Montague.A young man of about sixteen,Romeo is,handsome,intelligent,and sensitive.Though,impulsive and immature,his idealism and passion,make him an extremely likable character.,He lives in,the middle of a violent feud between his family and,t,he Capulets,but he is not at all interested in violence.,His only interest is love.,At the beginning of the play,he is madly in love with a woman named Rosaline,but the instant he lays eyes on Juliet,he falls in love,with her and forgets Rosaline.,Thus,Shakespeare,gives us every reason to question how real Romeos,new love is,but Romeo goes to extremes to prove,the seriousness of his feelings.He secretly marries,Juliet,the daughter of his fathers worst enemy;he,happily takes abuse from Tybalt;and he would rather,die than live without his beloved.Romeo is also an,affectionate and devoted friend to his relative,Benvolio,Mercutio,and Friar Lawrence.,Main Characters,Juliet,The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet.A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl,Juliet begins the play as,a nave child who has thought little about love and marriage,but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo,the son of her familys great enemy.,Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family,she has none of the freedom Romeo has to roam around the city,climb over walls in the middle of the night,or get into swordfights.Nevertheless,she shows amazing courage in trusting her entire life and future to Romeo,even refusing to believe the worst reports about him after he gets involved in a fight with her cousin.Juliets closest friend and confidant is her nurse,though shes willing to shut the Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo.,Main Characters,Friar Lawrence,A Franciscan friar,friend to both Romeo and Juliet.Kind,civic-minded,a proponent of moderation,and always ready with a plan,Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona.As well as being a Catholic holy man,Friar Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mystical potions and herbs.,Mercutio,A kinsman to the Prince,and Romeos close friend.One of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeares plays,Mercutio overflows with imagination,wit,and,at times,a strange,biting satire and brooding fervor.,Mercutio loves wordplay,especially sexual double entendres.He can be quite hotheaded,and hates people who are affected,pretentious,or obsessed with the latest fashions.He finds Romeos romanticized ideas about love tiresome,and tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite.,Main Characters,The Nurse,Juliets nurse,the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life.A vulgar,long-winded,and sentimental character,the Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches.But,until a disagreement near the plays end,the Nurse is Juliets faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliets affair with Romeo,.She provides a contrast with Juliet,given that her view of love is earthy and sexual,whereas Juliet is idealistic and intense.The Nurse believes in love and wants Juliet to have a nice-looking husband,but the idea that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is incomprehensible to her.,Tybalt,A Capulet,Juliets cousin on her mothers side.,Vain,fashionable,supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it,he becomes aggressive,violent,and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured.,Once drawn,his sword is something to be feared.He loathes Montagues.,Plot Overview,The story takes place in Verona,Italy.,Two noble families,the Montagues and Capulets,hate each other and are feuding.,Plot Overview,A nobleman,Paris,wants to marry Juliet Capulet,the beautiful daughter of the family.Her father tells him to co